It was Christmas day, 25th of December some years ago. Yana, the wonderful Argentinian girl that I discovered in Barcelona as a model - and then as a girlfriend - and I were travelling for Christmas to Venice.
Because we booked late we had the luck to get a nice room in a good hotel. And that room had a large cupboard. My fantasy (always very inspired by the present of this so very lively and playful young girl) told me: what, if somebody would have forgotten something of value in there?
And so I opened the cupboard - and look what I found - a real, marvelous Christmas present! How could somebody leave something so extremely delightful? :-)
Well, that was the idea I proposed to Yana, because, you know - she just came naked out of the shower and when I saw her I could only think about two things. One was to take photos of her.
Of course I always love to take photos of beautiful young women, but when the model at the same time is a lover, or even better: somebody really close whom I know profoundly, who knows me very well and with a true connection that goes further and deeper than just sexual interest, then it's really the ideal situation. And when this loved model is a little playful cat, willing to show herself without any limits, to take unusual poses and enjoys a photo session, then a photographers dream comes true.
Well, with Yana many dreams have come true, not only here in Venice at this unforgettable Christmas day...
So I took the three small, handheld battery flashes that I had with me. I put the strong one to give an ambient light. A second one flashed indirectly and soft into the dark cupboard, and the third one I placed on camera's flash shoe with very little power, just to produce some reflexes in the hair (all hairs :-) ).
It took me a while, because it was not easy to avoid deep shadow inside of the cupboard and reflexes on the white front and on the TV (besides: if you look at the TV images - in some photos they are really fun at could be chosen deliberately to emphasize the context, but it was coincidence, and when in the last image it says in Italian "Love makes me angry" then this maybe was an omen for what came much later, but in this moment it didn't conform to our feelings...).
It took me my even a bit longer, because the playful naked girl in the room was... well, playful. In some photos it's obvious what I mean.
Still, we really did a serious photo session. I think many very beautiful and special pictures have been created. And some of them come very close to my personal ideal of "art porn", where an image transmits lust and sexual arousal and still is an artistic, thoughtfully arranged photography.
The last images in fact are not part of the session, but when I said to Yana "thank you, I've got it" she didn't really want to stop, she was exhilarated and full of joy about the session and went back to the cupboard, so that I will go after her to search my, or our, Christmas present. I added some of those last snapshots for you.
Enough gossip for today.
I wish you a Merry Christmas and thank you for being such a wonderful, generous patron for my work. You are my best Christmas present! Thank you!