06.03. | Ready, Set, Pose! Or How We Terrorised Tourists at St Stephen's Cathedral

Once again the day arrived when the Vienna Hungarian Photo Club released our inner supermodels into the wild—under strict supervision, naturally.

This was our second grand “Anyone Can Be a Top Model, Yes, Even You” event, with the usual twist: later, the models would move to the other side of the camera and prove themselves as ruthless photographers.

Our secret WhatsApp group—which is slowly approaching the population of a small village—had been buzzing with preparation messages for days.

We've been meeting nearly every Tuesday for almost a year now, and before each session I privately worry that one day I'll run out of strange creative ideas.

For some reason the group always manages to convince me afterwards that “wow, that was completely different again!”

Or perhaps they're just polite.

Either way, we gathered at our usual headquarters, the Vienna Hungarian School at Schwedenplatz 2, for a quick council of war.

At six o'clock, our model-dressed-and-ready unit appeared in front of St Stephen's Cathedral.

There was only one command, carved in stone:

Everyone must look unbelievably COOL.

Mission accomplished.

In the crowd around the cathedral we looked like a newly formed, slightly confused K-pop band.

If you sometimes feel like an invisible grey mouse, come along next time. We guarantee that not only will we photograph you, but at least three tourists will probably try to work out which new Netflix series you're starring in.

Now to the real assignment.

I divided our increasingly family-like group—the one or two newcomers found the rhythm within five minutes—into pairs.

First task: the photographer had to make the picture the model had imagined.

This is where we enter the deepest chambers of psychology.

The model usually imagines themselves floating through a luxury perfume advert in a gentle breeze.

Reality may initially look more like somebody who backed the wrong horse at the races.

Then came paradise for the photographer: complete creative freedom to show which pose they believed genuinely suited the model.

In the first round, photographing from eye level was compulsory—the “mirror angle”. That is roughly how people are used to seeing themselves at home, so it reduces the shock of suddenly seeing their face from an unfamiliar viewpoint.

Then came Group Formation 2.0: the feared trio.

There was the Photographer—the person pressing the button.

The Model—the brave subject.

And the Boss—the instructor, producer and person with opinions.

The Boss had to invent the composition, position the model and give directions. The photographer followed the plan and made the image.

Then came the psychological roller coaster.

Boss became Model. Model became Photographer. Photographer became Boss.

This rotation had an elegant side effect: nobody dared demand anything completely impossible, because in the next round the request might come straight back at them.

A dominant director became an obedient lamb; the lamb became an uncompromising creative boss.

Brilliant, no?

The next exercise was called “Coming and Going”.

The idea was to catch the model in motion like a fashion photograph—walking towards or away from the camera.

We were aiming for the perfect harmony of dynamic leg position, elegant posture and the facial expression that says “I definitely did not just trip over my own feet”.

Not easy, but we survived with honour.

To finish—because we had earned it—we went for ice cream.

But the work still wasn't over.

The final assignment was to create a “life-affirming” portrait of somebody engaged in serious combat with their ice cream.

The results ranged somewhere between “artistic chaos” and “it dripped on my trousers”, but we laughed a great deal.

If this sounds like your kind of madness, you're welcome to join us.

Every month we hold a Tuesday session focused on modelling, and we also organise family photography walks on selected Sundays—the next one is June 15.

We meet at Schwedenplatz 2, and all practical information goes into our WhatsApp group.

Come along. Your diaphragm muscles will thank you, if only from laughing.

Part of the BANHALMI ecosystem

For the professional context and practical side of portrait photography, visit the BANHALMI professional website. Related art series, books and exhibitions are preserved in the BANHALMI ART archive.