The fashion week heard all over the world said farewell last week, and we’ve got the scoop on the send off with some pics from Fashion Indie’s Young Guns party. You can check out more shots care of photog Pat Miller, who seems to have taken a shine to GURU Energy Drink after being introduced to it while covering the festivities at The Delancey.

In his own (unsolicited) words: “After 29 cans down, my roomy Dave sure loves it too. Damn son!” Right back at you, Pat and Dave. Damn son everybody!

Okay, enough reminiscing. Time to get in gear for Montreal Fashion Week, starting October 13. After NYFW and Pop Montreal, you’re going to need beauty sleep and a major battery recharge (of course, GURU will always be there to help you fake it ‘til you make it).

Neil Mota has gone and done it. As we announced last week, the Montreal-based photographer’s pic of gas masked GURU drinking won him first prize in our Street Style Photo Challenge. We thought we’d tell you all a little bit more about the winning artist…

An old school portrait artist, the majority of Mota’s photography is done in black and white, he always uses film and he develops his own work (meaning that $500 Astral Photo gift certificate should come in handy pretty soon).

Mota is of Scottish and Portuguese descent and both one of four brothers and a father of four boys himself (meaning the year’s supply of GURU should come in handy, too!).

“The photographers whose work I admire the most are Irving Penn and Richard Avedon,” says Mota, who is currently working on a book of portraits of approximately 300 artists.

Check out his upcoming photo exhibition, “Skulls,” which will take place September 4-6 at Windsor station during the Montreal Tattoo Convention.

Portrait of Neil Mota c/o Matthew Kingsley Williston

It’s been a month since six GURU-approved photographers went head-to-head at the Montreal Fashion & Design Festival, grabbing volunteers off the street for impromptu fashion shoots and posting their best pics online. The people have voted, and the winner is…

…Neil Mota! Only a truly talented photographer could put someone in an apocalyptic, GURU-fueled gas mask and still make it sexy as hell.

He wins a thousand bucks, a $500 gift certificate from Astral Photo and a year’s supply of GURU Energy Drink (15 cases of 24 x 355mL cans of his choice) – a total cash value of $2200. Congrats Neil and a VERY warm thanks from the GURU team to all the participating photographers (and their willing models)!

Got fond-but-hazy memories of playing in the park to the world’s top DJs every Sunday at Piknic Électronik in Montreal? Take a break from shaking it and hit GURU’s photo tent for an impromptu, high energy fashion shoot. It’ll give you a chance to cool down/look cool, saves you from strapping a camera to your dance wear and lets you capture the moment… the sun… the good vibes… the beginning of a short-but-sweet summer romance with that trance dancer you met by the washrooms…

Photographers will be on site July 12, August 23 and September 5 and 6 and you can pick up your photos (or check out all the fun you missed) in the next few days in our photo gallery here.

July 12: Justin Long (US) + JT Donaldson (US) + Fred Everything (CA/US)

August 23: SIESTES ÉLECTRONIQUES @ PIKNIC : Joakim (FR) + Jackson (FR) + TBC + Guests made in Toulouse, TBA !

September 5: James Holden (UK) + Creator (CA) + FM Radio Gods (CA)

September 6: Misstress Barbara (CA) + Romeo Kardec (CA) + PFreud (CA)

From NOW until July 23, 2009, you can vote for your three favorite pics from the GURU photo challenge via http://www.guruenergy.com/#/photochallenge/

Show our photographers some love, and you could win a year’s worth of GURU Energy Drinks

Tired of pouting into your laptop camera and filling your Facebook profile with blurry candids? Montreal’s best photographers want to make us all models, three hours at a time. They’re taking turns shooting stylish passers-by at GURU’s guerilla photo studio, set up just steps away from the catwalk as part of Montreal’s Festival Mode + Design.

Check out the shooting schedules below or on Facebook and figure out whose look you like. Then head down to Ave. McGill College and pretend you “just happened to be walking by.”

Afterwards you can see the shots here on the site and vote for the best photog. The winner gets a cash prize, a gift certificate for Astral Photo and enough GURU to keep them snapping all year long.

The competitors include:

Vladimir Antaki Wednesday, 7.30 to 11pm DONE!!!

Francois Pedneault TONIGHT!!! Thursday, 4 to 7.30pm

Karim Tabar TONIGHT!!! Thursday, 7.30 to 11pm

Richmond Lam Friday, 4 to 7.30pm

Neil Mota Friday, 7.30 to 11pm

Nico Stinghe Saturday, 7.30 to 11pm