A vintage sofa and a modern kind of confidence.

After 2 years I thought it was time to join one of Yves Kortum’s masterclasses to fine-tune my art, refresh my eye, and come home with new ideas and little technical gems. This time we stopped at Hotel Oranienburg — still in renovation — and had the chance to shoot with the amazing Simona. For this set I kept it simple and worked with the available window light. The overcast weather did exactly what I love: it turned the window into a huge softbox, wrapping her gently and letting the shadows fall like velvet. That smooth light, paired with the quiet elegance of the room — the vintage sofa, the symmetry of the panels, those glowing bulbs above her — resulted in a timeless black-and-white portrait: intimate, cinematic, and calm. No distractions. Just Simona, the texture of the space, and that soft light doing all the heavy lifting. A big thank you to Yves for sharing his knowledge and for creating such a cool atmosphere throughout the masterclass. And a special thank you to Simona for her patience, professionalism, and the way she owned every frame.