Playboy
Summer Breeze
Paradise is just a click away with this pictorial from the international Playmate Natalia Udovenko. On a beautiful beach in Portugal’s south-western coast, flipping through the pages of the July 1967 issue of Playboy, Natalia is anything but ordinary — being gorgeous and sweet are just two of her many assets. Shown here in her spread as Miss April 2019, captured by the photographer Ana Dias, Natalia Udovenko is stunning and totally herself as she shows the slender features of her petite figure. Now, it’s time to fall for her sweetheart personality, flawless curves, and innocent demeanor.
First published in Playboy Portugal April 2019 Issue
Also published in: Playboy Mexico April 2019 Issue
Buy the issue here
—
Model: Natalia Udovenko; Photographer: Ana Dias; Producer: Gonçalo Jorge; Photography Assistant: Miguel Velosa; Makeup & Hair: Jenny Miranda; Video: Filipe Figueiredo
BEHIND THE SCENES
TAGS
Mirage
In December 2015, when I was scouting for locations for a new shoot, my friend Sergey Bogaitsev from Russia suggested a destination: Israel! I had never traveled to Israel, but Sergey knew the region well. We had the desert, we had the blue-turquoise waters of the Dead Sea, it looked perfect… and indeed it was! The model chosen for the shoot was the divine blonde Dasha Snezhnaya, from Moscow. The result was an episode for my Playboy Abroad series and an editorial for the cover of the Romanian edition of Playboy.
On this trip I made several new friends: Sergey Lenin, the extrovert, funny and somewhat bad boy of nude photography from Russia, who spoke no other language but Russian, so we had to communicate by gestures; and Alex Vanzetti, a charming and talented photographer from Israel, who specializes in underwater fashion photography.
It was a shoot that my team and I really enjoyed doing, and a place where I will surely return.
– Ana Dias
BTS photos by Sergey Bogaitsev, Filipe Figueiredo, Alex Vanzetti and Sergey Lenin
—
Model: Dasha Snezhnaya; Photographer: Ana Dias; Producer: Gonçalo Jorge; Makeup & Hair: Faina Pikus; Video: Filipe Figueiredo; Thanks to: Sergey Bogaitsev and Kseniya Lebed (Gelo Photostudio), Sergey Lenin, Alex Vanzetti
TAGS
Heat Rises
When I first heard from the Playboy team that I would be shooting Teela LaRoux for Playboy’s Gender & Sexuality Issue on a rooftop in downtown LA, I jumped in excitement! I just love her looks and her attitude, and to capture her in such a powerful urban landscape felt like a perfect match. So, after days and hours fine tuning the details of the upcoming shoot with Anna Wilson and Erica Loewy (the multimedia director and the creative director from Playboy, ie the creative brains), on April 5, 2019, the day of the shoot finally arrived and I was pumped!
Calm, focused, truly genuine and in complete control. That’s how Teela approached the shoot. The pictorial was titled ‘Heat Rises’ and the keywords for the shoot were ‘sweaty, sexy, city vibes’ but the weather on that rooftop in LA wasn’t exactly hot… but Teela, with all her badassery, didn’t even hesitate for a second. She went all in and pulled it off magnificently.
Photographing nudity is always a remarkable experience, because without clothes we show our inner self, there is no protection. We show a little bit of our soul. Teela had never photographed nude before, but she did it as powerfully, genuinely and generously as it can possible be done. She was a dream to work with. I love it when the model surprises me, when I don’t have to direct too much. That’s exactly what happened. I felt that Teela knows and loves her body, and can play with her posture and body language easily. She is strong, bold and intense very effortlessly. As soon as I pointed the camera at her, I immediately felt that connection. That click. You know immediately that you are going to have a great shoot… and you don’t want to stop shooting!
The pictorial was published in the Summer Issue of Playboy and Teela became July Playmate. Mission accomplished.
The shoot was also special because it was featured on an article in the New York Times, by Jessica Bennett and a photo of me shooting Teela even appeared on the front page of the newspaper. Cool!
– Ana Dias
BTS photos by Evan Woods
BTS photos by Stephanie Noritz for The New York Times
BTS photos by Raquel Batalha
—
Model: Teela LaRoux; Photographer: Ana Dias; Executive Editor: Shane Michael Singh; Photography & Multimedia Director: Anna Wilson; Creative Director: Erica Loewy; Photography Assistant: Raquel Batalha; Styling: Kelley Ash; Makeup & Hair: Bree Stanchfield; Staff Photography and Video: Evan Woods; Photo Coordinator: Sandra Evans; Video: Boa Simon
IN THE PRESS
