India Hobson photographed Phil Ellis in 2009 and ever since then, he has been one of her favourite models to work with. In "Closer", she even declares him as her saving grace and owes him so much for waltzing into her studio on their first meeting. So it seemed inevitable that Mr Ellis would be photographed and written about in our second book ‘Closer’.
On the day they photographed for the book, Phil took fellow northerner India on a trip around where he likes to hang out, to the chip shop, the abandoned factory and all around his village. They then took a train and walked his dog (which he calls Dog instead of its actual designated name) along the boating lake while raving to Lil Wayne.
Extracts from Phil Ellis’ 6-page story “The Northern Chorus”:
“He’s got this supercool-I-don’t-care-what-people-think-of-me attitude and whilst everyone in his home village is tying up triangle flags and enjoying afternoon tea, Phil is cutting up offensive t-shirts and blasting ironic rap songs from his little car.” (India Hobson).
“I’m specialising in textiles and fashion (at university) – my workload is pretty intense but I’m hoping if I work hard this year it will guarantee me a place in one of London’s top colleges. Not everything goes according to plan first time and real success only comes with experimentation and development. Trying new tings and questioning outcomes benefits my work and this attitude is relevant to all aspects of my life. So wise…So young.” (Phil Ellis).
