Lousy Creative is a Tasmanian photography and creative agency founded by husband and wife duo - Andrew and Olivia Hasler. Andrew also manages a cafe in Hobart and is the front man for punk rock band A.Swayze and the Ghosts while Olivia is also a Doctor, photographer and model.

Together they like to explore different mediums and ways to create the magic content and imagery for brands like ours. For us at Childe its about creating good things with good people so we felt compelled to work with and trust Andrew and Olivia in creating something unique for our brand. This shoot didn't actually go to plan due to natures elements but thats also what makes it great.

Hi Andrew and Olivia - How did Lousy Creative come about?
We started Lousy officially in June last year. Before that, Olivia was photographing for small businesses while doing her PhD and Andrew was designing all of the poster, logo, and merch for his band, A. Swayze and the Ghosts. When the pandemic hit and the band needed a music video for their single ‘Cancer’ but couldn’t meet in person, we worked together to create a stop motion animation video. It involved 90s children’s toys and fake blood – it was weird and great. That was really the beginning of Lousy and the beginning of wanting to create together for a living.

You were going to live in Europe somewhere?
Our plans have changed so many times that it’s a running joke that we’ll never get off this island. To be fair, it’s a pretty great island to be stuck on. We were going to move to the US in April last year, but we all know what happened in April last year. We then planned to move to Poland, where half of Olivia’s family is from, but the Australian Government issued an international travel ban days after we bought our one-way tickets. So we’re here to stay, at least for the next few years.

Where is your creative agency located exactly?
We are based in Hobart, Tasmania. We run Lousy out of the home office in our little unit that’s right next to the beach. While we don’t have a space for the public to visit, our current set up is a major step up from the one we had when we first started – working literally out of Andrew’s mum’s closet!

What do you feel is unique about being in located in Tasmania to create diverse and amazing content for brands? 
Tasmania is definitely a unique place to start a creative agency. Hobart is smaller than most capital cities, but what it lacks in population it makes up for in charm and talent. There are so many Tasmanian brands that are doing incredible things, making use of the pristine environment we live in. The nature is unparalleled in beauty. There’s a thriving arts scene and we know some really talented people in the creative space that are happy to answer our questions or occasionally lend us some equipment, which is so nice. There’s competition of course, but it’s not as cut-throat as we’d imagine some other places are.

What was your original concept for the Childe Wilde shoot?
We go on drives through the country quite frequently, and are always awestruck by the surreal landscape. Tasmania’s dry rolling hills have a deep yellow colour to them, and are scattered with stark white trees that are twisted and curved to look almost statue-like by the wind. It looks like something out of a Salvador Dali painting! We wanted to hang massive fluorescent-coloured acrylic sheets against this alien-looking hilly backdrop. The juxtaposition between natural and manmade would make for such a fun set to go with Childe Wilde’s provocatively coloured sunglasses.

Who are the people in the shoot?
One of the models is Wes, a member of the Hobart-based band ‘Slag Queens’. We saw them play at Junction Arts Festival in Launceston in November, just as we were producing this shoot. When Wes came out playing some sort of instrument made out of a power drill, we looked at each other and thought: that’s our guy. He has such a cool look, we had to get him involved. 

The other model is Kiarna. It was her first time modelling although she was recently signed with Bella Model Management. She was great to work with and gave some serious Blue Steel! 

Then there’s Olivia, who moves from one side of the camera to the other effortlessly. She totally didn’t write this.

What actually happened on the day?
Oh boy, where do we start? It was a lesson in not relying on the weather for the entire concept to work, to say the least. In the days leading up to the shoot, we were constantly checking the weather reports for rain. Luckily it didn’t rain but we neglected to check the wind report – it was brutal! The acrylic sheets were meant to hang on c-stands but as soon as we hung the first one, the wind knocked it right over. When we went to pick it up, we noticed that it was scratched up by what has to be the world’s sharpest grass. So the sheets were essentially ruined in the first hour. We tried having Andrew hold them up for a bit and got some awesome shots with Wes, but then the wind picked up and we called it quits. In the end we packed up the sheets and compromised by shooting against the natural landscape. You can’t win them all.

What did you learn and love about the fact that sometimes you just can’t beat the elements?
We learned that the more control you can have in a shoot, the better, and that Mother Nature can’t be tamed. When shooting outdoors there needs to be a possibility to reschedule. In our case, we already had so much invested in the day, from a nearby Airbnb hire to hair and makeup, so we went ahead with it even though in hindsight we should have called it off. It is definitely humbling though. 

How does Lousy Creative bounce back and create the magic for Childe again?
At the end of the day, we consider ourselves to be artists, so we really appreciate how trusting and relaxed Childe is when we approached with an idea. That’s how magic is made. Anything too contrived or too closely based on other brands’ previous campaigns is boring - and neither Lousy nor Childe is boring. We’d love to shoot for Childe in Byron, and down the track we’d love to retry the acrylic idea, but in a studio with complete control!

What’s your next exciting project for you both?
Lousy Creative also offers design and branding services in addition to photography and videography. We have been recently brought on to do a rebrand of a Tasmanian organisation. We can’t reveal anything just yet, but it’s going to be big. Check our Instagram for updates! @lousycreative