Études : Ch. I, Partie I : Jasmina Ruben
There exist a few people who, from the instant you have laid eyes on them, you feel like you are on cloud nine, that your mind is buzzing from your desire to create something with that particular person. For my part, I feel like I'm drowsy from all the fascination I feel for that person and I cannot help but think of it all as an infatuation. I won't deny deny it can at times be akin to an obsession. My mind won't usually take a long time to understand what it wants to do with that person; I just know from looking at the person that this is what I see him doing and I know it's good because it fits the character I see. Of course, the way I see a person is not exactly the way he is in truth. But sometimes, there emanates from someone, a certain aura that fits a theme or a state of mind and it is in this theme or state, that I want to capture the person.
Jasmina Ruben is one hell of a model. She is one of those persons who fascinate me. Honestly, I don't think I have known anyone who is half like her; she remains herself in every situation, but at the same time, she can transform into someone else. We did quite a few shoots and collaborations last year. It was always a renewed feeling of exhilaration that filled my heart up at the thought of collaborating with this talented girl. This year, I thought portraying her would be just the best way to start my project Études. I carried out a little photographic study of Jasmina with the aim of showing her as she is, simply dressed, bare face and in her home, all relaxed. We baked pancakes, we drank tea and chatted our day out. It did not feel like a shoot really. And that's how I'd like my studies to go on in this project. I want the little time I spend with people for Études to feel like I am overlooking in the most discreet way possible, a window into their life, a window through which you are given the chance to peek through - like in "Rear Window" sort of.
I hope you will like what you see and understand more what Jasmina and I are about, because here, we have given you a part of ourselves.
