Before I went to Paris for the first time, I subscribed to French Vogue. At that time, I was particularly interested in the photography of Guy Bourdin, the enfant terrible of fashion photography.
His photographs fascinated with sudden eroticism, unbridled desire, visual surrealism, elegance and insolence of discovering the secrets of femininity. At the same time, Guy Bourdin was known for his uncompromising perfectionism and reputation for ruthless treatment of world-famous supermodels.
An unexpected encounter occurred one sunny morning, in Paris, at the Place du Palais Bourbon, when I went to a meeting with an art director at the Vogue editorial office.
Guy Bourdin invited me for a quick breakfast at the brasserie on another side of that small square. He was sympathetic, smiling, interested in who I was then in my twenties. In his movements, when he offered me a warm croissant, in the way he turned to the waiter, there was calmness and sensitivity to other people.
I thought then that Guy Bourdin was someone who acted with a gesture and created situations with his hand; I felt safe with him, because there was neither aggression nor fear in him, but only the unambiguousness of existence.
This very important meeting for me gave me confidence in myself, the conviction that only from the unity of my personality on the basis of the richness of visual culture and comprehensive knowledge of technology will I create my own photography.