For his ‘Mosh’ editorial series, photographer Ruben Tomas staged alternative model and burlesque performer, Mosh, at a chic swimming pool in Mulholland Drive. Rather than his usual black and white, Tomas photographed the expressive and provocative pin ups using strong colour.

You are originally from Valencia in Spain; what took you to Los Angeles and to what degree is this connected to your work?
I left my hometown over 20 years ago, and I have lived in five different countries and nine cities since then. I established myself in Los Angeles after living in New York City for three years. I chose LA because I feel connected to the light, the nature, the ocean… I’m also working on my first book, and LA helps me to concentrate on the process of working on this project.

What and who do you photograph, and how would you describe your photographic signature?
I photograph anything around me that catches my attention; it’s more about feelings, emotions…visions that come to my head. For me, photography is an experience and I like to capture those moments. I describe my photographic signature as a visual language full of emotions, trying always to capture the soul of the persons or places I photograph.

You basically photograph in black and white – at time also intense colours. How do you set the priorities?
I describe myself as a black and white photographer; but, sometimes I see the power in certain colour images I shot. The colours reproduced by the Leica SL are stunning, so real…so I decided to shoot the whole editorial with Mosh in colour.

In your photo shoot for S Magazine, you worked with alternative model and burlesque performer Mosh. What is special about her?
It was the second time I worked with Mosh. Working with her is like going with the flow: I normally direct my models, but with her all the poses and emotions she proposes fit perfectly with my work. I adore working with her; it’s always a very fun and beautiful experience.

You both decided against using a stylist, because Mosh has her own, impressive collection of clothes at her disposal. What was it about her wardrobe that appealed to you?
Mosh has an amazing wardrobe. All her pieces are unique and I really enjoyed photographing them with her. It adds a kind of cinematographic touch to all the images from the story. Also the flower cap that the hairstylist did was just perfect with the pieces we chose.

A video was made during the photo shoot. Who do you work with and how does that correspond with your photography?
I worked with the amazing talents Bil Brown and Mynxii White. They are super nice and I really feel we were a perfect team, helping each other and being very open to all the suggestions we were all proposing. We all three are passionate image creators and it was a beautiful experience. I felt very comfortable working with them and I can’t wait to work with them on other projects.

You photo with the Leica SL and two SL zooms (24-90mm and 90-280mm). How was that for you?
It really enjoyed shooting with these two great SL zooms. The 24-90mm is the lens I usually shoot with; it allows me to capture full body images and portraiture. Shooting with the 90-280mm was amazing as I was able to shoot from a long distance on location. I wanted to capture Mosh in movement without her noticing the camera.

Who would you really like to photograph some day?
Tilda Swinton.