About 8 years ago, I had been working a few years already as a booker at Beatrice Men, when the Viennese agency Wiener Models owner, Andrea Weidler, invited me to be a judge at their model contest, one of the prizes awarded to the male model winner would be a photo shoot by me in Milan and representation at Beatrice Models. This would become an annual event for me that I undertake yearly with great enthusiasm and has become a font for new exciting talent on which i will detail on future blog postings. On this first Vienna adventure, one of the contestants was this young professional soccer player with bright blue eyes, a chipped tooth smile and overly plucked eyebrows, but underneath his head full of gel, I understood this boy had potential. I organized him to visit me in Milan when his eyebrows had grown in and to leave the gel at home. A few months later, Domenique Melchior in his baseball hat arrived in Milan, where I did his first photos and was amazed of his presence in the camera. It was in those fabulous times before digital, so I had to anxiously wait a few days to see what I had captured on film but it was obvious a star was born. He showed beauty, personality, a nonchalance and a willingness to learn from the first click of my camera. In a matter of weeks Domenique shot the AYOR campaign with the photographer Lorenzo Marcucci and started working with frequency for important photographers as Michael Roberts, Karl Lagerfeld, Aldo Fallai and Bruce Weber for magazines as GQ and L'UOMO VOGUE and various advertising including multiple times for Giorgio Armani. Domenique continues to be a super successful international model and friend. Domenique, you will always be my #1.
