Mordechai Rubinstein is better known to his 125,000 Instagram followers as Mister Mort, the street style photographer, “garmentologist”, and “reluctant anthropologist” known for his passion for what other people are wearing. He has worked for the likes of Vogue and GQ, has instigated numerous popular hashtags, and even hosted his own radio show, Voices in My Head.

Rubinstein’s wonderful career is a far cry from his original calling. He was in Israel, training to be a Rabbi, when he decided it wasn’t for him and dropped out halfway through his studies. He returned to New York where he began working in high fashion. However, his passion for the unorthodox fashions of some of the Big Apple’s less-celebrated residents kept catching his attention, and at a friend’s suggestion, he began uploading them to Flickr before starting a Tumblr blog. This eventually elevated to Instagram where he really began building his brand. He was approached by Men’s Vogue to become an editor, was then employed as a correspondent and fashion expert by GQ magazine, and so his career as a photographer and garmentologist extraordinaire was complete.

As well as hosting radio shows on the topic of clothes, Rubinstein has also written a book, Dead Strange: A Long Strange Trip into the Magical World of Tie-Dye, which was published in 2020.