Sweden Tour Trilogy – The Ultimate Diva

Runaway bride

Last instalment of my Sweden Tour blog!  By now, you will have seen the many gorgeous work of Tokyo photographer Dmitri Reyer.  First outdoors nude with breathtaking landscape then indoors for the more gloomy moody erotica and fetish stuff.  It certainly goes without saying about working with someone just as lively, positive, versatile and open-minded as me:  we collaborate as a team and have so much fun shooting together which reflects on the photographs.  Whilst Dmitri took every opportunity to snap randomly at home with family and in town and was one of the few official photographers at Pole Art 2012, I was most honoured to be his model throughout the trip! 

Our third and last photoshoot during the Tour was another wonderful experience.  Or should I say quite a Diva experience?  This time, we had a make-up artist and hairstylist! Katherina Nikolitsti Andersson is a friend of Dmitri out here in Sweden.  Not only is she very skilled at her stuff but she’s also a sweet and lovely person.  We shot at her place, a beautiful home in Rotebro near Stockholm with plenty of space and natural light from all the huge windows.   And what a perfect venue! Normally, I do my own make-up and hair as I trained in them many years ago, but I realise now what a rut I’ve been in with the same old style.  One gets too comfortable!  It was refreshing to have a change:  Smoky silver/grey eyes with big thick lashes, pale lipstick and voluminous hair.  Simple but stunning with this retro-60s finish, the era I adore so much.

Debutante

One of my now-favorite portrait images was taken then.  Both Katherina and her father design also jewelry, and it was such an honour to be able to don them on.   I wore a beautiful silver necklace and matching dangly earrings. Dmitri took some headshots which turned out oh so “wow” which got over 30 likes on FB alone!  Makes me realise I should use skilled make-up artists and hairstylists more often.  It looks more polished as well as professional.  So if anyone out there can recommend one in Amsterdam, do give me a holler!

Then of course we also shot some nude images.  How can we omit that? A perfectionist at lighting, Dmitri expertly shot quite some classy nude shots by the huge window.   In one of them, I was posing inside one the four panes, and it looked as if I was a miniature doll trying to escape, reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland.  We also shot some beautiful nude images in front of the fireplace from an angle which made my legs look as if they’d grown a foot longer.  Then there is that impromptu bodyscape one, as he told me to stop and pose because the light from the window was at the right place when I was sitting under the dining room table during my silly moments. 

Fireplace

Lastly we worked on a bridal theme.  We also wanted to showcase Katherina’s jewelry so I was lying down on the sofa loosely draped in a white lace material which was apparently a sample from her bridal gown and adorned with some of the beaded necklaces which Katherina had created.   I’ve yet to see the results of that one!  We of course captured some bridal headshots of me looking so young and innocent (!) and look forward to seeing the results of that too.  Then Katherina had to nip out for a while to pick up her daughter from childcare so Dmitri and I got up to some mischief by sneaking in some shots of me making silly faces and doing some naughty “legs exposed” poses in my bridal outfit.  Well we must say one of them turned out unexpectedly “OMG that’s so beautiful” and even classy enough for the fashion pages in Vogue. Amazing what a bit of unplanning can do!

There is another thing that made the day’s shoot so much fun.  Katherina was being model too!  As rather new to it herself as her mainstay is make-up and hair, it was so lovely to see someone blossom and radiate in front of the camera.  I too had so much fun observing as third-party and even playing Dmitri’s assistant as I held the reflectors and learnt quite a bit about lighting.  Katherina was posing for a pin-up look and with her beautiful smile and lively personality, I think she pulled it off quite well.  So keep smiling, girl!

So that concludes our Sweden Tour!  One of the wonderful things about working with Dmitri is that though he takes his photography seriously and could be candid when directing, he is such a good laugh and makes photoshoots so fun. In fact, when I took some months off from modelling and seriously considered packing it all in, it was through his moral support and seeing the results from our early shoots that I decided to give it another go.  So don’t let his perfectionist ways and immaculately presented work put you off.   Thanks, Dmitri, it was such a great pleasure working with you in Sweden, and I certainly look forward to more when am in Japan next!

Window Dressing

Dmitri is busy perfecting his portfolio and working on his own gallery site but meanwhile, you can catch him and his work on his Facebook Page.