James Bent is a 31 year old British traveler now living and working as a Learning and Design Consultant.  In his lunchtimes, after work and at weekends, he also runs Outré, a Singapore-based street fashion blog.

I caught up with him for a coffee and a chat to find out what it’s all about.

Where do you see yourself and what do you think of the Fashion world?

I guess I’m in a funny position as I don’t really see myself as a “blogger”, nor really part of the fashion world.  I’m not formally trained in fashion and I don’t really have a background in it, no more than anyone else really.  I see myself more as a person who enjoys taking photographs of people that catch my eye.

As for fashion itself, it does seem to be moving more onto the streets, moving more into the personal space, as in anyone can have a say in fashion and in what fashion is.  I think it’s now much more available for the masses, and because of blogs particularly it’s really out there way more now.

I don’t know how powerful the fashion industry is now compared to before – I’ve read articles that suggest the fashion industry is becoming more of a follower than a leader, but then maybe a lot of things that a written are speculative. I’ve also read that magazines are struggling more, but that is also because of the recent global financial crisis which affected everything.

How did you start doing street style photography?

It had nothing to do with fashion, nor street style, or anything connected to it. It had started last year when I needed inspiration for writing – I studied English and Creative Studies at University and I’d always wanted to write.  So last year I completed a novel and then wanted to continue to improve my writing. So I started the blog, Outré, last November as a means to force me to write daily 1000 word short stories.  I figured if I could get an audience, then I would feel more inclined to keep writing.  I also realized that I relied heavily on photographs for inspiration.

So late last year, when I was still back in Sydney, I went to a bookstore and looked through the photo book section searching for a whole book of people who I could use for characters, and happened picked up The Sartorialist – at that point I didn’t know what or who he was – but it was perfect to write from.

Then in January 2010 I moved to Singapore and had used up all the photographs to write stories from The Sartorialist book; so  I started taking photographs of people on the street purely just to write the stories.

But then, almost straight away I could see from the number of hits of my blog, that the photos were way more more popular and much more fun.  However at that time I wasn’t really so into street fashion, but I guess that’s how people viewed the blog, like it should be street fashion, so it was a pretty painful period trying to re-adjust the direction.  And even now I’m still developing – it feels like a real rollercoaster – lots of ups and downs.

What kind of inspiration did you take from the Sartorialist?

I’m a very visual person – I need to see something to get ideas and inspiration.  The Sartorialist’s photographs aren’t just about the clothes like other street fashion blogs – it’s about people as well, capturing all the details from how they stand and their expressions showing on their faces to the ongoing mood behind the photographs. Therefore it was easy for me when I looked at his photos to start creating personalities and characters.  So it helped by establishing a starting point of the stories I wrote, and gave enough richness to describe all the details like what were they possibly thinking, what did they do before this shot, etc.  And that was enough to write 107 short stories from.  It was like I could really get inside the people who he photographed, by their person and by the way they dressed and posed.

It’s like you’re a psychologist then!

Yeah, I did study psychology for a short while at college, and in a previous job as a trainer I went into emotional intelligence and body language and I find these very fascinating.  I also studied semiology (the science of signs and symbols) at Uni, at that has had a big impact on me.

After hours, besides taking photographs what do you usually do?

My partner is a painter, and so I help her with her paintings. Just as she helps me with building my style with the photos, I give her feedback for her paintings.

But honestly, I really just love getting out into the city, so every night we’ll go out.  I absolutely enjoy eating and trying all the food courts here, just sitting around, going for coffee while watching people, going shopping, finding new places to hear great music. Since we’re new to the country, we like to explore around and try to find the essence of Singapore.

Any interesting encounters while hunting for a photograph?

In fact there was one approximately a week and a half ago? I was around in City Hall, nearby the electronic mall after getting some camera gear. I saw this guy, who caught my immediate attention – there are a few people that make me immediately want their photograph, and this guy was just like that. So I turned the other way and followed him, and when I got to him I asked for a photograph, but he kept on walking. Then he took notice of my name card I showed him and stopped, and then started signing things with his hands. So I realized he was deaf. Then we had this slightly surreal and silent conversation, me trying to signal and point at my name card, camera and to him indicating I’d like to take a picture of him, and him replying with nods. I’d also pulled my shirt and pointed at his with thumbs up sign to suggest I liked how he was dressed.

After I’ve gotten his photo I tried to tell him as well that the photo would be up at 8 in the evening and telling him to visit the website address on the name-card,  and he gestured like he was typing in a keyboard and then pointed at the card and nodded.  And that was that.

And that’s nice, because sometimes I have to stop and think about these experiences I’m having, all because I want to get photographs!  But also its nice to find and record people that you don’t see or meet every day in Singapore.

I have to say though that the photo I got was soft on focus, and that really gets to me.  I’m not a photographer by any means, but do border on having slightly perfectionist qualities.  I want to get it absolutely right.  I think that’s what drives me at the end of the day.  If I start it, I want to perfect it.

For the full-length interview and If you’d like to see James Bent’s unique shirt in a much brighter light, head on to the writer’s blog to get his 10 out of 10 profile here.

Outré is on the web at: jamesbent.com/blog