A couple of years back, my good friend and makeup artist, Zaneta Vrabelova, along with Lucy, our model, travelled to Komjatice, (a small town in Western Slovakia). We had a wonderful long weekend of shooting in and around town, including portraits, an editorial as well as my personal project of nude photography.
During the shooting, we came across the perfect venue- an old abandoned concrete factory- which was practically in ruins. As nobody was around, we were able to walk through the place, slowly taking in its energy, allowing for inspiration to seep in.
With the old ruins as a backdrop, I captured some great shots for my “Naked Beauty,” collection.
Technical details: shot on Mamiya 645AF film camera, with 80mm lens on Ilford 100ISO film
Fast forward to the beginning of this year:
I happened to send one of the photo’s I’d captured from that shoot, to Reflex magazine (reflex.cz), for the Akty X Reflex magazine award 2014 photography competition.
To be honest, I totally forgot about my submission, until the end of September. Out of the blue, I received a congratulatory message from a friend. I’d won the competition, and had no idea! It took me a moment to make sense of what had occurred, and sure enough, soon to follow, was the official email from Reflex Magazine that I won an Editor in Chief special prize
I was informed that I’d won a special prize, chosen by the Editor in Chief, of Reflex magazine. My winning photograph, received a whole page spread, published in the 38/2014 issue of the magazine, “Akty X ”
Within the message was an invitation to the opening night of an exhibition, (part of annual event, at the Design block, during “Fashion Week.” in Prague, at The Gotical House, (Dum U Minuty), in Old Town Square, on 8th October, 2014.
There it was, my creation, showcased in the middle of the room, on a model wagon-such a humbling scene for me- and around it, a model train circled, showcasing the rest of the winning photographs, from other categories.
I had the pleasure and honor of meeting with the Editor in Chief, Marek Stoniš who gave me the prize in person.
More information about this event is available in the 42/2014, issue of Reflex magazine.
I am ever so grateful to have been a part of this.
Thank you
photo by Suzanne Matuskova, Nguyen Phuong Thao