Models change so much when they're prepared for a shooting. Often there comes a boy or a girl to the studio for a session and I think "Oh, he or she is really pretty." And afterwards with all the makeup and styling they become completely different persons. There is nothing wrong about that - we have to do that for the particular idea we have, the concept we have to put in action - but the personality of the model is gone or extremely changed. So I thought it would be a nice idea to take pictures of them "as they are" when they come to my studio with no additional makeup, in their own outfits and the hair just the way they are.
These shots are personal in a deeper sense because I'm trying to build up a very personal atmosphere in these sittings. We talk a lot and it takes a while to build up a real conversation so that the models forget about the camera. It doesn't work with everybody because some girls or guys are always aware of it but if they forget the camera just for a couple of moments you'll get some really great pictures.
I love this series a lot and I'm permanently working on it. I'm also working on setting up an extra website for this project. This will be a long term project for me and I hope to take pictures for it over the next couple of years to document how "youth", the meanings and the signs of it will change over the years.