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This was the password phrase. I was investigating "The woman without a face", a notorious and mysterious ufologist and ancient civilisations specialist who had recently made a groundbreaking discovery… She was hiding in Plain Sight, a coffee shop that everybody could see but only the password would get you in. It was a 4 shots investigation and I can say one thing with certainty: she had beautiful hands.
Read MoreShe was known by the name of Penthesilea, the tragic, beautiful and heroic queen of the Amazons. Achilleas fell in love with her after he killed her in the Trojan War… The Roman poet Vergil wrote of her: "The ferocious Penthesilea, gold belt fastened beneath her exposed breast, leads her battle-lines of Amazons with their crescent light-shields… a warriors, a maiden who dares to fight with men". And he called her "Bellatrix". I investigated her in 4 shots. An Amazon Queen would'nt allow me more than this, anyway…
Read MoreA nightclub, a fun evening, two girls, Duran Duran, a photographic investigator and as many shots as she can get in less than a minute… Here it is…
Read MoreDo I see myself as I would like to be or do I like what I see? Investigating me is not easy. But it's surprisingly fun sometimes…
Read MoreYou find your subject in a coffee house, drinking coffee, smoking, talking about their plans, their dreams, their hopes, their fears, looking ahead towards their "life", what they think their life will or should be… Meanwhile, this life is right there, in that coffee house, with you, in a place they don't even "see". That gives a photographic investigator something to think about…
Read MoreShe was known to the photographic investigators circles as "La Gioconda" because the man who was obsessively chasing her was convinced that she had a relation to the famous Leonardo's model… Of course his conviction was well established after years of investigations and the study of numerous family trees… I came much later to the case and my job was to take several shots of her while she was hanging around with friends in Europe. If you've asked me, I would definitely say that she had a resemblance with the most mysterious and intriguing female portrait in history. And there was also something else about her… She had a "symmetry" in all of her existence. The way she moved, the way she was standing, the way she was smoking. Her secret was well hidden under a "girl next door" attitude. But I knew. Did she? My employer never said…
She was an art curator on a secret mission. The China Syndrome was a 1979 movie starring Jane Fonda. The connection? Only I knew it.
A fairy tale has many sides, and my job, of course, was to investigate them. To be continued…
Read MoreOr, what happens when a photographic investigator catches a ghost strolling around in a vaporetto from Burano to Venice.
Read MoreBefore Two becomes One (look at previous post), there are times, when you walk along a street, that you can catch with the corner of your eye a One that becomes Two. The important thing to remember is that you can see it only with the corner of your eye, because this action is the beginning of much trouble - and in life we can catch these decisive moments only when we are not looking straight at them.
Read MoreShe belonged in one of the most infamous secret societies of Venice. According to my well informed connections she occupied a key role in the "Mister's" circle, a group of enigmatic, mysterious individuals that roamed about this beautiful city, keeping their purpose well hidden. Of course I knew who they were and what they were doing. But to find out, I had to take the most sacred vow of secrecy that exists in my profession, not to mention that one word slipping from my mouth would fatally compromise Juanita and Lupe, my most valuable assistants. The "Mister" was not kidding…
Read MoreThere is much and at the same time nothing at all to be said about the power of the facial expressions. For the photographic investigator, it's a full time job. For the lover of the human experience and human nature, a challenge. And for some, a powerful tool. The latter ones are usually the subjects of my investigations…
Read MoreSmoking in New York is not easy for normal people… it seems to be extremely easy though, for the subjects of my investigations…
Read MoreDuring my photographic investigations I came to the conclusion that the easiest way to get a fantastic smile is to get very close. Because a fantastic smile is one that cannot be helped and therefore cannot be faked. I would advise, though, my fellow photographic investigators to use their intuition before getting too close. Because what in one person could trigger a smile, in another one could trigger a reflex movement of an arm or leg due to the fear of being forced to give a fantastic smile. And this could have catastrophic consequences on a PI's camera.
Read MoreWhen an iconic photograph of a famous, but relatively newly discovered photographer disappeared from Momma, New York's top art curators knew for the first time what real panic felt like. I was sensing their fear. I could feel it in my bones. I admit it felt kinda nice… I knew it was a matter of time before the phone rang. And it did, later that night. The Italian connection was on. Of course, I have suspected that too… The only woman -the only person to be more accurate- in the western world that could retrieve a lost art treasure in less than 48 hours, was coming to Athens. It was believed that the photograph was there. I was hired -as I usually am- to follow her and document her work, without her knowing who I really was… What else was knew? Was I working for Momma? Was I working for the smugglers? You will never know.
Read MoreIt was really a pretext so I could get close to her. As usual, I was hired to investigate her. I didn't know why, only that she was a writer and a musician. I had to read her short stories and listen to her music and make her talk to me. What she didn't know was that it was really her pictures that were doing the talking. But I couldn't tell her that. I am often wondering about my employers motives when they send me to photographically investigate someone… I have managed to realise one thing: they know more about my subjects then what these subjects know about themselves. And of course that on the other hand there is always me... That all I really know about anything, is nothing.
He was there, no doubt about that, but it was obvious to me that he was a projection from a parallel dimension. In my photographic investigations I have come very often across incidents like that-some call them "accidents", but not me. I knew how to recognise the "trespassers". The trick was to look at them with the corner of your eye. Then you could see them standing in both places. Everywhere and nowhere. I shot him. That was my job.
Read MoreThat was the name of the 2 girl rock band I was investigating a few months ago. They were very reluctant to have their faces photographed. Not their feet, though… And what would be more appropriate, considering the name of their band? In fact, one of them had indeed new shoes, while the other one was just "hangin' out" shoeless. Coincidence? Nobody will ever know.
Read MoreI was killing time between cases, so I decided to take a walk around Acropolis, in Athens. The title is just a Dan Fogelberg song that I was listening inside my head when I was taking these shots… It could very well have been something like "in the shadow of Acropolis", but what can you do? A P.I.'s mind is weird, to say the least…
Read More... She didn't know she was the kind of girl you meet in a film noir's hot summer day passing through a gas station or a general store, the kind of girl you ask for directions, or if she has seen the guy you're looking for… She didn't know she was the sunny kind of girl that fate had put in that particular spot as a last effort to make you abandon the search and go back… Because if you are a film noir hero, when you find what you're looking for, you wish you didn't… Her name was Sunday and that proved that there are no coincidences...
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