Meet Naarm-based professional photographer and cinematographer, Nicole Cooper. She’s blessed us at Dyspnea for nearly a decade with her beautiful 35mm film skills and not to mention; her famous torso featured throughout our e-boutique & socials! We sat down with one of our favourite creatives to pick her brain. 📸✨🌸💅

What's your star sign?
I'm a spicy lil' Capricorn who seems like she has a heart of stone but it truly melts like butter. The bougie kind though, Pepe Saya's Salted if I'm being honest.

What are you currently consuming that you’d recommend (listening to, reading, watching, drinking?!) 
I'm in a very early 2000's phase with the tunes these days - think Groove Armada's 'My Friend' and Rui Da Silva's 'Touch Me'. You just can't have a bad day with steamy bangers like those bad boys! I'm also currently reading a new book by my friend's sister, Else Fitzgerald, titled 'Everything Feels Like the End of the World' and hoo boy, it hits deep.

How did you get into your role as a fashion photographer and videographer? 
I actually started out by picking up whatever internships I could muster up, even ones semi-adjacent to the fields I hoped to one day work in. I interned for a Sydney Fashion Designer and a Beauty Editor whilst working part time and studying Photography at Uni (a course that hilariously taught me nada, yew love me a HECS debt). After a year of working my ass off and not a lot of sleep, those internships finally opened doors to fashion photographers that took me on as their assistant. I spent years working underneath Candice Lake (who got me into Vogue Australia) and Mike Naumoff, both legends who went out of their way to teach me everything they knew. Shoutout to those that don't gatekeep/willingly impart their wisdom unto the fresh faces of the industry.

Do you have any tips for someone starting out in this field?
Say yes to anything and everything, provided that you feel safe! There will be so many moments that you will be required to step outside of your comfort zone, especially in terms of what you believe your skill set/level of technical ability to be and that's so normal. You have no idea how many times I've had to google shit, even on set. Fake it 'til you make it baby.

What would be your absolute favourite piece/s of Dyspnea to wear and why?
Well the new collection has me in a chokehold but a staple OG  piece is the Certified Freak Bodice, it's flattering on every single person. Imagine the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, in the form of a top. I also have a custom emerald green floor-length gown that was made specifically for me to don at Jam & Innika's 30th Birthday. I feel like a goddess in that dress, it holds a special place in my heart. 

Where do you think we’ll find you in 5 years? 
Hopefully living out on a property somewhere, decked out in head-to-toe Dyspy. Watch this space.

Thanks for chatting Nicole! 💖💖💖

You can find Nicole on the gram @bynicolecooper