Merlin Bronques

The founder of lastnightsparty.com, party photographer extraordinaire Merlin Bronques snaps shots of the city's inebriated hipsters in various stages of undress.

Born in New York, the future photographer spent his early years in Montreal, where he had a quasi-promising showbiz career as a pop musician. He released five albums and ran an independent record label until his distributor went under. He was then signed to MCA, and released an album in 2001. He resurfaced a couple of years later as a nightlife photographer.

Whether it was just a case of great timing or because he has genuine talent, Bronques has attracted thousands of eyeballs to his site, filled with images of sweaty, almost-underage clubgoers. He was one of the first hipster photographers with a major net presence, and getting onto Bronques's site remains a badge of honor for attention-seeking nightflies. In 2006, he capitalized on his notoriety with greasy PBR-shotgunning teenagers with the coffee-table book Last Night's Party: Where Were You Last Night? Recently he shot ad campaigns for fashion brands such as Converse and Ben Sherman.