Zac's journey to the cover
A little backstory. A lot of discipline.
And an exclusive pass inside...
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1. THE BACKGROUND:
What this cover means to me
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Growing up on the outskirts of rural Melbourne, I first picked up DNA magazine as a young and curious man learning what it meant to be gay. For a long time, I wondered how someone actually ends up on the cover.
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You see the final image. The lighting. The confidence. The polish. What you don’t necessarily see is the accumulation of choices that lead there. This cover is not just about how you look in one frame. It represents consistency. Backing myself before there was any obvious reward. Staying committed to growth even when it felt uncertain.
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Standing here signing copies at Fair Day feels surreal in the best way. It is a reminder that progress rarely happens in a straight line. Sometimes you see nothing until it comes all at once.
2. PREPARING FOR THE SHOOT:
The year I did not expect​
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If you had told me this time last year that I would be on the cover of DNA, I would not have believed you. But last year unfolded in a way I did not plan.
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The preparation for this shoot was not initially about the cover at all. It began with committing to a bodybuilding prep for a competition I competed in during September 2025. Structured training, including a lot of cardio. Strict nutrition. Tracking progress closely. Being intentional about where my time and energy went.
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There were days I felt flat. Days I was hungry and distracted. Bodybuilding forces you to sit with discomfort. It teaches you that results are built through repetition and that mindset carried directly into this shoot.
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What you see on the cover is not just a physique. It is months of focus, discipline, and choosing to stay consistent when it would have been easier not to.
3. THE DAY OF THE SHOOT:
Bringing the concept to life ​
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I have worked with Riley McFarlane a number of times now and I genuinely value the experience each time. They are photographers who build confidence as much as they capture images. A big part of my growth in modelling has come from learning to trust their direction and relax into the process.
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The concept for this issue was intentionally simple. We wanted it to feel intimate and residential, exploring a few different moods across the afternoon without overcomplicating it.
We shot in the afternoon and I was deep into prep mode. Hungry. Thirsty. Running on focus and a couple of small espressos in the background. There is a certain clarity that comes with that state. You feel stripped back but sharp.
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Not everything worked. We tested angles. Adjusted lighting repeatedly in the space. Tried variations that did not make the cut. But that experimentation is part of the craft.
For me one of the hardest parts was unlearning bodybuilding posing. On stage everything is controlled and calculated. For this kind of shoot, that approach had to soften. It was less about hitting positions and more about being present.
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Photographer Scott coached that shift patiently and skillfully, encouraging me to breathe and let go of tension. Because we had worked together before, there was already trust. They knew how to bring out the best in my body and how to adjust when something was not quite landing.
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By the end of the session, we were in a real flow together. That is when the images truly came together.
4. AFTER THE SHOOT:
When it landed
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One thing I learned through modelling is that an enormous amount of work happens in post-production. After the shoot wrapped, we had produced hundreds of images. Each one had to be reviewed carefully. It became a genuine collaboration deciding which handful would go back to DNA.
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At that stage, I assumed the images might be featured inside the issue. I was already grateful for that. The most nerve-wracking moment was waiting to hear whether they were happy with the final selections. Being on the cover was not even something I allowed myself to consider.
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I was travelling back from Brazil when I found out I would be on the February cover. Flying to Sydney via the United States gave me more than forty-eight hours to sit with it. To reflect. To think about what I wanted to say in the interview.
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I genuinely appreciated the opportunity to answer those questions thoughtfully and share more of myself beyond the images. This whole experience represents growth I did not fully anticipate and a version of myself I had to step into gradually. Fitness. Modelling. Storytelling. Creativity. All part of something I am building with intention.
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If you have come up to say hello, picked up a copy, or scanned this QR code out of curiosity, thank you. It genuinely means a lot. If you would like to see a little more of what happened around the shoot, and the side of the story that did not make it into print, you can access that below.