#nofilter – When the Clothes Really Do Make the Man…

• Feature article •

When I read Norbi's professional account of the project in which the Dutch national football team asked him to work as their official photographer, one detail immediately caught my eye: the Dutch wanted images with natural colours and no filters at all. Essentially, photographs that could be used as they came out of the camera.

That is exactly what I need for my next fashion shoot: someone who can create immediately usable images with the right atmosphere and a completely natural colour palette.

So I started asking around to find a photographer willing to hand over the images unprocessed, without retouching.

I kept hitting walls.

Every answer was the same: "A raw image is not an image."

There was only a small chance that Norbi would happen to be available, but I had nothing to lose. When I described the idea, his eyes lit up and he simply said:

"Let's do it."

Scheduling was not easy with so many participants, especially in summer. After a few days of organising, however, we managed to find the perfect date.

For my latest fashion shoot, I had imagined a location that was anything but ordinary: a sailboat on Lake Balaton.

As with our April shoot in Tihany, the main goal was to present BONO's clothes — this time the summer collection.

To my great delight, the shoot once again gave us much more than that.

Months earlier, when the idea of a Balaton shoot first formed in my mind — preferably on a sailboat — I imagined that light linen shirts and trousers would work beautifully with the Hungarian sea and a gentle breeze.

In the end, I was incredibly lucky. One of our models, Ákos, managed to arrange a beautiful sailboat for us from VizenJó Kft. Every part of the idea came true. Our "moving location" was both beautiful and impressive.

The next wonderfully lucky coincidence was that our skipper, Ágoston, also happened to have modelling ambitions. Suddenly I had two men to dress for the shoot.

The team came together: Norbi as photographer, Ákos and Ágoston as models, and eventually Ági joined us as makeup artist.

Everything was ready for a professional production.

And yet not for a single moment did it feel like work.

We created decisively and quickly, but during those roughly ninety minutes the shoot felt far more like laughter and enjoyment than a job.

Everything was there.

The setting sun provided the light. The turquoise and pastel colours of Lake Balaton created a unique backdrop.

For the models, stepping into character was almost effortless. Who would not feel fantastic and confident in a setting like this, dressed in stylish, carefully selected outfits?

https://video.wixstatic.com/ez3186ycgommt1f3yp7

And on top of all that, a true professional was guiding the photography — someone capable of drawing out the very best in his models with an almost childlike sense of play.

By the end, we had acquired a sizeable audience among the sailors waiting in the harbour. One spectator even remarked that although he normally hated being photographed, he would happily model for us if we could make him look as good as Ákos and Ágoston.

At the end of the shoot, Norbi casually handed me the memory card together with all the "raw images". I could only stare at how beautiful and natural the colours were.

The clothes came alive through the models, and we hope the photographs convey the particular feeling created by Lake Balaton, the sailboat and the collection together.

That is when the idea for the following two photography packages was born, available between August 1 and 15:

Why shouldn't anyone be able to experience this?

With the help of our spectators, we even made a short behind-the-scenes film. 🙈

Models: Gréta Molnár (Bono Menswear Store) Ákos Milassin Ágoston Schömer

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The photographs were made with an Olympus E-M1 Mark III camera using M.Zuiko 75mm 1:1.8 and M.Zuiko 45mm PRO lenses.

Art photography is a sensitive creative process in which the body, personality and authentic self all have space to emerge.

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.