Juliette 132 - 133

Mission accomplished.... Juliette showing the characteristic "S" shape created by the bowl and the carrier lens. The quiet, almost serene atmosphere in this portrait is great.

This extreme yet beautiful portrait concludes this most enjoyable photo shoot. Juliette is the 49th Lady behind Crystal Veil.

Juliette, it was my pleasure to work with you! I saw your nice portfolio on Model Mayhem shortly before my stay in Ireland, during a week full of logistics and packing. All the portraits in your portfolio were portraits in glasses and you wrote in your profile about your interest in anything vintage, especially from the 1940's and 1950's. Inviting you for a photo shoot looked like a win win situation and I was delighted that you accepted the invitation. You prepared yourself well for the photo shoot and once it started, you took directions quite well. The natural flavor in your appearance and posing was really like a bit of fresh air. During the selection of the glasses, it was immediately obvious that you have a preference and taste all of your own. This is often the case with models who wear glasses in daily life but you were remarkably articulate about this. Good! I'm glad that the three shoe boxes filled with glasses contained enough frames to your liking. When it came to the glasses for the second part of the shoot, you relied on my opinion and I was delighted to see that your posing lost nothing of its quality although you only saw a massive blur. On the contrary, some of the very best ("eye contact"!) portraits were taken during the second half. And in my humble opinion, the final series in blended myodisc glasses was an especially glorious one. All too fast, we were running out of time so there was no time to try a variety of modern glasses, but hopefully we can give those a try in the near future. Meanwhile, I wish you lots of pleasant photo shoots.

Juliette, thank you so much and hopefully, till next time!

Juliette 130 - 131

Another touch to the right and the half moon opens up, revealing how small the "bowl" portion of these intricate blended myodisc lenses is. It must have taken the first owner of these glasses at least a few weeks to get used to her narrow field of view. Note the way the left carrier lens plays its tricks, enlarging the corner of the model's left eye into what looks like a stripe of make-up.

Juliette 128 - 129

Another slight movement of the model's head towards the right and the half moon is about to open up, revealing the position of the bowl and its surrounding carrier lens.

Juliette 126 - 127

Half moon emerging, opus three. The straight demarcation line next to Juliette's right eye marks the position where the "cut in" effect would have been if the ten newly invented high index lenses had used.

Juliette 124 - 125

Half moon emerging, opus two. Juliette moves her head a touch to the right and the "half moon" next to her right eye opens, showing the position of the positive carrier lens that surrounds the central "bowl" with its strong correction needed by the first owner of the glasses.

Juliette 122 - 123

Half moon emerging (opus one). Note the tiny speck next to Juliette's right eye....

Juliette 120 - 121

When seen "en profil", only the tiny eyes give away that these are very strong glasses indeed (-16 / -18). Big compliment to Juliette for her patient, natural way of posing.

Juliette 119

Imagine the first owner of these glasses, an extremely shortsighted German lady who was used to see herself in the mirror with a giant "cut in" effect because of the strength of the lenses. She must have been delighted when she first put up her new glasses with blended myodisc lenses.

Juliette 117 - 118

Upon my request, Juliette moved her head just a touch further to the right for each new portrait, showing the unique visual effects created by blended myodisc lenses.

Juliette 115 - 116

These nameless glasses from the late 1980's were another treasure dug up by the indefatigable Martin from Cologne, Germany. The lenses are blended myodiscs, in Germany this is lens type called Lentilux.

Juliette 113 - 114

Glasses: Gan Aimh, late 1980's (blended myodisc)
[L: -16.25 / R: -17.25; c-2.00 o]

Juliette 111 - 112

When I paid Juliette a compliment for her guts to pose in these highly unusual blended myodisc glasses by Studio Italy, she replied with this rewarding smile. Great!

Juliette 109 - 110

Juliette showing the characteristic "half moon" in the right lens of the "Enjoy" glasses. This effect is particular to blended myodisc glasses. The glasses were used in two previous photo shoots, first with freelance model Léonne in 2011 and shortly afterwards by my partner Nel during the catwalk at the opening of my second exhibition with "Ladies behind crystal veil" in Nordhorn, Germany. Nel was able to do the catwalk in these glasses as the left lens was almost exactly in her own prescription. She said afterwards that the field of (mono)vision was quite narrow but she managed in great style.

Juliette 108

These highly unusual glasses by Studio Italy were sent to me by the always reliable Martin from Cologne, Germany. I have never seen a frame like this. The glasses are called "Enjoy" but I doubt if their first owner enjoyed wearing them because of the "impossible" prescription. The left lens is -11.50 and this could have gone well with a high index lens but the right lens is -18.50 which necessitated the use of myodisc lenses. The first owner's choice for blended myodisc lenses was a good one. Here Juliette shows why it was a good choice. There are no power rings and hardly any visible "cut in" effect either.

Juliette 107

Glasses: blended myodiscs called "Enjoy", by Studio Italy, late 1980's / early 1990's
[L: -11.50 / R: -16.50; c-2.00 o]

Juliette 106

The final portrait of Juliette posing in Formlenti myodisc glasses made in the late 1980's by Christian Olivier. The sky is the limit when posing in such extraordinary, beautiful glasses....

Juliette 105

Looking at the sky is a useful trick when posing in glasses way beyond the model's own prescription. The brain tells the eyes that there is nothing of special interest and as a result, the eyes don't try to focus.

Juliette 104

"Aye, Juliette, I was thinking, did you just give me the frost?"
"Not at all, Mr. Photographer, it was just a bit of fun...."
(sigh of relief)

Juliette 103

"What do you want?". Great posing by Juliette who - like most models - gradually threw in more and more variation in her expression as the photo shoot progressed.

Juliette 101 - 102

Juliette showing the play of the light in the carrier lenses of the Christian Olivier myodisc glasses from the other side.

Juliette 099 - 100

Great posing by Juliette, showing the intricacies of the light playing in the carrier lenses of the Christian Olivier glasses.

Juliette 097 - 098

Another advantage of the choice for Formlenti myodiscs in these Christian Olivier glasses is that the model's eyes don't seem so tiny at all. Many models reacted this way after seeing their portraits and Juliette was no exception. These two portraits are shown in black and white to put an extra emphasis on the model's fine way of posing.

Juliette 095 - 096

This portrait of Juliette in Christian Olivier glasses shows her from an unusual vantage point. Contrary to the thumb rule of most photographers, I usually take portraits slightly from below. This is a deliberate choice, for two reasons. The vast majority of the glasses in my collection look more flattering when full justice is done to the eyebrow line. My second motive is that I like portraying models as independent ladies with a strong mind of their own: "Alright, I'm blind as a bat, but I'm wearing my glasses with pride, take it or leave it". This portrait is simply taken to show the difference. The Christian Olivier glasses with their big frame really lend themselves for portraits from all vantage points.

Juliette 094

Formlenti were an invention of the late 1960's, meant as a more aesthetic alternative for the traditional myodisc glasses with a circular bowl. My collection only hosts a few of these extremely rare glasses and this strikingly beautiful pair by Christian Olivier stands out. The glasses have almost become a testing piece for models as they suit many faces. Everything about these glasses tells that their first owner was a lady of wealth and taste who went for "showing rather than hiding" her strong myopia of minus ten. The frame alone must have cost a small fortune and the lenses even more. High index lenses were already available when these glasses were made and it seems that the lady in question made a deliberate choice for Formlenti myodiscs. Minus ten is strong but not extreme so there was no compelling reason for her to wear myodisc glasses. My guess is that she did not like the power rings in the standard lenses. Whatever her motives, she made an excellent choice. The carrier lenses certainly add an element of glamour and luxury to these striking white glasses.

Juliette 093

Glasses: Christian Olivier (Formlenti myodiscs), late 1980's
[L: -8.50; c-1.50 v / R: -10.00; c-1.50 v]

Juliette 092

"Enough praise, Mr. Photographer, you are almost making me shy. What more do you have in store for me?"
"You are right, Juliette. How about trying some myodisc glasses for the final part of your photo shoot?"

Juliette 090 - 091

Good modeling is all about expression through imagination. There was only an interval of a few seconds between these two portraits of Juliette but each has an entirely different mood of its own. It may sound contradictory but the use of glasses with a prescription way beyond the model's own prescription is often instrumental. Seeing only a massive blur leads the model to half withdraw inside herself, much the same way musicians do on stage, focusing on their own music without completely losing contact with their audience.

Composing, performing music, painting, sculpturing and even photography are all based on expression through imagination. In my opinion, this principle was best put to words in the famous poem "Raglan Road", written by the great Patrick Kevanaugh (1904 - 1967) during what the Irish called "the emergency" in 1944:

"I gave her gifts of the mind,
I gave her the secret sign
that's known to the artists who have known
the true gods of sound and stone"

Juliette 089

During good traditional fiddle sessions in Ireland, the standard shout of encouragement by the public is "More power to your elbow!".
Translated from sound into images, the equivalent shout to this strong portrait of Juliette would be "More power to your lenses, more power to your posing!".
This striking portrait is just posted in its black and white version as this came out much stronger than the initial version in colour.

Juliette 087 - 088

For comparison, Juliette is showing the effect of the light in the left lens (-13) of the Zenni glasses. Her dark hair hides the objects in the background. There is more "cut in" effect but even less of a power ring zone than in the previous portrait. The striking grey rectangle is caused by the diffusion of the light through the thick side of the lens. The eye contact is another piece of marvelous posing by Juliette who gives one the impression that she is actually seeing her court photographer in all his wrinkled details. Great!

Juliette 086

A beautiful portrait of Juliette showing the special effects of the right lens (-12) in the Zenni glasses. I ordered this pair fitted with standard 1.57 lenses and as a result, lens thickness at the sides is half an inch (12 millimeters). There is an unusually small section in which the power rings are visible and this splits the image of the scarlet split arm of the glasses. Inside the power ring zone, everything in the background appears tiny, as might be expected. Outside the power ring zone, the lens does not seem to make the image smaller. This is caused by the way the light catches the massive side part of the thick lens. If the glasses had been fitted with high index lenses, massive power rings would be visible but none of the special effects that can be seen in this portrait.

Juliette 085

The wind in her hair, Juliette is showing the massive "cut in" effect caused by the strength of the lenses in these Zenni glasses. It's interesting to compare the effect with the "en face" portraits in the previous series. Note the visibility of the scarlet inward side of the split arms.

Juliette 084

Glasses: Zenni 3390 (same frame as previous series)
[L: -13.00 / R: -12.00]