Hilarious behind-the-scenes stories from a Bella Club nude photoshoot

Hello friends of Bella Club, I have some news in addition to the beauties you already admire every week: I'm going to start sharing behind-the-scenes stories from our photoshoots. And believe me, in over 20 years photographing the most beautiful women in Brazil, I've seen a little bit of everything!

These are stories that I have never told publicly, hilarious and sometimes surreal situations that only happen when you work with naked women and the unpredictability of the world around you. 

And to start off on a high note, I'm going to tell you a pearl of wisdom from Bella's early days, when we were still in our early days in the market and learning the hard way what it meant to do an outdoor photoshoot...

It was winter in Florianópolis, and we were staying at a beachfront hotel in Morro das Pedras. For those who don't know, it's one of the longest beaches on the island, a practically deserted paradise at that time of year. The perfect setting for a daring photo shoot.

Walmor de Oliveira, our photographer at the time, had the brilliant idea of positioning the model completely nude on top of the wall that separated the hotel from the beach. A view of the sea, perfect light, an empty beach... everything was set to be a memorable photoshoot.

Until, as if he had been teleported there, a gentleman appeared and strategically positioned himself behind the model. And it wasn't just any positioning - the guy was EXACTLY in the frame of the photos. No matter the angle, there he was, like a professional photobomber.

Normally, I don't mind curious people. After all, we are men, we understand male curiosity, it's part of the game. But when they start getting in the way or taking pictures of the model, that's too much.

So from up on the wall, politely, I tried to resolve it:

"Sir, could you move further to the right? It's showing in the photos."

The answer came dry: "No."

I tried again, with my best diplomatic smile:

"So, could you please go left?"

"No"

My blood boiled. We were on a HUGE beach, completely empty, and this guy refused to take two steps to the side? I got down from the wall, determined to resolve this head on.

As I approached, the man began to speak with a thick accent. Argentine. Of course he had to be! I explained the situation again, this time face to face, but the stubborn Buenos Aires man remained adamant.

I gave him the traditional "push", the kind that says "either talk it out or do it with your hands". That's when, like in a movie scene, about 10 Argentines appeared out of nowhere. I swear I don't know where they came from! It looked like they had sprouted from the sand.

My team, seeing that the situation was escalating into an international conflict, rushed towards us. There we were: Brazilians versus Argentines, on a deserted beach in Florianópolis, about to reenact the Guerra do Prata.

Suddenly, a lady appeared. She asked what was happening, and I explained the situation:

Ma'am, that gentleman is standing there, staring at our nude model and refusing to leave the frame of the photos."

The woman looked at the man with an expression that mixed indignation and shame:

"¡MIGUEL! ¿WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TARGETING the naked woman AND MOLESTING THESE PEOPLE?" |

That's when we found out: she was his WIFE!

What happened next entered the hall of fame of Bella's most hilarious moments: the woman grabbed her husband BY THE EAR, as if he were a five-year-old child, and dragged him along the beach, while he tried to explain himself in a mixture of Spanish and Portuguese that only made the situation worse.

Our team burst out laughing. The model, still naked on top of the wall, laughed so much that we had to interrupt the shoot for a few minutes. To this day, when I meet Walmor, all it takes is for one of us to say “Miguel” for us to burst out laughing.

And so, my friends, ends the first behind-the-scenes story from Bella Club. A reminder that behind the perfect photos you see every week, there is a team facing stubborn Argentines, angry wives and situations that not even the most creative comedy writer could dream up.

Keep following the blog for more stories. Believe me, this was just the tip of the iceberg!

Alexandre Peccin is CEO of Bella Club, the largest digital men's magazine in Brazil, and columnist for the "Old School Man" section.