about "professional" models

You know that most oft the young women who model for me actually are not models. They are just "normal" girls who dare to open-up for me and my camera and let me discover the beauty of their naked body, the charms of their personal sensuality, and sometimes even more, or much more...

I prefer to work with them because what they show to me is authentic and real.

But there are also many so-called "professional" models who also offer themselves for nude photos in social networks. A few of them (very few!) are actually professional, have retained their natural, own personality and are willing and able to engage with the style and concerns of the photographer. A good example of such a positive exception is the US-American Kyotocat, who happily made use of her exceptionally strong body hair and traveled around the world as a model. She visited me two times in Barcelona, the series I published here in my gallery between 2017 and 2019.

The vast majority of self-proclaimed professionals, however, are not suitable for my photography, or only to a very limited extent. Many of them have a completely exaggerated self-image, because they think that thousands of likes on Instagram make them special, although absolutely every woman, completely independent of her appearance, gains thousands of followers within a short time, if she only lets it be known that she also has what all women have...

They study expressions and poses in front of the mirror, or today with the selfie function of their cell phones, of which they believe that they are particularly attractive and their followers confirm them in this assumption with likes. They edit their pictures with filters, make their eyes bigger, their lips fuller, their waist slimmer, their poses sexier - and in the end they believe they look like that themselves.

I find it impossible to look for models on Instagram, although I'm sure there would be worthwhile exceptions. But after two minutes of scrolling, I get bored and delete the app again for a year or two. Especially the so-called "influencers", firstly, they all look so extremely similar that I can hardly tell them apart. Secondly, and even worse, they look exactly the same in all photos, no matter who took them, because they have only one rehearsed facial expression and always use the same, also rehearsed, poses that everyone else uses, too.

If I then accept a so-called "professional" model despite everything, it has more to do with my despair, because I simply haven't found anyone normal, than with my desire to photograph exactly this young woman. And - just apart from the few exceptions - I am disappointed afterwards, because these models are no longer able to just be themselves, to relax and just move normally and loosely in front of the camera. Despite all my efforts to create a relaxed atmosphere and encourage them to forget their rehearsed behavior for a moment, they always immediately fall back into their standard expressions and poses that don't really interest me.

Today I'll show you three series from Tuscany that I've been "hiding" for years.

Cody, a model from England, is definitely a very pretty and also likeable girl with a beautiful feminine slim and youthful body that she likes to show. The photos of her are also really beautiful.

But once you look past the alluring young curves and focus more on the poses and expressions, you quickly see that Cody (aside from a few moments with the little kitten) never forgot to stick to her own image. She always tried to make sure I didn't see "too much" and was always thinking (obviously to me) about how she looked and her pose.

But the photos are quite beautiful and often sexy and there is really nothing wrong with the model physically. Besides, I think that in the new series with both models the difference between a free, wild, happy and natural model and a "professional" model is very clearly visible - and that although Yana at this time for sure already had more experience as a model, especially with me but also with other photographers, than most so-called professionals.

And so today I show you two long forgotten series, plus very exclusively a series together with Yana, which I have edited only today and show publicly for the first time.

Artistic outdoor nude photographs, once something different, which I hope you like!