NASTASSJA KINSKI MEMORIES: With Antoine Verglas and Don Makarenko

NASTASSJA KINSKI MEMORIES:

with Antoine Verglas and Don Makarenko

The creator of legendary actress Nastassja Kinski’s largest worldwide fan club Don Makarenko recently conducted an interview with iconic fashion and celebrity photographer Antoine Verglas regarding his shoots with Nastassja in the 90s. Don has always been curious as to what she is like in person, what she is like to work with, how good she is in front of the lens and Antoine generously answered his questions.

Produced by LuvNGrace Productions & Steven Robertson

Co-Producer Sukhdev Krishan

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Don- “Hello Antoine, just to let you know I have your 1994 Tatler magazine in front of me.”

Antoine- “Ahhh, Wow.”

Don- “And I was looking and you also did Spanish Vogue with Nastassja in 1994.”

Antoine- “Yes, I guess it was the same shoot, is it the same shoot?”

Don- “I don’t have the Spanish Vogue that she was in, but I can see the pics are B&W. They look similar, so I don’t know if it was from the same photoshoot or a different photoshoot.”

Antoine- “At the time, there was a lot of syndication between magazines and we used to try to do the same in the day, but ah, it’s true it was great to Shoot Nastassja Kinski because she was such a beauty and such a name in the movie industry and in Hollywood at the time, you know. Actually, I’ve obviously seen her in movies, and it was… thanks actually to an agent whose name was ***Monique Gallier*** and she was at the Head of Elite at the time, and ah, to me she said you, you should work with Nastassja. She is so amazing.” cont…

Don- I chuckle in excitement

Antoine- “And when that luck came in, ya know, and it was such a treat to be able to shoot her at the time, she is so gorgeous, you know.”

Don- “Well, coming from you, that means a lot, cause you have shot everybody, ya know… Cindy Crawford, Eva Herzigová, Linda Evangelista, Carrie Otis, Elle MacPherson… soo many, but Nastassja was a bit older.”

Antoine- “Yes, but she has such femininity and such a presence and a charisma, you know, and she was so nice, ya know, and it’s just fantastic. Sometimes you work with beauty, but they can be a little bit colder or a little bit more high-maintenance or a little bit you know…everyone is different… you know, and Natassja was so…ah, so nice and so warm and her voice, the way she talks.”

Don- “Yes, she has a Beautiful Voice. Where did the photoshoot happen? Was that in NY?”

Antoine- “It was in NY yes, yes it happened… it was an English magazine, but it was ah, Tatler publication and it was, how can I say, an assignment from Tatler to do a portrait and an Interview story on Nastassja at the time, ya know, and I think Nastassja at the time was working as an actress, and was trying also to, to, to get more ah, maybe commercial assignments, and do more editorial as a model and try to get more, I would say, passion campaigns.”

Don- “Well, I think at the time the photos were taken, she was doing the movie from Wim Wenders ‘Far Away, So Close’.”

Antoine- “Yes, it was a way to promote the movie obviously, ya know.”

Don- “Yes, it was also filmed in some black and white, and she is an angel.”

Antoine- “It’s Wim Wenders, ya know. Lol.”

Don- “Yes, Paris, Texas and her very first movie. Ahhh…”

Antoine- Also laughs: “Remember the movie Tess’? But I think the one you mention is ***Lam oh vous*** the movie she did.”

Don- “It’s called ‘Wrong Move’ – 1975. Back to the questions, I was just curious: How was the shoot you did with her around this time?”

Antoine- “Basically at the time, she had a publicist and a movie agent and she was also new with Elite… she had a new model agent. So of course it was planned and organized with her agency and for Tatler Magazine. Tatler was interested in doing a portrait/story on her and me, and I got hired by Tatler and coordinated through Elite to be the photographer to do this, and we decided to do that in NY. I remember at the time, I was shooting at Studio1 in downtown NUY just north of Soho, and we did a little bit of studio and outdoor shooting.”

Don- “So when the agent first contacted you, did you have an ddea of what you wanted to do with Nastassja, or was it all kinda ad lib?”

Antoine- “Honestly, there was no specific concept to the shooting. It was more like trying to portray her as a beautiful iconic movie actress, and it was more to portray her in a natural way and to show her beauty and femininity. That was my goal.”

Don- “And you did that! Nastassja takes such wonderful pictures. She’s so natural and photogenic, and your pictures and there’s a lot of expression in her face. Her eyes, as well. Just gorgeous/beautiful. Her eyes tell you the story.”

Antoine- “Ya, I remember. It was such a great cover at the time. I’m glad you bring it up again.”

Don- “Well, I’m a huge fan and it was Vern (LuvnGrace) who told me first that he worked with you, and I was like, ‘OMG, Wow! He Shot Nastassja!!’ I was so happy. I have a large collection of magazines, photos DVDs and other memorabilia.”

Antoine- “You’re a true fan!”

Don- “Well, looking at a magazine or watching a movie is one thing, but to actually speak with someone who has interacted with Nastassja brings me a lot of joy.”

Antoine- “Trust me, she is just as you imagine her, because I have really great memories of her and even of her daughter later. I managed to photograph/shoot her a few years after. Yes, Sonya. Sonya Kinski. I took pictures of her when she was with Elite also, so she had the same agent, but maybe in the 2000s… maybe 2004.”

Antoine- “Yes, I remember when Vernard brought her up again up to Vancouver.”

Don- “I’m completely honored to have worked with Nastassja and her daughter. Also, it’s wonderful to get an insight of how it has been done… and just listening to you talk about the photoshoot and speaking such good things of her. She was about 34 at the time, a mother at the time, so her persona changed from the younger ‘Cat People’ and ‘Tess’ and ‘One from the Heart’ that made her so famous. I’m curious Antoine: Those pictures that you took, they were not all published in Tatler. There is the cover, and I think one or 2 inside Vogue…no cover, but a few pics inside.”

Antoine- “You know why? It was because I had Nastassja in studio for only 2 hours max, so I had to do something very quickly, and I took the opportunity because she was available, and she could do it. It was not a shoot where I had a lot of time.”

Don- “Did she bring her own clothes or her own outfits, or did your team style her?”

Antoine- “We had a hair and makeup artist for her, and I think she came with her own stylist. She had someone with her. It was very fast, so maybe she had press for a movie after and a lot of interviews.”

Don- “Amazing. What are you doing now, Antoine? How do you occupy your time?”

Antoine- “So basically, I live between NY- St.Barts- Paris. Those are my main locations and where I reside most of the time. My home base is NY, and I have a photo studio in the West Village. I still work as a photographer for certain magazines and brands, and I send my photographs to certain galleries like Clic, for Instance, and I spend my time also working and trying to stay relevant in the fashion and commercial industries. And I have two children. One is 30 and one is 28. And my wife and I have a business which is a concept store with different locations and we sell photographs from different photographers and books, as well as clothing, home goods, jewelry, fragrance and more. That’s how I spend my Time.”