Inja Zalta in a Playboy hommage to LUI - "Très chic, très hip, très sexy!"
I have known Inja Zalta since she became
Miss Teen Smrklja at the tender age
of 14. I photographed her first editorial back then and we have been shooting
together ever since. Five years later, all grown up and incredibly sexy, Inja
Zalta is a firm part of Slovenian model mainstream with several TV ads,
advertising campaigns and big jobs already behind her. This Playboy shoot was
something I wanted to do with her ever since she turned 18, but we just never
found the time to do it.
The French magazine Lui and its legendary
covers were my inspiration for the shoot. Back then Lui had it all - the
skanky, the precious soft porn Dov Charney's American Apparel is so famous for
today (albeit with a touch of hipster spice) and the subtle, underlying fetish
implications, all done in a sagacious way during a revolutionary sexual
renaissance period between the sixties and eighties. At that time you could
either choose Playboy for its polished photographic perfection, or grab
Penthouse and Hustler for the vivaciously squalid sex scenes. Lui filled the
missing gap by offering something only the naughty French could pull off at the
time - a sense of humor laced with a mischievous style.
Lui is back on newsstands since September
2013 under the creative lead of Frédéric Beigbeder, author of "99 francs" (retitled "14,99 euros" later). As the new
captain at Lui's helm he believes that the magazine's original, yet slightly
revamped formula is what’s missing on newsstands today. His signature house
blend of major model names (like Edita Vilkevičiūtė, Enikő Mihalik and Małgosia
Bela) baring it all and big photographer talents like Terry Richardson lensing
them is again bringing joy to households this side of Atlantic.