Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic (2015)
No trains run from south Germany to Karlovy Vary so I boarded a bus from Nürnberg and started the three and a half hour ride. It was 2015 and I was excited to finally meet Tereza Davle, a photographer that I had read about for some months. She was doing a portrait workshop and I decided to join.
Not necessarily because I thought I needed guidance in terms of lighting and equipment but because I wanted to know what was in her mind prior to starting one of her sensual portrait sessions. When I arrived I greeted the eight other participants and they were all shocked that I was shooting film.
The two models there spoke no English but the one spoke a bit of German and I was able to communicate with her a bit. day-time session was great. I made a few pictures using Kodak Tri-X film that I thought were ok. Later in the day we ate and then hit the streets for the second session at night around the city.
We all met up again around 1900 with cameras out. I had never done a partially nude portrait session with so many people walking around. I was surprised how open the models were and didn’t hesitate to assume positions in the middle of pedestrian traffic.
Everything was so professional, and Tereza gave me a few pointers on partial nude photography in public. “Just think of it as a romance movie and you are the director” she said. I never thought of taking that approach while doing a shoot. It was awesome advice.
I haven’t done a shoot like this since then but its not because I didn’t want to. I had a lot of fun that day in the Czech Republic. It would be the last time that I saw Tereza but the following year I met up with the models again to help on my “She Devil” shoot. It was an awesome experience.
