Jak and Jil's Tommy Ton shoots from the heel

Style watchers and shoe lovers know that when they’re craving a heavy dose of style and shoe porn, it only takes one visit to jakandjil.com to satiate their desire.

Whereas other fashion photography blogs feature photos of well-dressed folks working and hamming it up for the camera, jakandjil.com captures the high-octane, high-fashion, behind-the-scenes energy of Fashion Week.

There’s Carine Roitfeld and her French Vogue team emerging from the tents. Models dashing out to their next show. The Traina sisters posing for the fashion paparazzi. Not to mention, a gallery that boasts serious shoe candy worn by influential style setters.

From vintage Edmundo Castillo sandals on L’Uomo Vogue editor Giovanna Battaglia to Christophe Decarnin’s yet-to-be-released Balmain moccasin booties on Anna Dello Russo of Vogue Nippon, to Nicholas Kirkwoods in a variety of shapes and colors as worn by editors and models. You’ll see it here, up close you can almost own it.

The images from jakandjil.com are so vivid, distinct and alive, clearly there’s a serious love for fashion behind each photo.

On The Radar interviews Tommy Ton, the trained eye that zooms in on what’s hot and what’s next.

ON THE RADAR: We want to know more about you! Tell us about yourself and what were you doing before Jak and Jil? 

TOMMY TON: I’m 25 years old. I was born in Toronto, Canada and I still live and base myself here. I’ve been working in fashion since I was 16. I’ve worked in different areas of the industry like retail, fashion design and production, styling, etc. But it wasn’t until I worked for luxury retailer Holt Renfrew that I wanted to work on something web-based but more like a magazine. So I set out to create a web magazine and taught myself web development and how to use a digital camera.

How did you get into photography and educate yourself about all things new in fashion? And why high-fashion, behind-the-scenes Fashion Week photos and shoes to die for?

Photography really happened by accident. I didn’t set out to be a photographer and I don’t know much about the technical aspects. I just really point and click and just rely on good subjects and my eye. 

I guess you can attribute my eye to my undying love for fashion. Since I was a teenager, I would drown myself in magazines constantly absorbing any information about designers, models, and clothes. To this day I’m always constantly reading blogs, magazines, and sourcing new information. 

Fashion really is my life and I live and breathe it. I have a strange gift for being able to remember things visually, that’s why I can easily point out if someone is wearing something by a certain designer and what season it’s from.

Why did you name your site Jak and Jil?

The name really came by accident.  I was just trying to brainstorm a name that represented male/female and the original spelling was taken. So I came up with a new version of Jack & Jill (Jak and Jil).

Did you really start blogging September 2008? You’ve gained a huge following in such a short span of time. How do you feel about being a worldwide hit?

Well, the blog was created last September. I had a site before that was like an archive for all the pictures I took but I wanted something that was more immediate and showcased my photos in a cleaner format. This horizontal candid style of photography I specialize in really came with the introduction of the blog. 

I didn’t anticipate the following that has come with the blog. It’s very surreal and I’m still surprised people are so intrigued by what I do.  It’s very rewarding knowing people like what I do but even more so when I find out the subjects I photograph read it as well, like certain Paris editors.

Do you keep track of your site stats? How many blog hits do you get in a day?

I do keep track of site stats. It tells me what pictures attract more traffic, which I keep in mind. I can attract from 20,000 to 25,000 unique visitors on a daily basis. It keeps growing.

You’ve been tapped to do campaigns for Lane Crawford HK and Complex Geometries. Would you say blogging has benefited you as a photographer in terms of putting your work out there?

Definitely! I never imagined that I would ever photograph a campaign yet alone a campaign for a luxury retailer for Lane Crawford. I also photographed a shoe campaign as well for British retailer Kurt Geiger this past spring for their fall/winter campaign. I still don’t consider myself a photographer, so to be photographing campaigns is pretty amazing.

Why do you prefer candid versus posed photos?

I started taking candid photos actually by accident. I started taking posed photos but then it became really competitive outside the shows to get someone to patiently stop for you and to make sure the background was nice, etc. It all just became too much of a hassle.  So I just started snapping away rather than setting up a shot and found capturing my subjects in motion more interesting. There was something about seeing an editor in her natural environment (outside a fashion show) that I found more visually stimulating 

Who are your favorite subjects among the fashion greats? I notice Kate Lanphear and Carine and her Vogue staff are constants in your blog. What is it about them that you adore? 

They’re just sensational women. They have amazing style and there’s an effortlessness about them that’s so alluring. I can’t help but want to take plenty of photos of them. You can never have enough pictures of the Paris Vogue team. I guess my site focuses primarily on the celebrities of the fashion industry and that’s my niche.

Every day is Fashion Week in your blog. What do you do when it’s not Fashion Week? 

That’s a challenge because that’s what my blog is all about. I do take enough photos to last me for the entire season but I’ve been trying to work on some side projects to keep the momentum going, for example, the Complex Geometries campaign.

I live in Toronto where fashion isn’t as exciting, so I guess I can’t help but feature only content from fashion month. Maybe if I lived in a city like New York, I’d have more opportunities to take more pictures.

What’s next for Tommy Ton and Jak and Jil?

I’m going to Asia to work on a special project and then I’m heading back to New York for Fashion Week. So it’s going to be a very busy season for me. It’s very exhausting but I love every moment of it.

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See more of Tommy Ton’s images at http://jakandjil.com/blog