Make Yourself a Lovely Portrait is a series of photographs created in a nod towards a classic art of portraiture. In the very beginnings of photography, when only few could afford to have a camera, photo sessions were considered as unique and special events for which people would dress up and look their best.

The idea of hand-painted backgrounds used in old portrait studios, people posing in dignity, distant and focused, being almost beyond themselves; all this creates a specific atmosphere which, on the one hand, restricts with the rigidity of its form: stiff official poses, limited face expressions; paradoxically thanks to these restrictions, it allows the models to relax and reveal their true self.

An important factor in the series is that all the models had no experience in posing in front of a camera. The fact that they were lost, uncomfortable, insecure and completely dependable on the photographer's directions, enabled to form a brand new field of possibilities, to express themselves and to see how it feels to step outside from the existing versions of themselves.

Fashion also plays a vital role in the photographs, but rather as a tool; to help to present a different side of the models, the photographer’s version of them. The goal is to capture this rare moment of truth, trust and quiet magic of forgetting who you are for a little while. It's just the present moment, camera, and us.