For a number of decades the Austrian fine art photographer Leo Kandl has looked at a broader concept of portraiture. In his Free Portraits series he used newspaper ads to find models in cities as diverse as New York, Moscow, London, Kiev and Vienna, but without divulging the specific purpose of the photographs; as a result he met usually young, self-assured people who liked the idea of self-expression. Kandl gave his models complete freedom to stage their photographs and choose their clothes, pose and location. He deliberately chose to step back and allow a delicate interplay between artist and model in which neither could precisely predict the outcome at the creative moment.

Kandl’s method of photography allows plenty of scope for emotional interaction, with the potentially risky process of two people unfamiliar with each other coming together in the roles of model and photographer to produce images characterised by curiosity and an occasionally subtly erotically charged atmosphere.

Leo Kandl, * 1944 in Mistelbach, Austria. Lives and works in Vienna, Austria.