…because you
are my
Summer /21
WHY WILL EVERYTHING BE THIS WAY?
Summer photoshoots are, to my eye, the most beautiful of all.
Why? Because they are filled with an incredible amount of real feeling. Photographing in May, I almost feel it on my own skin—the barefoot summer girl, hopping right before my nose, with sand between her toes, riverside piers, cozy picnics, and terrace evenings.
I love that summer feeling—the lightness, the carefreeness.
Those sun-kissed bare feet, matched with the fluttering “fragments” of a dress, those straw hats perched on hair drying in the sun.
That sun-kissed skin, which takes on a kind of magical glow. I never know if it’s from the tan or from happiness.
But. Oh. Yet.
Bearing the title of the most beautiful, a summer photoshoot plays on the tightest string of my nerves.
It’s the only one for which I don’t debate the location: indoors or outdoors. And it’s practically the only one when everyone points at me and the calendar, signaling there’s no time to wait, and places a polite suggestion on the table: “Shoot indoors.” I then shake my head nervously, tapping my nails on the windowsill louder than the cold spring rain tapping the same windowsill from outside.
Every morning begins with checking the weather forecast, asking: “Has it changed for the better yet?” I don’t know whether wishes work miracles or if it’s fear that I might have to immerse myself in summer somewhere inside a studio…
But for many years now, the weather has listened to my long prayers.
Are there mishaps? Of course. Sometimes instead of the planned +20°C, it’s +9°C.
Sometimes, out of nowhere, winds rise that I’ve never seen before.
Sometimes, instead of pleasant warmth, the heat threatens with a “scorching blow.”
Such is summer.
But no matter what, it is always full of real feeling—whether under a fierce wind, unsuitable weather, or near-heat shocks.
You can only truly feel it in union with nature, holding in the back of your mind the feeling that we are photographing summer the way we miss it most.
That’s why, approaching a photoshoot, we start “going a little crazy.”
This time, the idea struck that this shoot needed a romantic beach “sofa.” Of course, not store-bought. Of course, handmade. Of course, made of natural wood, with love and care. And unquestionably, exactly as it exists in my imagination—unyielding, ready to be captured. Skilled, beloved hands hammered, sanded, twisted, and fastened it together.
Others sewed pillows, blankets, mats, and curtains.
Today, the day before the shoot, the big summer furniture is being loaded—eyebrows raised at the thought of carrying such a “monster.” Watching those raised brows, I’m fully convinced everything will go smoothly.
And tomorrow, early in the morning, a large, fully loaded crew will head—toward summer.
For a week now, items have been mobilized, details coordinated, the location inspected again, outfits rehearsed. So that tomorrow isn’t just a photoshoot—so that barefoot in the sand walks the real, utterly unposed feeling of summer coming alive.
Mua,
V.
