For his inaugural publication, photographer Mark Abegg de Boucherville sat down for lunch with 88 models in the French capital
It was only Arina Kablukova’s second day in Paris when she met with photographer Mark Abegg de Boucherville. The casting director had given the Russian model instructions to wear what she wanted to be photographed in. Kablukova didn’t get the memo, and turned up in a grey tracksuit. “Is that really what you want to be photographed in?” Abegg de Boucherville asked. The model looked at him, confused: “You mean don’t have any clothes for me?” A quick chat revealed that Kablukova was a former champion in rhythmic gymnastics. “So I said, jokingly, ‘Could you do a handstand, with a croissant in your mouth?’” the photographer tells AnOther.
That image is now part of Abegg de Boucherville’s debut photobook, Out to Lunch. For roughly a year and a half, the British-Swiss image-maker sat down for lunches with 88 models in Paris. Every meeting followed the same pattern: coffee and a chat, then a meal or snack of the model’s choosing. The concept was loosely inspired by Juergen Teller’s early go-sees work from the 1990s, and began small with around 20 models in mind. “I kept shooting, to the dismay of my casting director, because I kept hitting him up afterwards – ‘let’s do 20 more, and another 20’ – until we ended up with almost 100 models.” Every image was shot on film with a Contax point-and-shoot, left unretouched, and hand-printed. “I wanted to keep that authenticity. And I didn’t want it to be too deep. Sometimes things just need to be simple and relatable.”
This is Abegg de Boucherville’s first published book, but photography wasn’t his first career. He originally worked on the business side of fashion, running his own consultancies. During the Covid-19 pandemic, confined with his then-girlfriend, he picked up a camera for fun. Creativity runs in the family – his mother was a freelance photographer, his father a painter – and within a year and a half after the pandemic, he had moved into photography full time. “I love it,” he says. “Being able to pick up a camera and create stories. I think that’s something we’re lacking.”
In his book, viewers are led through a diverse and sometimes surprising food tour of Paris. From classic bistros for steak frites, to Korean barbecue, Chinese restaurants, KFC and McDonalds. And there is a peculiar sense of fascination in seeing these beautiful models – the very creatures that society has deemed most desirable – gnawing on a chicken wing, or slurping up a big bite of spaghetti. “They look so put-together, you’d think they must just be eating a carrot,” he jokes. “But the reality is that beauty is in imperfection. Bringing everything back to not-perfect, instead of the images our industry always pushes, makes something more relatable.”
The models’ response, he says, was overwhelmingly positive. “This was a project where they were actually allowed to be themselves, in their own clothes, choosing what they wanted to do, being their own character. That brought them some genuine happiness, and you can see it reflected in the images.” Many said they rarely had conversations with photographers on set. “Actually humanising something within our industry was interesting – for them and for me,” Abegg de Boucherville reflects. “There was no pressure here, no client, nobody behind it. I think that’s what comes through as authentic.”
His genuine, candid approach is reflected in the book’s design, which resembles a classic French bistro menu, with a red cushioned cover and gold corners. “It’s not meant to be serious. It’s meant to be something really human.” Abegg de Boucherville sums it up simply. “If you share a meal with someone, it doesn’t matter what nationality, religion or background you come from. That’s essentially what I tried to capture … a relationship, sitting down, and sharing something simple.”
Out to Lunch is out now.