Between Us: A Model's Life

Dutch model Saskia de Brauw stands naked nuzzling a black cat amid her bleach-white Parisian apartment in photographer Annemarieke van Drimmelen’s portraits documenting the downtime of fashion’s top faces. Exploring the dichotomy between artifice and authenticity, Van Drimmelen captured off-duty models such as Sara Blomqvist and Herieth Paul in their own environments, stripped of the paraphernalia of high-gloss fashion shoots and catwalk shows. “Models are of course used to stepping into the role of a character for a shoot. Some girls do that in an amazing way,” explains Van Drimmelen. “Bringing the camera to their personal life took away the role that they knew and opened up something else.” A former model turned photographer whose work has appeared in Glamour, Marie Claire and US Vogue, Van Drimmelen worked with stylist Dimphy den Otter, who dressed the girls in clothes from their own wardrobes. Shooting in black and white on a Phase One camera, Van Drimmelen wanted to blur the line between documentary and fashion portraiture. “I try and let go of any idea I have of how the moment should look like when I'm shooting,” she says. “That's when the picture seems to come alive.”