In these times of "sometime" over-post-production I remain a strong believer of doing as much as possible "on camera" – I think the right high-standard approach and mix between old-school shooting-style and cutting edge digital technologies will bring me the best results. If you ask me for my photo heroes, there are so many but the most important ones are certainly the following: Guy Bourdin, Chris Von Wangenheim, Helmut Newton, WeeGee, August Sander and E.J. Bellocq. I remember having a moment back in Paris at a point when my career looked liked anything that would ever happen. My apartment in the 18th Arrondissement faced a nice backyard, the night was just about to fall and a beautiful pink moon was lighting the scene. I had one more Polaroid in my old SX70 and said to myself: "What the heck, probably it won't work, but just try it!" In

the scene was a small, brightly shining window and the little, technical voice in the back of my head started to lament: "It's going to burn out, it's going to burn out!" It turned out that the exposure-time was approximately 3 seconds, handheld! - and I swear to God after one second of exposure the window-light went off and I had my perfect shot, in Polaroid, unique! That was such a magical moment, almost religious. The beautiful, framed photograph hangs on the wall in my apartment, it's my personal little treasure and often before a shooting when I walk by, I feel gratitude and it reminds me of the fact that talent is just a borrowed gift that needs to be taken care of. When Lady Muse shows up around the corner and is ready for a date, never second-guess, just grab her by the hand and go for it. I also try to approach every shoot almost as if it could be my last, this way there is a good chance that I'll be fine and do great work! For me being a photographer is one of the best jobs