The gorgeous beaches of Tulum, Mexico, were the setting for Enrique Badulescu’s ‘Solarisation’, an amazingly intense, surreal-psychedelic riot of colour, where he orchestrates modern and fresh looks by stylist Romina Herrera Malatesta portrayed by top model Caroline Kelley.
We heard that they call you the ‘King of the Beach’. Why do they call you the King of the Beach?
That’s a good one. I have a house in Mexico, in Tulum. I came there a long time ago, like thirty years. I fell in love with the place. I’ve always been a beach person. I grew up in Mexico City, but my parents used to take us to Acapulco all the time; back when it wasn’t full of cartels. When I lived in London – that’s where my photographic career really started and where I spent five years – I was always going to the Pacific coast, to Puerto Escondido, to shoot for British magazines. I ended up in Tulum by chance, and I fell in love. I bought a piece of land and a house, and then I shot on the beach all the time. I’ve been called the ‘King of the Beach’ and the ‘King of the Bathing Suits’. I don’t know why … but I do spend a lot of time on the beach. I love shooting outside.
So the story ‘Solarisation’ was shot in Tulum?
Yes, in Tulum in front of my house. I was very lucky to find that place because it was really virgin and beautiful – there were a couple of hotels and nothing else. You could walk for miles and not see anyone. But it’s still quite beautiful. As long as you don’t go during the high season!.
How much has Tulum changed? I know a lot of the English fashion crowd go there for their Christmas holidays.
It has changed; and, you know something, a lot of people say it’s my fault! But it isn’t my fault. It’s like every beautiful place in the world, it’s bound to happen ... I had shot many stories there, but then I went to shoot one with Kate Moss. It was funny because it was January and it was around her birthday; so she spent her birthday there while we were shooting, and once the word got out everybody came to Tulum.
Why do you like to shoot in Tulum?
Because it’s so easy to shoot there. You have the house, so, basically, they change there and then just walk down two seconds and they’re on the beach already. When the weather’s beautiful, it’s incredible, really amazing. One of the things I love about Tulum is that the sand is so white, it’s almost like a daylight studio. Even if it’s cloudy, you have so much light bouncing off the sand. The light there is so beautiful that it gives you a lot of contrast already. When the sun is up, it’s gorgeous. At night, under a full moon, it’s almost like daylight: the shadows are so strong you could even shoot then.
How much has fashion photography changed since you started out?
It’s almost unreal how much it has changed. I mentioned the example with Kate Moss: there’ a beautiful picture of her in the waves wearing a sweater; an amazing picture. I shot it on film in the water – in the waves. I knew what I wanted to shoot and how I wanted to shoot it, but there was still a part left to the unknown. I didn’t know exactly how the pictures would look until I developed my rolls in New York…
And now?
Now, everyone looks at everything every two seconds – which is super annoying. Everyone has to see every single picture on the computer. The other thing that I find most annoying is that we’ve lost our leisure time. You used to work for eight or ten hours, and then you were done. You’d have a cold beer, hang out with everyone, have conversations, you’d be laughing. Now people want to shoot everything immediately, edit straight away, look at all the details, and then, what‘s more, take a picture with the iPhone and take it home. That’s why it’s a pleasure to work with all my friends from the S Magazine. It’s a photography magazine, so the priority is beautiful images rather than just focussing on how clothing items are presented.
What was it like shooting with the Leica S 007?
It’s like, ‘Wow!’ I tell you something: you can see the difference straight away from the files. The colours with this camera are always really stunning. Also, though it’s not waterproof, it’s kind of water-resistant, and it works amazingly. In Tulum there’s a lot of salt in the sea air, and some days it’s so windy; but we had no problems with the camera. It was really cool. I shot all the rest of the stories in Tulum with the Leica.
How did you get into fashion photography in the first place?
You know something, it’s funny, I didn’t even want to be a photographer, because my father was a photographer. I grew up with it all my life and, you know how it is, when something is so close to you, you don’t find it so special. I did like to take pictures, but I didn’t want to be a photographer. Still, my father thought they were good and sent some to the director of the Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photographie (Bavarian State Academy of Photography) in Munich. In fact, that’s the same school Juergen Teller went to, though he started just when I finished.
And you were accepted?
I got a letter informing me that I was accepted to the school. I didn’t even know what my parents had done. They said, ‘If you don’t want to go you don’t have to.’ I said, ‘No, I want to try it out.’ So I went. One day I was in a book and magazine shop. I opened a French Vogue and it had a thirty-page story by Guy Bourdin. He had amazing ideas. The story was so beautiful and all the colours so vibrant. I just thought, ‘This looks like it would be fun: hanging out with beautiful girls and travelling the world taking pictures.’ Then we also did fashion photography at school, so I started to get into it.
When was your big breakthrough?
I met a photographer who lived in New York and was looking for an assistant, so I just moved to New York. I didn’t assist for very long, because it was a little... At that time I was very much into Polaroid film that would develop straight away, and I was doing tests with it in New York. By chance, I bumped into a friend, an editor from German Vogue, in a hotel restaurant. Camilla Lowther (photo agent) was staying at the same hotel. She came over to our table and asked if she could join us. She saw my Polaroid book and asked, ‘Would you like to live in London? I’d like to represent you.’ I said, ‘Of course, I would love to!’ That’s how it started. I tell you something, I don’t think I’d here if I hadn’t been at that table when Camilla came over. I wouldn’t be talking to you now, for sure. It was such a chance meeting.
