Photographer Michaela Mira Plesner @michaela.plesner shares in exclusive for Vanity Teen the story “Plot Twist”, featuring model Michael Ben David @michaelben. As the title of the story suggests, the editorial took an unexpected turn, as what was a photo shoot for fun and for the model’s portfolio became a session where the intimate dialogue between the camera and the model is captured.
“This photo story was inspired by my encounter with Michael. Michael wanted us to have a session for fun and for him to have more photos for his model portfolio. We planned on shooting at my place for two hours and we ended up only talking for the first four hours and only starting to shoot afterwards.
I shot Michael with my Yashica automatic film camera at my house. At first, photographing him felt odd. When you shoot someone you know well, it feels comfortable for both sides. To the contrary, when you shoot someone you barely know but have talked to just a little, you might feel more comfortable with them than with a person you’ve talked to for four hours.
With Michael it was neither, yet after a few shots, we got into it and we wandered around my house trying to get the shots that will make someone feel something. The night kept on with more deep conversations with Michael. That’s how incredibly intimate photographs came out of this encounter/session. You can’t fake intimacy. The dictionary definition of intimacy is a sense of comfortability that comes from a personal or private nature.”
According to the photographer the editorial reflects her style through its authentic, fresh, mysterious movie-star look that model Michael has, yet its very simple and intimate feeling that the photos have to them. “Intimacy is a feeling I stress a lot in my work. To me, it’s the most important thing about photography. Stepping into an artist’s world can be a beautiful experience, and my goal is to make it as honest as possible.” the photographer commented.
Model Michael Ben David @michaelben photographed by Michaela Mira Plesner @michaela.plesner.