Sonia 170

This fine portrait of smiling Sonia posing in myodisc glasses by Sheng Dian marks the end of her fantastic photo shoot. Sonia is the 69th Lady behind Crystal Veil.

Not to be outdone by her fictive great-great-grandmother who was called "The young Lady of the Tower", Sonia is hereby given the honorary titel "The Princess of Glasses" - for life!

A word of thanks goes to our clever assistant Helder for his support and good company. Helder also contributed to the quality of many portraits by serving as beacon and by giving his opinion about Sonia's looks in each pair of glasses. Many informal captures in this documentary were taken during these peer group consultations.

My weekend in Paris was about meeting Sonia in the first place. Posting a casting call for freelance models was a later decision taken after the arrangements with Sonia were made. The original plan was that Sonia would participate in a duo shoot with a young lady in the know. However, the young lady in question dropped out and another friend who might sub for her was confined to bed with a bad flu. Eventually, Sonia carried the photo shoot on her own and she did this in a magnificent way.

Our mutual interest in glasses played a key role throughout the photo shoot. Sonia has an outstanding taste for frames and even the preparatory selection of the glasses for her photo shoot was a feast. Knowing Sonia's taste made it easy for me to do this selection although not every pair could be regarded "mainstream". The Golden Era of large frames produced a far greater variety in frames than what is offered in the shops nowadays. Sonia was quite interested in making her acquaintance with the styles from the past. In a way, this culminated when she was handed a pince-nez and a face à main (lorgnette), both made well over a century ago. Sonia only knew these antique pairs from pictures and it was a wonderful to see and hear her spontaneous reaction when she held them in her hand. Her subsequent posing in both pairs was second to none. It alternated between real posing and moments of spontaneity inspired by her fascination. The outstanding quality of both series enabled me to write a short story called "The young Lady of the Tower" in which Sonia played the role of  her fictive great-great-grandmother who was born in 1863. The vast majority of the glasses was near Sonia's own prescription but she also obligingly posed in a couple of glasses with very strong lenses.
A secondary theme in the photo shoot was Paris itself. In collaboration with a friend called Cerise, Sonia has made a series of excellent video clips about the hidden treasures of her beloved Paris. Studying these video clips also gave me a good impression of what might be expected in terms of expression during the actual photo shoot.

Sonia, it was a great experience to make your acquaintance and spend well over three hours in your pleasant company. Somehow it all went by itself. It was like a meeting of kindred spirits. There was no need for close observation from my side. No "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" at our meeting point either. I can only speak for myself but it felt as if I had known you for ages.

Your posing style was highly personal and refreshing. It was all so natural. Yesterday I showed the full documentary of your photo shoot to my life partner Nel and she said, "Sonia has all the hallmarks of a great model and she could make a career out of it if she wished. Her interaction and spontaneity is like a bit of fresh air. This is one of your best photo shoots ever. Perfect team work".

Our conversation was all in French and I do hope that you have made a complete recovery from coping with the way I kept murdering the French grammar. I also hope that your up coming headache after posing in the myodisc glasses soon faded away afterwards. It was a special moment when we exchanged a couple of little presents before parting. Being used to give presents to models myself, I felt a bit shy when receiving a nice present from you. But it was a highly appreciated gesture and I have taken the liberty to share it with Nel.

Sonia, Princess of Glasses, it was an afternoon never to be forgotten! Thank you so much for everything, including your answer to my final question when we parted:

"À la prochaine?"

"Oui, à la prochaine!"