Shot on my iPhone: Aileen Chen’s debut photobook is a reminder to romanticise life

“It’s instinctive.”

Multi-hyphenate creative Aileen Chen is a collector of small moments. Armed with an unassuming iPhone and an innate knack for storytelling, she captures scenes others may overlook: the loneliness of a lost glove, the curiosity of a stranger’s weekly shop, the humour of a typo in a public service announcement.

In her debut photobook, Diary of a Lucky Seagull, the Auckland-based photographer, stylist and model shares these moments with the world, inviting us all to ‘briefly enter her orbit’. The book’s first run, which Aileen initially created as a zine, quickly sold out, inspiring her to self-publish a larger edition – now available for purchase on her website.

Interested in hearing how others navigate the world? Head to our Life section.

This week, Aileen’s bringing Diary of a Lucky Seagull to Melbourne for a pop-up with PDA Shop. In the lead-up, she spoke with Fashion Journal about where she finds inspiration, the connection between photos and memory and the “unexpected and mysterious” energy of life in the city.

Fashion Journal: Hi Aileen! Congratulations on publishing your book. I’d known your work to mostly be shot on film – what made the iPhone camera right for this project?

Aileen: Hi! Thank you so much. It’s been fun and real cool. iPhone is easy; it wasn’t a conscious decision for Diary of a Lucky Seagull. You know when something is so convenient you don’t even think about it? Sometimes, it’s the only thing I have on me when I’m on the go. 

Phones also have this funny camouflage effect; I can get away with it. People don’t really budge or bat an eye when I take their photo, even when I’m at point-blank! For work, I use big blah blah cameras, so it’s refreshing to keep it light. Visually, it’s less confronting, too.

The photographs focus on very ordinary, fleeting moments like a stranger passing by, a pair of abandoned shoes, a shop sign, a missed bus. What makes a mundane moment worth photographing?

It’s instinctive and usually based on honesty or comedy. I’m easily amused. Other times, I don’t quite understand why I take a picture of something until later, if or when I look at it again. It was interesting putting the book together and seeing how one image would inform another when each image is its own separate thing, taken weeks or sometimes years apart.

Are there any other photographers or artists you admire for their ability to capture this?

My friends are great at this and I love when they text me what they saw that day. There’s always something bizarre happening. Branka Neves and Ana Kras’s side account on Instagram definitely comes to mind; lots to look at. I love their eye. Always inspiring. 

You describe taking these photographs as a way of “paying attention to life around me”. Has keeping this visual diary changed the way you move through your everyday life?

I love these fleeting moments. Keeping an eye out for them makes me feel a sense of whimsy, which I’ve realised I need to feel to thrive. On a less whimsical note, more people in the city are experiencing homelessness and poverty. We only get a glimpse of their reality. It’s a privilege to not experience – or even understand – the same hardship. Maybe luck has everything to do with it. I’m not sure.

Some of the published photographs date back several years. Has looking back through them changed the way you remember that time in your life?

Everything feeling more recent than it actually was is trippy. Oh, the passage of time. It’s relieving and nerve-wracking to know these photos hold those memories. 

A lot of the imagery captures people in motion and, as you say, that feeling of constantly being “on my way”. What is it about city life that keeps you coming back?

I love people-watching, how people navigate themselves and around others. In the city, it’s all condensed and so much stuff gets moved and shoved through it every day. There’s always something quietly unexpected and mysterious. 

You have a pop-up at PDA Store this week – how did this come about? 

I’m so excited [Belle and Sarah] are on board, lucky me! I love their style. I love vintage clothes. I think how they present their collections online is fab. Their world is so fun, fresh and eclectic. I wanted to share an essence of this messaging with Diary of a Lucky Seagull. And my friends over at Penny Sage love them, and I take word of mouth very seriously.

What are you most excited to do in Melbourne on this trip?

Catch up with old friends, meet new friends. Really keen to spend some time at First Edition Library on Collins Street. I haven’t stopped thinking about this Martin Parr book since seeing it pop up on my feed. Hopefully it’s still there – wish me luck.

After spending so much time looking through your own camera roll, what’s something you’ve photographed recently that you think deserves to be remembered?

What’s one thing you hope people take away from your book?

Hope they can have a laugh. Or cry. 

Finally, what’s the secret recipe to a good photo dump on Instagram?

Less dumping! They say a single picture is worth a thousand words but if you must dump, do so with confidence and get on with it.

Find ‘Diary of a Lucky Seagull’ here and keep up with Aileen here.