As I stepped onto our second background on the day; which was a dark grey, hand painted fabric and me wearing my black bodycon dress.., I knew I was in for a new experience.

There are plenty ways to showcase an outfit; I chose to hold my black blazer instead of wearing it. Sandra carefully re-arranged the way my blazer sat, so it’d look neater in the pictures. She worked on little details like this through out our shoot…
‘Can you drop your right arm a little lower?’; ‘Stretch your neck and drop your shoulders more…’; ‘Think of the body builder’s pose; it makes our waists look smaller.’ … I was being led by Sandra’s direction; I felt that she has a great understanding of the female body.
It’s the first time I’ve been photographed by a female photographer – not by choice; it’s just what happened! And I did feel, that from a female’s point of view, Sandra has a woman’s sensitivity about a woman’s body line.

‘Do you enjoy more being in front of the lens or behind the lens?’ Knowing that Sandra’s a formal international fashion model turned photographer, I couldn’t help myself to bring it up!
‘Behind the lens.’ She said, without hesitation.
‘Why is that?’ I asked.
‘Because I can be more creative.’ She said.
The model gene definitely runs in the family. Sandra’s only son Reuben, who’s based in Paris; is also an international top model; right now he’s about to be flown from Tokyo to New York for a major campaign.

‘Guess what? We run out of film!’ Sandra jokingly said.
Our sets, including putting me on a large white wooden box and some chairs.., I listened to Sandra’s direction and stretched my body to a longer line. I’m not a fashion model; therefore, how do I appear taller and leaner in the pictures? Well, it requires some technique from us both and from the look of our results, I think Sandra has helped me achieve that.
To be continued…

Photography by: Sandra Ramacher