A MYSTERIOUS FRENCH MODEL IN A FAMED PIECE OF ARCHITECTURE. CISTMAGHIFIQUE
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o often great photography is the result of an ambitious production, with sets built by teams of carpenters, armies of hair and makeup experts on hand and lawyers arguing over contracts. Other times, however, truly wonderful work can come from nothing but a master shooter, a beautiful model and a quixotic scheme. Parisian photographer David Bellemere, known for his nudes and his work in fashion, had the idea to invite a French model named Liza to the Sheats-Goldstein house in Beverly Hills, a masterwork of midcentury-modern architecture completed in 1963 by the American John Lautner. The goal? To spend four days relaxing and shooting, exploring
each other and the mise-en-scene. Bellemere had photographed Liza before, two years earlier, and wanted her specifically for this work. Only Liza would do. "I called her and proposed the idea," he says. "She said, 'Yes, with you I want to do it.'" Off they flew to the City of Angels. This portfolio presents an erotic realism that is at once beautiful and raw. You feel as if you're in the room, enjoying Liza's company yourself. You can almost hear her voice—and her thick French accent, of course. Bellemere wanted to capture "something more than desire." His model was a perfect muse. "Desire is wonderful when Liza is giving you her smile, her trust," he says. We couldn't agree more. Feast your eyes on La Beaute.
