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When I first started working with Grace Coddington, we discovered our shared love of Edward Weston’s photographs. We had both read Weston’s journals and spent hours discussing all the psychological feelings and conflict about women he expressed through his photography. We eventually decided to do a story inspired by Weston, and I suggested the model Bruce Hulse would be the perfect guy to play him—because he too has such a grand passion for women. At the time, Bruce was in love with a girl named Nathalie Gabrielle—and that’s how she and I first met.
Before we started shooting the British Vogue story “Under Weston Eyes,” I told Nathalie that she was going to play the role of Tina Modotti, the photographer, model and revolutionary who became Weston’s lover. I suggested she read up about Modotti, and to my surprise, she did. Later Nathalie would come to remind me more of Charis Weston, Edward’s second wife who he married later in life. Like Charis, Nathalie has a deep compassion for people and accepts even the craziest characters, flaws and all.
Right away, everyone on our team had a feeling for Nathalie and the other people we were photographing. She was always so completely natural, aware of her surroundings and in touch with them. Nathalie could look powerful and strong in one moment, then innocent and youthful in the next. From the start, she had an incredible freedom with her body and was able to transfer that into something artful whenever she was in front of the camera. If I had to choose one photograph from that first British Vogue sitting that epitomizes Nathalie, it would be the image of her in the simple black dress. Only someone with her presence could turn that dress into something so extraordinary. —Bruce Weber