File:Monochrome Mornings (23761126306).jpg

View the full post and all of her images HERE

Camera - Sony A7RII Lens - Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 ZA Shutter Speed - 1/80th Aperture - f/1.8 ISO - 640

There comes a time in every photographers life when we finally discover our muse. We happen upon the reason we took up this frustrating passion and somehow turns every press of a button into something right. Every model from the day you first picked up a camera until this day has been the build up, the warm-up act. They have sculpted your journey from there to here and suddenly you are faced with your reason, your panacea. Today, I finally met the girl I was born to photograph.

I am not for one moment saying that the models I have worked with before were in any way inferior to Lulu. No, not at all. But every photographer has a style and certain people suits styles of photography better than others. For me, Lulu is the girl who suits my photography as if she were born for that very reason.

Lulu is unlike anyone I have ever worked with before. No, scrub that. Lulu is unlike anyone I have ever met before. I met her outside a local coffee shop with a mug of hot chocolate for her and an anticipatory smile. I had wanted to work with her for a while, but for whatever reason it simply didnt happen. But this was the day that that changed and as we made our way back to the hotel, I was nervous. I knew what I wanted to get from her, I knew how I was going to do it. What I didnt know was whether I would be able to do the girl walking besides me justice. I think, perusing the images in front of me, that I did.

When light hits her, it doesnt reflect; it dances. Its as if she somehow soaks up each and every photon until they shine from within her. She glows. She radiates more colour than I have ever seen in a person and as all photographers know, colour and light are everything. The streets were damp with rain and she shimmered like a street lamp, bouncing along the road with more enthusiasm than anyone should actually have at just gone 7 o'clock in the morning. By the time we got to the hotel suite, we had a good half an hour to chat before we had anywhere near enough light to work with. So we talked, about pretty much everything. She is happiest with no clothes on, most comfortable when bare to the world. From the moment she first undressed, she stayed that way until we were finished. She feels most herself when stripped of clothing and she is such a naturally pretty girl that clothes do nothing for her. They are surplus to requirements, unneeded.

Lulu has an intelligence way beyond her years, the kind an old soul would have. She is barely 22, yet comes across as someone who has seen much more than she should have. The conversation flowed from art to quantum physics, from politics through history. She is a feminist and a free-thinker, a free spirit with a scientific mind. She is beautiful both inside and out and I am sure you will agree that her personality is what is most evident in these photographs. I didn't ask her to do anything, I didn't set up any backgrounds. I simply followed her around this two floor hotel suite and as we talked, I took photographs. Sometimes she would stop talking as I clicked the button, sometimes she wouldnt and I would catch her in mid speech. Each and every one of these images is candid, with her barely aware of my photographic presence. It was more of a bi-directional interview, caught on camera. This was my favourite shoot thus far, and she has instantly become the defacto, go-to person I will always want to work with.