PLASTIC PARAMOU INSIDE NEW YORK'S
HOTEL PLAZA
ATHENEE. SHE IS
HOLDING A
CIGARETTE LIKE A
PHOTOGRAPHER IS SNAPPING SHOTS A FEW FEET AWAY, .BUT AI.INA IS A PRO. ITS AS IF THE CAMERA DOES NOT EXIST. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LENS IS BRETT RATNER, THE PHOTOGRAPHER. LIVING OUT A FANTASY. YOU MIGHT SAY THEY BOTH ARE. "ITS LIKE SEEING INSIDE A SEXY.
BE ALLOW II) INTO." SAYS RATNER. WHOSE DAY JOB IS A-I.IST HOLLYWOOD FILM DIRECTOR. "A PLACE THAT'S UNATTAINABLE." THAT'S IRONIC. GIVEN THAT AI.INA IS HIS STUNNING 27-YEAR-OLD MODEL GIRLFRIEND. AND THE MANNEQUIN? RATNER SAYS THE IDEA
Hollywood director
Brett Ratner
shoots his
Victoria's Secret model girlfriend,
Alina Puscau
came from movies such as 1985's Weird Science. "It's that fantasy of creating your own dream girl," he says. "Who doesn't imagine their perfect girl? It's very cinematic." After the shoot he showed Polaroids to friends, who asked about the identity of the second girl. "I'll get you her number and hook you up," Ratner promised.
If the cool sensuality and powerful feminine mystique of these photographs seem both familiar and timeless, there's good reason: Ratner was emulating the ultimate provocateur. "This shoot is an homage to Helmut Newton," says Ratner, "who was a close personal friend." The German photographer died five years ago at the age of 83 after a car crash outside Hollywood's Chateau Marmont. Newton was known for his imperious women who wore stilettos and little else. He shot numerous playboy pictorials over nearly 30 years.
As for Ratner, he's best known for directing such action movies as X-Men: The Last Stand and the Rush Hour series and music videos for Jay-Z and Mariah Carey. (He has also signed on to direct the Hugh Hefner biopic with Universal Pictures.) Ratner has been photographing models professionally for years. He has shot Heidi Klum and Jessica Simpson, among others.
Alina is a Victoria's Secret model and has also posed for Ralph Lauren and Gap ads, as well as in fashion shoots for Vogue and Elle magazines. Last year she recorded her
first single, "When You Leave (Numa Numa)," which has performed well on the charts. Not surprisingly, Ratner shot the video. The director and the model first crossed paths five years ago at a party. "When I met him, I asked, 'Who is this guy anyway?'" says Alina, whose sultry Eastern European accent (she's from Bucharest) and dark looks beg for a role as a Bond girl. "But we had an immediate chemistry and connection."
"Alina is a natural beauty and reminds me of a Helmut model. She has total confidence in her own skin," Ratner says. "And yet she's also a bit of the girl next door. The best shots tell a story and evoke some kind of emotion or feeling. Helmut was great at manipulating his models, micromanaging to evoke an exact emotion."
"Brett drives everyone on the set crazy," says Alina, laughing. "He's a total perfectionist." Indeed, this shoot lasted from eight a.m. until midnight.
Newton almost shot Alina once, but at the time she wouldn't take off her clothes, so she was sent home. Similarly, Ratner missed several previous opportunities to shoot for playboy. This entire affair has the whiff of kismet.
"I had dinner with Helmut the night before he died, and I took the last picture of him alive," says Ratner. "I almost feel as if Helmut passed along a gift to me. This shoot was
meant to be."
—Jason Harper
ITS THAT FANTASY OF CREATING YOUR OWN DRF.AM GIR1..'
