Jennifer 136

This fine portrait of lovely Jennifer in Bon Lux glasses from Italy concludes her magic photo shoot. Jennifer is the 62nd Lady behind Crystal Veil.

My photography project "Ladies behind Crystal Veil" started with my life partner Nel who was my first model. In October, Nel had to attend a congress in Lund (Sweden) and she invited me to accompany her. Needless to say, I had to make my own "spouse program". Doing a couple of photo shoots seemed a fine target so I checked the portfolio material of models in the vicinity of  Lund on Model Mayhem. Jennifer somehow stood out. I posted a casting call and to my delight, Jennifer was among the four models who reacted. We agreed to meet at Starbucks in the Central Station of Malmö. I took an early train to find some suitable locations for the photo shoot and Hedmanska Garden looked like the best option. Back at Starbucks, Jennifer arrived and we soon were in a lively conversation. The manager Jason kindly allowed us to use a large table as my optician's shop and very soon, Jennifer was trying the 100 glasses on the table. Jennifer has perfect eyesight but she was really interested in her looks in glasses, especially cat eye glasses. Needless to say, Jennifer had to rely on my opinion when it came to the selection of the strong glasses. During our email exchange, Jennifer suggested Vestra Hamnen as a suitable location but it was a windy October day so we headed for Hedmanska Garden.
Working with Jennifer was a treat. Very easy going and a hard worker. The only problem was the cold but Jennifer managed bravely. On our way back to the station, we stopped at the bridge to Vestra Hamnen and I took some more pictures. Jennifer put on my coat for protection against the cold wind. The idea of using the contrast between a medieval place and the modern area near the station had already crossed my mind during my search for locations. We returned at Starbucks for another big mug of coffee.
After returning home, I saw the pictures on my computer screen and the idea of a script came to my mind. This was mainly caused by the subtle changes in Jennifer's expression during each series in the photo shoot. Also I noticed that some of the model's very best posing was in the strongest glasses. Jennifer is an actress, specialized in the horror film genre and no doubt, this background came handy when posing in glasses that only created a massive blur. It's all about introspection and imagination. Writing the script was only a day's work and I was delighted that Jennifer liked the script when she read it.
Jennifer, thank you for a pleasant afternoon in Malmö and for the dimension you added to the project!

A word of thanks goes to the friendly gallery owner who allowed us to use his doorstep as location for the photo shoot. He also provided a big mug of tea to us and this enabled Jennifer to warm up and continue with the photo shoot. We exchanged cards but alas, his card was mislaid. I remember him saying that he was of German descent and his ancestors were Freiherr. Not bad going! When seeing the strong glasses, he surprised us by saying "I needed glasses of -23 until a few years ago".

Finally, a word of thanks goes to my sister Paula who suggested Hedmanska Garden as a suitable location. Paula is the Scandinavia expert in our family and she knew Hedmanska Garden from a visit to the Form and Design Museum mentioned in the script. Our father worked for Iittala in the 1960's and the Museum has a wonderful collection of Iittala glass work on display.