Going from a pristine natural beauty look to crumpled cellophane from behind which our model looked like a wilted bridal bouquet straight out of a Tim Burton movie, I asked myself what held these looks together. The answer, for me, was that these fashion looks got progressively more blue, more watery… more unhinged even, like a riptide coming in and tossing us about a couple of times before spitting us out stranded with nothing but our raw emotions on the cold wet sand.

When I first saw twin models Syl & Tybe Hendrickx I immediately became enthusiastic to work out a fashion editorial with them, as they had high fashion written all over them in my view. They are signed with No Babes Agency, a Belgian non-profit that questions taboos around beauty ideals, seeking to add diversity to the fashion industry by sharing the raw story of real people and showing that it is okay to be vulnerable in our differences.

Every fashion shoot feels a bit like a magic ritual in that the whole team collaborates to create something ex nihilo. Containing the synergies of everyone involved, the final product reflects this combined effort, and after 6-8 hours of being in the process of shooting and creating, it feels like the whole team is transformed: an alchemical process, if you will.

When I had the idea to do a fashion editorial in a hotel, I knew I wanted a quirky place that would match the vibe of the slightly bohemian wardrobe styling I had in mind. After researching a number of hotels, I had a feeling that Hotel Urania, a family-owned hotel in near Vienna’s old center, would be the perfect location.

In a departure from traditional men’s fashion styling—you know, the abs and square jaw line in high contrast black and white—, we sought to create a bit more versatility and fluidity in the styling and the makeup, which was not only more interesting for the creative team, but also allowed the models more freedom of expression.

So many articles have been written about testing with agency models that, well… all I can say is, IT’S WONDERFUL! Especially if you are just venturing into the field of fashion photography and shooting with professional models, working with modeling agencies will push you further into creating your own photographic style and sculpting those portfolio images for eventual commercial work.

When I cast model Elisabeth Charlotte Monstrey to test a few concepts for a studio shoot, I was excited to develop some new looks in collaboration with the very talented makeup artist Laora Casic. What I didn't expect, however, is that, paired with Elisabeth’s features and my choice of studio lighting, we would obtain a painterly look reminiscent of Albrecht Dürer, a touch of Boticelli, and the Flemish Masters I grew up with in my hometown of Ghent, Belgium.

One of the movies I secretly enjoyed as a child was “The Secret Garden.” So when the opportunity presented itself to shoot a series of personal work in a beautiful garden landscaped by Annelies Vercruysse, all the various elements that made up this fashion series fell into place. Model Sydney Vanden Bussche (at Dominique Curve) was the perfect protagonist for this fashion story that felt less like a Tim Walker fantasy and more like Alice waking up from her nightmare and deciding that Wonderland isn’t that wonderful at all.

Flowers tend to be a recurring theme in my fashion and beauty photography. I love to incorporate them in the wild, painted on walls or backdrops, as motifs on clothing or hair accessories, or as props when shooting in the studio. For this beauty concept, I wanted to use flowers in a more low key, darker context, complementing the flowery lace of the black top I had selected. The result was a more Victorian-inspired look, part May Queen, part Persephone.

The day after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The world seemed to be at a standstill while simultaneously plunged in chaos. The considerable amount of wardrobe hanging on the clothing rack by the door, which I had spent weeks preparing, suddenly seemed irrelevant. Anytime, I expected a call from my models—both of them Ukrainian—that they couldn’t possibly do an editorial shoot under the circumstances.