Rock stars are often known as much for their often outrageous clashes of fashion and style as they are for their talent.
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And it’s what sets them apart from the rest.
Ballarat photographer Nadia Moth has captured some of the world’s most iconic performers with their unique personal styles, belting out their hits out on stage in Australia for her exhibition The Moth Ball!
“It’s a photo exhibition of music stars that have left a significant mark or imprint on fashion history, where the two worlds of fashion and music collide,” Ms Moth said.
Madonna, Boy George, Nick Cave and Cyndi Lauper are equally known for their fashion styles as their music and their performance portraits will be hung on the wall at Suttons House of Music as part of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale exhibition.
The international quartet are among 11 big-name celebrities Ms Moth has photographed during Australian concerts, some from up close in the press pit of concerts and others from the crowd.
“Some artists build a powerful external artistic vision beyond their music,” she said.
“Look at Madonna, who had a huge influence over young girls in the 1980s. Everyone wanted to look like her, dress like punk ballerinas and wear layered bangles. Today she has her own Material Girl fashion line.”
The Moth Ball! has a focus on people who have had a lasting impact throughout rock history, many of whom were successful artists in the 1980s but have reinvented themselves over the decades.
“I go and see a lot of artists but only take photos of people who have some sort of influence over myself. I mostly go to a lot of these shows because I want to see what they are going to wear. That excites me even more than the music,” Ms Moth said.
The early photographs she took of performers were mostly as concert mementos, but when she put them on line and drew fans from around the globe she realised there was world-wide interest in the space where fashion and music collide.
“Everybody can relate. We might not speak the same language but that’s the important thing about photographs, people can relate to them without language, especially when it involves celebrities.”
Among Ms Moth’s favourite photos are those she shot of Nick Cave performing at Lake Wendouree in January, and one of those portraits is among the 28 finalists of the inaugural Martin Kantor Portrait Prize.
“Nick Cave is a person of note because his style has evolved and is unique to him,” she said.
The Moth Ball! is on display at Suttons House of Music during the BIFB which runs from August 19 to September 17.
