Modelling in Sisteron - France

When there are only 2 of you climbing, it is rather difficult to get a good photograph. Whilst one person is belaying, the other person is on the wall and vice versa, so even if you have a self locking belay system, the photographs resulting are taken from an angle which mostly just portrays the climbers bum – the bum shot. So when one day in Orpierre an English photographer began taking photos of us from above, we asked to get copies from him. We got into a bit of a chat and found out that he was in the process of creating a climbing guidebook for the Sisteron, Orpierre and Ceuse regions. Along with some other photographer/climbers they would create a series of guidebooks in English for the whole of the South of France.

The Englishman then told us he was yet to photograph Sisteron and asked if we happened to be heading that way. We had to go to the American’s climbing shop in Sisteron to pick up Nic’s shoes, so yes we were going. He said he'd love to take some photographs of us climbing, and we said we would love to have some photos!

We arrived at the crag which lies opposite the town, and began our preparations. For any photography, the lighting and composition are vital, as is the wardrobe and the makeup. Unfortunately we couldn’t assist with the lighting, as it was outdoor photography, and we couldn’t be bothered waiting around all day for the sun to set, we also couldn’t assist with the composition, as the Englishman had already found the best angles to photograph from. We did however assist with the makeup and the wardrobe. Makeup involved smearing our faces and bodies (not purposely) with black grease from the rope as we were climbing. It was all over our almost brand new rope, and got there from oxidisation on the carabiners which hadnt been used for a while. And wardrobe involved changing into our brightest clothes which had already been worn several days in a row for climbing, but of course, you cant see smell in photographs. That way, us models could be spotted in the shots, which were really just for the scenery...

The Englishman clicked away happily as we did some nice routes in the blaring sunshine. It was so hot in fact that we were soon dripping with sweat; adding a glistening, glamour effect. (Nice on men perhaps; not so on me.) We didn’t even have to pose; he just took a thousand photos, so he could chose the best, and when we saw them, we were impressed....