Dudes have been getting unjustly pigeonholed with character-defining
labels since forever: You got glasses? You’re a math fan. Fancy a few
tattoos? You must be in a gang. Have a beard? You’re obviously a bush
ranger. Sure, there are a couple of people who fit these stock character
stereotypes but there are a bunch of multi-talented men who refuse to
follow convention and have more layers than a Commes des Garcon runway
show.
Bespoke brew purveyor James Squire is dedicated to breaking down these stereotypes with Rogue Tales, a series of short films that showcase some of Australia’s most roguishly charming men who defy pigeonholing. Take Wayne Saunders, for example. A nomad for 10 years whose only real staple was competitive rock climbing, Wayne stumbled across a blacksmithing course in country NSW and very quickly became hooked. Playing with fire all day and beating the crap out of stuff, what more could you want? From forging wedding bands to working on iron restoration for one of Sydney’s oldest buildings to creating a knife from meteorite shavings and a mammoth’s tooth, Wayne has become one of the only full-time blacksmiths in the country. From time to time he still scales the cliff faces but each morning he busts out the yoga moves to strengthen his core and focus.
We know Wayne isn’t the only dude out there with hidden talents. Taking
inspiration from James Squire’s Rogue Tales, Pedestrian went out onto
the streets in search of men who are more than just what meets the eye.
Armed with our own bearded man ex-surfboard shaper and
vagabond photographer Ted O’Donnell, we stepped outside our office ready
to capture these men in their natural habitats. On the hunt to uncover
Clark Kent types, we quickly realised we didn’t have to look far – turns
out men with roguish charm and a diverse – and unexpected – range of
talents are easy to come by. Take a look at the men we met in our own
backyard.
Meet Charles Cameron. We saw this guy pulling out some fancy footwork outside Brewtown Newtown and were intrigued, to say the least. Turns out he’s the owner of this newly established coffee shop / micro roaster and is quite the accomplished tap dancer. He’s also quite the drama kid and spending just 30 seconds talking to the dude you’d definitely know it. He’s previously lent his toe-tapping abilities to The Great Gatsby but his favourite moment to date was closing a street party, high above everyone’s heads on a piece of plywood lifted up by a forklift. #scarystuff
Meet Cliff Ho. We spotted Cliff hanging out in a café and thought he looked like a pretty chill dude. An ex-VJ at Channel [V] where he was made to do all sorts of crazy stuff – INCLUDING interviewing Miley back before she twerked it – Cliff is now working for himself as a film producer / director. After two years of VJing, Cliff sold his own house to bankroll his very first show. Learning a lot (like how not to waste thousands of dollars), Cliff realized he’d much rather be behind the camera than in front of it. When he’s not calling “CUT!”, Cliff’s been known to dabble in mixology and often finds himself behind the bar at house parties mixing up his signature drink the good ol’ Old Fashioned for basically everyone there.
Meet Antoine Ryan. We noticed his cheeky grin while checking out some sweet new furniture for our office at interiors store MCM House. Turns out this well travelled industrial design student is rather good at making things (you’d hope so), recently crafting a salt grinder made entirely out of one piece of molded plastic. No stranger to working with his hands, this Byron Bay native moved to Sydney and started a killer clothing label in his teens with a few of his best mates from home. Nowadays, he’s teamed up with another friend to use his award-winning design skills to create functional goods for people with creative minds. You can find Antoine in a back alley playing wall ball, cycling, surfing, or cooking fairly average but heartwarming meals every other hour of the day.
Meet John. We met this long-time busker wandering the mean backstreets of Sydney, providing a soothing soundtrack for the morning cup o’ joe drinkers. Teaching himself guitar back when he was a wee lad by watching his idols on TV, John’s spent the past 10 years finger-picking his way across Australia. Turns out he’s not just a man of the music though – he’s rather skilled with the paintbrush, excelling when it comes to semi-realist abstract landscapes and, according to him at least, he makes a mean spaghetti bolognese. He pretty content with where his life is right now so if he happened to find a suitcase filled with a million bucks on the street, he’d set up a few charities and give the money to those who need it most.
These bril shots were taken by Ted O’Donnell.
