Helen Diaz (film)

Added 1441134034 by Ramees Farooqi.

Mamiya 645.

Kodak Portra 400.

Shot from Helen's home studio in Bristol, March 2015.

Developed and scanned by Express Imaging in Cardiff.

This, along with the previous four photographs, are from my debut shoot with Helen in March 2015. I quickly realised also that this was the first day of the year that the sun came out.

My previous shoot took place in January of that year. Even though that was a fantastic shoot, it was somewhat frought with minor technical mishaps which led me to make myself completely miserable throughout the following February when I also took to my bed with a chest infection.

However, during that month, I found the perfect opportunity to book a shoot with Helen after she and I had been talking about one for almost three years.

I turned up at her house a few weeks later, and the moment she opened her front door to me, she made a huge difference to my general well being. I gave no hint whatsoever of my recent dismal experiences. Nevertheless my spirits quickly soared as, on set, Helen proved herself some of the finest company I could have wished for. Not only would she make me laugh throughout the day, and introduce me to green tea which I have since become partial to, she also, of course proved herself as a class act model.

As she was driving me back to the railway station at the end of our shoot, I felt a warm glow inside. I began to question if my recent feelings of sorrow weren't due to all the mishaps on my preceding shoot, but in fact to the constant cold and darkness of the last couple of months.

I was convinced that Helen had brought the sunshine with her. However, as she herself later pointed out, it may simply have been the effects of the green tea.