Student Union - Richard Meade

Jay McCabe, February, 2007

Mikael Wardhana
RMIT University
Melbourne, Australia

Best Effort

M ikael is a first-year photography student at the university, working toward a Bachelor of Arts degree. His subjects are wide-ranging (you can see the variety of his work at his website, www.mikaelwardhana.com), but his main interest is fashion photography, and he has a distinctly career-minded approach to it: “My images are elaborate and require a lot of time and effort, so for me fashion work is 75 percent arranging and organizing the models, stylists, props, and locations.”

At first Mikael found his models at school, but once he got a portfolio together he approached modeling agencies and offered to exchange images for modeling services. He does the same with stylists and makeup artists. “Now I work exclusively with people who need images for their portfolios,” he says.

Along with photography, he’s also studying French. “After I graduate I’m planning to go to France to work and photograph. That’s my dream, but who knows? I’m trying my best.”

All Photos © 2006, Mikael Wardhana, All Rights Reserved

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