Nickie 130

"I had you going there!"

This happy portrait marks the end of an epic photo shoot and its accompanying science fiction story. Nickie is the 82nd Lady behind Crystal Veil.

High time for a sincere word of thanks to this extraordinary talented singer, dancer, athletic poser, stage personality and last but not least, actress and photo model.

A weekend trip to Leuven had been on my mind for a while, so it was worthwhile to take a good look at the portfolio of models residing in Leuven and nearby Brussels. All of a sudden there was this small but great portfolio of a lovely lady in prescription glasses who clearly had a multiple of talents. No need for a casting call if this lady would be interested in working with me. So I sent her a PM and we soon were discussing the various options of a theme photo shoot. She sounded really motivated. And it dawned to me that there might be a story line to work towards if we were lucky with the weather. One out of ten photo shoots lends itself to an accompanying story line. I never shared the rudimentary story line with any of the models until well after the photo shoot. It all depended on the quality of the expression in the portraits. But during the correspondence with Nickie it soon became clear that she loves the vintage style of the 1950's and she also mentioned that she would love to do some acting in front of the camera. All the ingredients for a fiction story about a time machine were there. So for once, I shared this idea with Nickie beforehand and she was all go for it. We discussed outfits and she suggested two locations, including the Municipal Park.

We were fortunate with the weather. After selecting the glasses in the breakfast room of my hotel, we headed for the park and quite soon the photo shoot went underway. We did not follow the sequence of a script but rather focused on half a dozen ingredients that might come handy for the story. Some ideas came from my side and Nickie came up with ideas of her own as well. Harmonious team work. It all culminated in a long series that had no apparent place within the script yet. Nickie really outdid herself in that series. Fantastic acting work. Each and every picture told a story. Nothing had to be left out. She later shared with me that her acting in that series was inspired by Zoe Heriot in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. And this inspired me to write about that series in terms of a trip into the future rather than the past. All pieces of the puzzle started to fall into the right place. Nickie's drama posing in the long series clearly expressed fear of something invisible to the camera so why not make it the sudden invasion of extraterrestrial giant insects in the park?

Dear Nickie, thank you so much for this unique collaboration. I knew from your port that you would be good but in reality you were ten times better. Hat off for your great initiatives during the acting episodes. You gave me praise for my imagination in the story writing but in my view we wrote the story together. Thank you also for the excellent preparation and for the time devoted to our long correspondence before and especially after the photo shoot. Fine tuning all the details before posting the documentary.

A word of thanks goes to Ben for his pleasant company and his invaluable role as beacon for Nickie during the series in the Valentine glasses.

Another word of thanks goes to the friendly staff of Hotel la Royale for their help. I'll be back!