Musings

hi everyone!

when i finished my latest workshop five weeks ago. the very first thing i wanted to get across to everyone there was how important it is to discover your own personal muse. in greek mythology the muses are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. my aim in bringing up this topic was to say to everyone "go and find your muse!!!".

sometimes you meet your muse in person. if that happens you may even marry them. that is what happened to me when luba came into my life. it was fate and it was meant to happen.

at rare times during a career you come across these radiant elves that fuel the artist in you. valerie from mauritius (http://www.hegre.com/models/valerie) has the special look and the special character that really turn on the image maker in me. she simply dropped me an email one day and i could hardly believe my eyes. i had been searching intensively for such a model since i discovered naomi (http://www.hegre.com/models/naomi) in a strip bar in cape town, south africa back in 2005. the similarity in body type and skin tone was striking. just see the illustration.

i get a lot of weird emails and enquiries. but this proved to be the real thing. she was just about to get married. it was difficult to set a date for our first production that did not interfere with her wedding plans. but after some negotiations she came to barcelona. i could immediately sense the muse in her. fragile and innocent she was posing nude professionally for the first time but still willing and curious to explore this gaze from my camera.

i am recently back from mauritius where valerie introduced us to her homeland. (http://www.hegre.com/travels/38/day/1) it was our 3rd production together in 3 months and it will not be the last. during some intense days we produced material enough to fill a library. that is what happens when "the force is with you".

1 + 1 = 3. that is what the muse is all about.

petter