72 productions together in nine years.
In 2017, Resli Mundwiler and I worked together on a shoot for the very first time. What began with a fashion production featuring South African model Hanri van Schalkwyk developed into an extraordinary creative collaboration – and a friendship.
From editorials and catalogue productions to personal creative projects, from Zurich to my new studio in Taufkirchen, Resli has been beside me for countless important productions.
A story about trust, creativity and what can happen when colleagues become friends.
Sometimes, it is only when you look back that you realise just how much history you have created together.
Resli Mundwiler has been working alongside me as a make-up artist since 2017. And even I find the number hard to believe today: between 2017 and 2026, we created 72 productions together.
72 shoots. 72 new groups of people, new ideas and new challenges. And probably even more stories connected to all those productions.
Over the years, we have experienced almost everything a photographer and make-up artist can experience together: editorials, beauty and fashion shoots, catalogue productions and many personal projects where we were simply free to follow our creativity.
In front of our camera were well-known personalities as well as people who were only just beginning their careers. We watched models develop, saw opportunities emerge from their first shoots and created images from spontaneous ideas that we still remember many years later.
The Beginning in 2017
Our first production together took place in 2017 with South African model Hanri van Schalkwyk, photographing fashion from Kenu Boutique.
At the time, of course, neither of us could have known that this shoot would mark the beginning of a collaboration that would still be going strong almost a decade later.
But the photographs turned out beautifully – and that first shoot certainly wasn’t going to be our last.
One production became two, then ten, then twenty, and eventually there were so many that we stopped counting.
Today, the number stands at 72.
From Zurich to Taufkirchen
For me, one particularly special aspect of our story is that our collaboration continued through major changes in my life.
Many of our productions were created during my years in Zurich. Then, with my move to Germany, a completely new chapter began. A new studio, a new environment and many things that had to be rebuilt from the ground up.
And here in Taufkirchen, Resli was once again standing with me in the studio.
Productions created in my new studio have now become another part of our shared history.
And perhaps the best thing is that we still haven’t run out of ideas.
Even after all these years, there is still that familiar sentence:
“We should try this sometime…”
And more often than not, that sentence eventually turns into another shoot.
When Collaboration Becomes Friendship
Perhaps this is one of the greatest gifts our industry can offer.
At first, people meet professionally. Photographer, make-up artist, model, stylist – everyone arrives on set with their own role and responsibility. You work together, you get to know each other, and eventually you realise that something has developed that reaches far beyond a single production.
A genuine friendship.
Of course, that requires people who truly connect. But a professional collaboration lasting so many years also requires something else: complete trust in one another.
And with Resli, I have always had that trust.
No matter who was standing in front of my camera or what kind of idea we wanted to create, Resli has always been someone I could rely on completely. She masters her craft, remains calm even when things become hectic on set and always manages to create exactly the make-up a production needs.
I always knew: if Resli was responsible for the make-up, it would be right.
Perhaps that trust is one of the reasons why one first production in 2017 eventually became 72.
And our story isn’t finished yet.
There are still ideas. There are still photographs we haven’t created. And I am quite certain that, sooner or later, production number 73 will be waiting for us.
Thank you, Resli – for all these years, all these images, your incredible professionalism and, most importantly, for your friendship.
Credits
- Ajsa Njie · Model
- Alice Bauer · Model
- Christine Lam · Model
- Coleen Hunter · Model
- Daniela Baumann · Model
- Edamey Hugentobler · Model
- Hanri Van Schalkwyk · Model
- Jeniffer Matos · Model
- Jhannet Correa · Model
- Reslie Mundwiler · Makeup
- Reslie Mundwiler · Model
- Sabine Hauptmann · Model