The Artisan Magazine presents Fashion Underground — a raw, electric fusion of style and self-expression. Each new issue will bring you looks that lift, images that move, and fashion that says what we look like when we become the art.
Introduction to St. Pete’s Brian James
St. Pete often sells itself as a postcard of sunshine—beaches, murals, and palm trees bending in Gulf breezes. But beneath that familiar surface, another side of the city thrives: a creative community of artists, designers, and photographers finding inspiration in unexpected corners. At the center of this movement is Brian James, a photographer who has become both a documenter and a driving force in St. Pete and Tampa’s growing art & fashion scene.
James’s work doesn’t chase traditional beauty. Instead, his lens focuses on ambition, tension, beauty and the effort behind the style. His photographs are striking not just for the design and style of the clothes, but for the energy around them—the long nights, makeshift studios, lighting, the improvisation that turns alleyways or warehouses into runways, and fashion into identity.
“Tampa Bay has beauty,” Brian explains, “but it’s not always clean. It’s unpredictable. I want my photos to reflect that.”
Raised in Pinellas County, Brian came from skate culture and street photography before turning to fashion. Where others saw limitations, he saw possibilities, staging shoots in unconventional spaces—parking garages, strip malls, beaches, abandoned buildings as well as his “conventional” studio above Florida Craft on Central Ave in St Pete. His images often look less like polished magazine spreads and more like fragments of a story, full of mood and intensity.
Designers praise the edge he gives their collections, setting them apart from resort-wear clichés. Collaborators describe his shoots as spontaneous and high-energy, sometimes demanding but always memorable.
What’s clear is that, while technically precise, Brian’s photography resists the overly polished perfection dominating social media. His images are human, textured, and immediate—capturing both the style and the struggle. A recent series shot in an old Clearwater motel, for example, paired couture gowns with a faded Florida backdrop, sparking conversations online about beauty, decay, and resilience.
Today, Brian is recognized as a catalyst within the region’s fashion community, encouraging designers, models, and stylists to take risks and think beyond the expected. His reputation is reaching beyond Florida, with interest from larger fashion markets, but he remains deeply connected to St. Pete. “This city feeds me,” he says. “It’s messy, it’s beautiful, and it inspires me every day.”
What makes Brian stand out is his ability to connect local fashion to something larger. His photographs speak to the universal struggle of creating art in overlooked places, turning the edges into images that wouldn’t look out of place in national magazines. That duality—local roots, global resonance—has made him an unofficial ambassador for a creative scene still carving out its identity. In many ways, Brian embodies the spirit of St. Pete itself: resourceful, restless, and unwilling to settle for clichés.
What also sets him apart is the way he collaborates. Brian doesn’t treat fashion as a solitary pursuit; he thrives in the intersections, working with musicians, muralists, and performance artists to create visuals that feel layered and immersive.
So what do we look like through the lens of photographer Brian James? Whether it’s street fashion, black tie, museum opening, artist studio wear, beach adornment, gallery opening or dive bar, there is no life experience that does not involve FASHION of some type or another. With, of course, Brian showing us things his way! •
