Some locations are so overwhelming that you find yourself wondering whether you're supposed to photograph them or just stand there in awe. This apartment above the rooftops of Vienna was one of them.
The apartment belonged to a five-star hotel in Vienna — two floors, with huge open rooms, a winter garden, a view across the entire city and a roof terrace with its own outdoor shower. The kind of flat where, as an ordinary mortal, you could spend roughly one night before going broke. I was allowed to use it for a whole afternoon, free of charge, because the hotel's management liked my work enough to hand me the key. You don't forget that.
Geli wasn't there this time — she didn't have a slot free, and I say it reluctantly: her own fault. What she missed I held over her in the months that followed, as reliably as she retaliates in the way that only she retaliates. In her place came Anny — who, as a makeup artist, not only did a great job but immediately understood which direction each look was meant to go in. People like that don't come along every day, and that made the day distinctly more relaxed than a two-hour window and a series of planned looks would usually allow.
My wife came along too — and used the day pragmatically by settling herself on the roof terrace and simply letting us get on with it. A form of company I cannot only not begrudge her, but with a location like that I'd argue it's the only sensible option.
Nika is from Ukraine and a professional model in every sense the word can mean — prepared, present, with a natural certainty in front of the camera that saves you about two thirds of the usual instructions. In the two hours available we captured a whole range of images, from editorial to portrait to fine art, and at the end I had more usable material than from many shoots that go on all day.
This gallery is a selection from what came out of that afternoon — in an apartment that was almost too good to believe, with a model who wore every look as if it had been written for her, and in an atmosphere in which nothing felt rushed, even though we were on the clock the entire time.
Thanks to Nika for the professionalism and the patience, to Anny for the makeup work that carried every image, to my wife for the best on-set catering in the world — and to the hotel's management, who handed me, with this location, one of the most beautiful gifts a photographer can receive.