Yes – social media is called like that for a reason. It gives you the chance to share your stuff or interact with stuff other people put online. But how often does the “social” aspect come into the media we share or consume?

Being connected to the whole world and online 24/7, the amount of people we meet or chat with has become exponentially huge. Oftentimes that means that friendships or relations of whatever kind exist only in the virtual realm of the world wide web. Yes – what we share might be real photos or videos of us and yes, the thoughts and comments of people from the other side of the planet on the content we shared are honest and from the heart…but wouldn’t it sometimes be nice to actually meet this one person and have a real social experience?

Some time ago I was roaming through my e-mails and there was one that for whatever reason caught my attention. After scanning the attachment of the e-mail for malware or viruses, I opened it up and couldn’t believe it. There was this beautiful model – so pretty and so perfect and she asked me to shoot some photos of her. I had never shot a professional model and I was so excited. I really wanted to do this. So basically we sent e-mails back and forth saying that she had work to do in Munich and I had to go to Miami…but there was this one day we both had a small window of time and so we decided to meet up and shoot.

The day came. I was pretty nervous. My camera was in the repairs and I had to move stuff around, get another camera…but it worked fine. I went to town and waited for her call. After some time she told me she had one more client to meet and then we could finally get together. I picked her up and what can I say: we had an amazing time and it was so surreal….Lisa, a beautiful model from Los Angeles who lives in Florence/Italy at the moment, has worked for some amazing clients like L’Oreal, Revlon or Roberto Cavalli…and I – photographer who is more or less just starting out. What a match. The photos turned out great but what really struck me the most: putting the social into something virtual – making it real…a person you can look in the eye, greet or even hug…is so much more fascinating and rewarding than simply exchanging comments or emoticons online. I was inspired by this lovely young woman and I hope that one day our paths will cross again somewhere on this planet…knowing that Instagram had already brought us together once.