The man behind the magic.
Reaching and inspiring other women is one thing. Bringing all of these female trailblazers together is another and Converse has succeeded in doing both in their recent All The Stories Are True campaign.
Launching their new ‘Love The Progress’ collection, fronted by female trailblazers from all around the world, it was only natural New Zealand would play a part – and with the scale of the global campaign being so far-reaching, there’s no denying that capturing our local talent (consisting of social enterprise business owners NopeSisters, feminist and creative Josephine Oloito’a as well as the super-driven members of our MissFQ Collective) was a massive responsibility.
In order to depict an authentic and honest representation of these women, the person behind the camera played a massive part in bringing the Converse magic to life. That person goes by the name of Rob Corica, and as you can see from the photos above — he more than delivered the goods.
Miss FQ got his opinions on women’s empowerment, found out what makes him tick and discovered what’s next for this on-the-rise photographer:
What is your full name (and preferred name!), age, hometown and current location?
My full name is Robert Corica, but I prefer to go by Bobby or Rob. I was born in Melbourne, Australia but I’m living (at the moment) in Wellington, New Zealand.
Tell us a bit about yourself. What do you do? What do you aspire to do?
My story sadly isn’t super interesting. I don’t really have a single thing that I do. I picked up photography around three years ago but have only really started shooting seriously for a couple of years. I got involved in fashion photography because I was extremely interested in not only the garments themselves but also the production behind putting on fashion shows and shoots. Additionally, I’ve become more interested in slow fashion and consuming fashion in an ethical way. Photography and film-making had a massive role to play in allowing me to be involved with fashion. As I don’t have any design capabilities, I was able to engage with fashion in a way that allowed me to participate and work alongside people who I admire and share similar visions with.
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How has social media been a channel to help you express your thoughts/ideas/art with others?
Social media has been a great tool to share pretty much anything with anybody you want to share it with. For me, social media began as a way to have a virtual portfolio that was accessible to people at the literal click of a button. As social media began to evolve, it became a way for me to express myself generally. I put a lot of my writing up on social media, as well as other art projects I’ve participated in, such as ceramic-based projects, video-based projects and fabric-based projects.
I think it’s so much more important for us all to help each other, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, religion or race, because equality shouldn’t be a gendered experience, it should just be a human experience
Why do you think it’s more important now than ever for women to help one another?
Sadly, we still live in a world dominated by men. Equality is important in all instances. I think it’s important for women to help one another to establish gender equality. However, I think it’s so much more important for us all to help each other, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, religion or race, because equality shouldn’t be a gendered experience, it should just be a human experience.
How did you come to be involved in the Converse x Miss FQ ‘All Her Stories Are True’ campaign and why did you want to be involved?
I became involved in the campaign through the NopeSisters, Brit and Johanna Cosgrove. They’re both dear friends of mine and I think their voices are extremely important. They raise money and spread awareness for social issues that need to be addressed and are sadly, sometimes overlooked. After reading about Bhavana and Josie, I wanted to be a part of the campaign even more. I found what they were doing really inspiring. Ultimately, I wanted to be a part of the campaign because I wanted to assist in spreading a message that I believe in.
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From a male perspective, what do you think it means to be a girl in the 21st century?
As a man, I have absolutely no perspective as to what it means to be a woman in the 21st century. I don’t necessarily think that it’s productive to insert men into female/feminist spaces, but from what my friends (who are women) have told me, it’s about creating a narrative that is reserved for women and about achieving true equality in a world run by gender bias.Our job, as men, is to listen, learn, call out misogynistic behaviour and assist the feminist plight (when asked, of course). We should all want equality.
Our job, as men, is to listen, learn, call out misogynistic behaviour and assist the feminist plight (when asked, of course). We should all want equality.
How did you feel seeing the final outcome of the photos and the message behind it?
I really enjoyed seeing the final images, particularly because I feel like the reflected the vibe of the shoot when it was taking place. All the shoots were extremely fun to be on, especially because of how well everyone got along. It’s always really great when it doesn’t really feel like a photo shoot and it feels more like you’re hanging out and getting to know somebody – the photos were a bonus! I feel like the images were a good representation of the message behind the campaign because my images all reflected places that were significant to each of the women in the campaign. The images hold the weight of the message because it felt like each person was telling me their own story while the shoot was going on.
Define your style.
My style is pretty volatile sometimes. I can go weeks solely wearing all black and then I’ll get bored and wear almost nauseating amounts of colour. Nice fabrics are important to me, but I’ll wear pretty much anything. I kind of see all clothing as unisex, so there are no real limits to what I like to wear.
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How do you deal with negativity – on social media, in life – and keep trucking on?
There’s no simple answer to dealing with negativity because negativity manifests for everyone in a lot of different ways. A lot of the negativity that influences me comes from an internal place and navigating that is extremely different from dealing with negativity from an external source such as social media. For me it’s all about finding balance, and about neutralising the bad with the good, especially when the positives feel really distant and disparate. It’s important to have a strong support network around you. My friends and my family are so important to me and have helped me out of some really dark places simply by letting me know that they were there.
What’s next in the pipeline for you?
I want to move to Europe within the next year. I tend to get restless when I stay in one place for too long and I’ve really loved the experience of moving cities and creating an entirely new network of people from scratch. I would love to do that again. Moving cities gives you the opportunity to re-invent yourself and allows for your work to evolve. You also get to see what you’re capable of and how far you can push yourself to succeed.
Images: Rob Corica, Instagram
This article is brought to you in partnership with Converse and their new ‘Love The Progress’ collection – designed by an all-female team and inspired by women past and present who are moving the needle for the next generation. The edgy-yet-feminine collection uses cute details, such as the heart motifs on the side of and under the sole, plus meaningful text, fun prints and cool colour-ways. Available online at converse.com.au, in-store at Converse Sylvia Park, Converse Manukau, Converse St Lukes & selected retailers across the country.
