Jesse's Symphony

The cracked pavements tell the stories of their wanderers. Existing in the safe cocoon, where the lurking sense of solitude shields the walls, laughter, touch, and randomness can be found in every little detail. The sun’s gleam shining through the window warms the skin like another person’s hand. Just a young man flying by. There is always the magic of a first encounter; a vibrant tribute of a human connection; a path not yet explored.

Sinking in a velvet chair, Jesse James at Chapter Management laughs on cue. A tête-à-tête with our thoughts, silence is not the symphony of loneliness but freedom. As we move with the sun, photographer Jessica Mahaffey captures the profound shift of perspective, unsaddled by the frame of mind, no less.

There's nothing so remarkable than the armour of a windbreaker shielding us against the frosty bites of a Northern breath. As chills dance on skin, hugging the cheeks, making them rosy, a whiff of summer air enters the lungs. A soft touch of the sweater’s sleeve travels from arms to heart while a robust silver ring strongly hugs the finger, weighing heavy on the body with its cold mass. It is brunch on an afternoon when stylist Nathan Henry carefully folds a deliberate bit of storytelling on Jesse: where the beginning and end of a story meet in the same thread. Subtly revealing a collar, these clothes are here to be close, make you feel as one with them. The details, as humble as they may seem, make the mighty eye travel left and right, up and down.

What we learn is that even if you take the same dusty old road, you can arrive somewhere new. We can find the touch and warmth everywhere - in hands wrapped around a mug of tea, in a sleeve of a favourite jumper, in someone’s gaze, in silence - the symphony of freedom.