With the year finally winding down, we can virtually smell the sweet scent of zero responsibility and back-to-back great times doing whatever the fuck you want to do everyday. This sentiment is certainly not lost on Perth-based creative (and Pilerats’ head videographer) Tay Kaka, who has set out to document one of the most enjoyable parts of the end-of-year/new year  holidays – those summer relationships. Now this doesn’t necessarily mean romantic relationships, of course, with time off from the daily grind allowing you to spend more time with basically anyone who means a lot to you, and in a recent shoot shared with us, Tay explores the very intimate connection between female friends.

“Ever since primary school I’ve always noticed just how intensely close two girl best friends are to each other. It’s as though they are in the emotional honeymoon phase of an intimate relationship, without the sexuality. I kind of wanted to capture my own interpretation of how that would feel. Only to then have it slip away.”

His series “Pairs” looks at the kinds of relationships that are fostered or dissolved during the months of December and January – a traditional time of transition. We’re happy to present to you the second part of this project, ‘Early January’ which explores Tay’s fascination with the aforementioned friendship and how that ebbs and flows when faced with the high likelihood of change leading into another new year. The photos are accompanied by a fitting short film (below) which further captures the tension felt during these times.

See the full photography series in our gallery above.

Pairs: pt II – Early January from TK on Vimeo.

• Photography: Tay Kaka