there's dancing behind movie scenes

Hello! Yesterday evening I was lucky enough to be able to attend photographer Eleanor Hardwick's exhibition and duo zine launch 'Twenty Thirteen' at Doomed gallery in Dalston. I first discovered Eleanor through Rookie, and have since been an avid follower of her work and commissions for magazines such as Teen Tatler, Bullett and Vogue, along with work for two of my favourite designers Meadham Kirchhoff and Orla Kiely. I met up with Opi, Ella, Rachel and Maya (which was awesome because I would have been so shy on my own).

The gallery itself was a small room just down off of Ridley Road in Dalston, with the works on display printed on paper and stuck on the walls. Visually it encompassed everything the zines were intended to - the busy room and lively atmosphere bought back the excitement that comes with first parties and hang-outs with friends; the single snapshots on show demonstrating the fleetingness of youth with all it's bright colour and brilliance. Everything on display was so aesthetically pleasing in it's own right, but together produced a sickly sweet explosion of youth that stayed with you long after you left, like the taste of sugar that remains after devouring a stick of candyfloss at a funfair. I absolutely loved it, and am so pleased that I have physical copies of both zines that I can keep and pour over whenever I need a boost or some inspiration. 

We met so many cool people, lots of whom I knew of or had seen in photographs. It was so surreal to be surrounded by such interesting and artistic people, and I found myself spending about 99.9% of the night being completely in awe of everyone around me. I even got to meet Naomi who writes for Rookie's dear diary section...she was so lovely and I still can't really believe that we met (I mean she works for my favourite magazine and I've been reading her diary for months. How awesome is that?!) We also got to speak to Eleanor herself for a bit too, which was lovely as often you don't actually get to chat with the people behind exhibitions. She is such an inspiration, and made the evening so perfect by simply being there and being her awesome self. 

It was so lovely to see my rookie girls again - summer seems like such a long time ago. I also got to finally meet Maya, who I've known about through mutual friends but hadn't until last night had the chance to meet in person. As usual they were all dressed to perfection...I went for my typical granny-on-drugs kind of aesthetic, with a skirt and cardigan from Beyond Retro and shirt from Brighton.

It was so busy, but not in a bad way as everyone was so friendly and so freaking cool. I picked up so many style tips and have come away with a longing to cut myself a micro fringe and dye my hair a radical colour (not that I ever would because I'm too much of a scaredy cat).

I had such an awesome night with some of my favourite people, and am now so inspired to take some dreamy photos and find out more about the other photographers who had work on display. I also am super inspired to journal properly again after almost breaking down over the perfection of the collages in Eleanor's zines. I hope you are all having a good week,

ellie xo

Check out Eleanor's WEBSITE to see her work and also B-RAD MAGAZINE because it's the coolest