For those of you who had seen the covers of Bianca’s Glamour Lounge already know that last year (2003) I did a nude photo shoot wearing only socks and a pair of skates. I was spending the weekend at a friend’s cottage and we were right beside a private lake. One Sunday morning I had this crazy idea to pose nude at -10C. After all it was the place to do it: no children nearby and the neighbour wasn’t too close. A part from a few snowmobiles passing in the distance, there was only Martin, our two friends and I.

After a good breakfast, I did my hair and makeup. Nothing too complicated. Meanwhile, the others were out shovelling the snow off the lake. Too bad I only got the idea Saturday evening. We could’ve added some blue dye to the water to give the ice more of a glacier-like look (not to mention that the sky was grey that day). Finally, at around 2pm, which should be the warmest time of the day (if this was the warmest I wouldn’t have liked to shoot at 9am!), I was ready to make my way down to the lake dressed with my friend’s cap, his coat and my socks and skates. The more I kept warm the longer I could stay on the ice and get quality shots. So I only took off the coat once on the lake. At the first gust of wind, my belly and breasts tightened up like a predator ready to pounce and my soul
started swearing at me. But I was determined and I managed to pose for about 15 minutes before my thighs started turning blue and purple and my body started to shiver uncontrollably. I quickly went back to the cottage under a warm shower. And what did I do after my shower? I went back out completely naked (without socks or boots) and rolled in the snow (Martin also took a couple of shots). Never in my life did I ever feel such a burning sensation, like razor blades on my skin. I only resisted one minute before calling it quits against my new adversary. I then went back under the warm waters of the shower, my body exhausted, my soul pouting, and a glint of pride in my eyes.

Those shots were taken for me and my personal pride. Who would’ve thought that a month later, Echo des Savanes (a Parisian magazine) would call Martin up to see if he had any photos of nude women skiing in the mountains? Even though I was skating and not skiing, we took a chance and sent them a couple of samples. Well, one of them was chosen and printed on 2 pages! Talk about coincidence! Not too long after that experience I told myself that it would be fun to do this again but dressed in latex. It seemed like an even bigger challenge; if latex heats up in the sun, it surely freezes up in sub-zero weather. My idea seemed difficult to accomplish: If it only took 15 minutes to freeze nude, how long would I last dressed in latex? If you think that latex can keep you warm at -10C, think again! After all it’s only rubber . The idea was on the table. All I had to do was find the guts to go through with it. I found the courage a year later in 2004 thanks to a latex dress from the Super Liquid Boutique...

About two years ago, by pure chance, I found this latex company. Their collection was small but I immediately fell in love with their “Bond dress”; with the base ending with a tire giving it a futuristic feel. I liked the idea of only having a specific part of the dress blown up and not the whole attire (I’m not a big fan of inflatable clothing). But during that time, our priority was to invest in catsuits. I only got in touch with the very friendly designer, Brigitte, last fall. I ordered the dress in pewter and I got it a couple of weeks later in mint condition. When I put it on for the first time and I saw myself in the mirror I knew that I would have to find an original scenario to show off its true value. Such a special dress deserved nothing less than a brilliant idea, but which one? Martin was the one with the first suggestion with a cabaret-style shoot either in our studios or at a real cabaret where I would’ve sang in an old 50s microphone. The idea was original but needed lots of time and money to gather all the necessary items, not to mention that the owners of the cabaret wouldn’t let us shoot a whole afternoon for free. So we came to the realisation that if we wanted to do a shoot in the dress anytime soon we needed another idea. But which one?

2003 ended leaving an extremely cold January 2004 ahead of us. The average temperature was -15C and we had lots of problems keeping our loft warm. On a -20C evening, I went to the Fetish Café alone dressed in a black catsuit. Even with my long coat and clothes, I could still feel the latex freezing on my skin. And, while walking rapidly towards my car, that’s when I got a flash of the winter nude shoot that we had done the previous year. In a few seconds I saw the immense lake covered in snow, the long icicles hanging from the cottage roof, my nude body offered to the cold, my friends’ and Martin’s smiles, the published photo…the idea of reliving the experience in latex. But how to do it in this cold? Where could I pose? At the cottage? What would I wear?

I still had a good 5 minutes of torture before getting to the car. I couldn’t feel my ears, my forehead was frozen, my eyes were squinted to hold back the pearling tears, my lips were dry and cracking, and thinking of exotic beaches and warm baths wasn’t helping… Nope. I didn’t really want to run away from the cold to a warm and exotic location. No. I wanted to dominate the cold and the wind; control it, even command it! How great it would be to be the Ice Queen!

There you go! It’s because of this freezing evening that my first vision of the Ice Queen was born. Her image appeared spontaneously and quite clearly. She looked like me but a bit older. Her face was a silvery-blue color. Her large, serene eyes weren’t warm like mine. Hers were a cold metallic blue but still full of emotion and wisdom. In her stare you could see a deep calm and an unbinding control of the soul. But we could also perceive a hint of amusement, audacity and malice. Her silver nose was fine and her blue lips were chapped from the cold but still very sensual. Her image demanded respect. In my mind, she was always looking at me, her back erect sitting on her ice throne with a hinting smile in her eyes. It seemed that her silent smile was asking me what I would do with her next…

In the days to follow, the queen’s image became my obsession. I had to become this queen if only for a brief moment. This is the perfect idea to shoot outside in winter wearing latex. But what to wear? The link wasn’t immediate. It took many days before I made the association between the pewter Bond dress and the Ice Queen; reason being that in the meantime I had found another idea for the dress in a space sci-fi genre. In my mind the Bond dress already had her scenario planned. One evening, I saw the dress hanging in my closet and the link was made. All of a sudden, my queen had more than a face, she now had a body! And her body was enveloped by this metallic and surreal dress. The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place: makeup, hairdo, dress, winter, and…. Location. Right! The location! Where?

Discussing the idea with Martin, he had the idea of doing the shoot in Ottawa, Canada’s capital a couple of hours away. Since Martin had already lived there in his youth, he knew that Ottawa was the host to one of the biggest winter festivals in the world called Winterlude. Part of the festival is the Rideau Canal, the world’s longest outdoor skating rink (7.2 km). At one end of the canal you can skate around immense snow and ice sculptures made by artists from around the world. We thought that this would be the perfect setting for the Ice Queen. Who knows, maybe there would be a small throne or ice castle?

Martin and I left for Ottawa on a Tuesday, the shoot planned for the following afternoon. When we arrived there, we found out that this year, the sculpture weren’t on the canal but in a park and each sculpture had a gate secured around it! Martin even crossed one of the gates to take a few shot and was immediately stopped by security and warned that he needed a permit to cross the gates. Unfortunately, all the offices were closed. We had to make a quick decision: stay and have the makeup artist come anyway or leave and cancel the shoot...