In 2020, I was commissioned by Playboy to photograph a series in which I placed a pretty blonde on a longboard. According to the contract, I am not allowed to use commissioned work for my own publications. But I liked the motif so much afterwards that I really wanted to have a similar photo for my book.
Also, because I like skateboarding myself and it used to be a hobby of mine. Plus, this is a sports series, so something I definitely wanted to have in this book as well.
In my first attempt at self-plagiarism in 2022, Alice had a terrible fall when I photographed her with the longboard in the same place. There was a lot of blood and it wasn't funny. Of course, it happened before I had a single photo in the box. It just wasn't meant to be.
This time I went to my location with Nastya and had a brand new, very nice longboard with me. The place is magical. I've said that about places before. I have to explain it like this: you get out of the car and hear nothing. No car, nothing. Just your own breathing and the occasional cry of a bird of prey in the distance.
Nastya is very slim. Once, when I saw a car coming from a distance, I offered her something to put on quickly. She said she would just hide behind me. I thought that was funny.
We quickly had my desired motifs in the box and drove on. Then we passed this incredibly large agave. I'm afraid I've told the story before, but as I also tell it to every model when we drive past this plant, here's my story for you too:
Agave grows a long stem in a cycle of seven years. Sometimes it looks like an asparagus. When it is tall, a lush flower forms at the top. The plant flowers exactly once and then dies. At the top are hundreds of small offshoots of the plant, which fall down and then grow. It's the perfect cycle of life. It totally fascinates me.
I was told this story by my landlord back in Ibiza. And if it wasn't true, I would be very disappointed.
