I was heading back to London from a short visit to Falmouth, camera bag by my side, when I noticed the woman opposite me was travelling with a serious amount of photo gear. As a fellow photographer, curiosity got the better of me. I leaned in, asked the question every photographer knows is coming, “What are you working on?”, and that was how I met Rose Callahan and Nathaniel “Natty” Adams.
Rose is a New York–based photographer with a gift for portraiture that makes you feel you’re in the same room as her subjects. Natty is a writer with an eye for style and the words to capture it. Together, they’re the creative minds behind I Am Dandy: The Return of the Elegant Gentleman and its follow-up, We Are Dandy: The Elegant Gentleman Around the World.
Images from both books - Copyright: gestalten
Between Exeter and Reading
It turned out they were on the tail end of a whirlwind day; they’d boarded after Exeter after completing a shoot for their latest dandy project and were heading for Reading to photograph another subject before the day was done.
When I mentioned I was also a photographer, the conversation lit up. They showed me images from their previous book, and there he was, “Soho George”, a familiar face in the London scene and someone I’d photographed myself a few years back. I pulled up my image from 2021 — George in a pinstripe suit, layered with a waistcoat and scarf, proudly pointing to his name stitched inside the lining. We laughed at the coincidence and the fact that George was wearing virtually the same dandy-style suit in both pictures. Some things, and some people, never change.
The World of the Dandy
Rose and Natty’s work is far more than a catalogue of well-dressed men. It’s about the culture, personality, and sometimes sheer audacity that comes with living life as your own work of art.
The first book, I Am Dandy, delved into the lives of 57 modern dandies — men who take clothing and presentation as seriously as any artist takes their craft. The sequel, We Are Dandy, widened the scope to a global stage, from Tokyo’s refined tailoring houses to Johannesburg’s vibrant street style.
Their portraits are sumptuous and detailed; Natty’s profiles are equal parts biography and cultural commentary. Together, they don’t just document outfits — they capture identities.
Nathaniel Adams, co-author of the book "I am Dandy," discusses the cultural history of dandyism, gives a tour of his personal wardrobe, and examines the way the theatrics of fashion relate to a person's inner character.
A Brief Encounter
By the time the train reached Reading, our conversation had moved from photography to travel to the quirks of the people we meet through our lenses. It was a short, chance encounter, but a memorable one.
And what better moment to reflect on it than during World Photography Week, when photographers around the globe share stories of how the camera connects us? My meeting with Rose and Natty was just that: a reminder that photography is not only about the pictures we make, but about the conversations, laughter, and shared humanity that sit behind every image.
As the doors closed behind them, heading off to their next elegant gentleman, I thought about the photo I’d just taken of the two of them on the train. In its way, it’s part of their story now, a little behind-the-scenes moment from the making of a future book. And for me, it’s proof that sometimes the most meaningful frames happen when you least expect them, somewhere between Exeter and Paddington.
