Figure studies from the Far East to the Southeast

I can't decide if this image constitutes "implied nude" through cunning foot placement or "Playboy" levels, haha, so not sure whether to risk uploading it to Facebook! This is a Blogspot exclusive! This gorgeous black and white was shot in Singapore last month by the marvellous Callan Tham. Whatever the "level", I consider it a figure study and one of my favourites to date so have saved it the "art nude" folder in my hard drive.

Back in London later that month, I shot this black and white nude with Chris Lord at Jon Gray's art nude workshop:

Yesterday was our ninth anniversary! Liam bought me a gorgeous Parisian antique mirror that I will photograph once it's hung in our new lounge, and a really romantic card that I won't share, but it is lovely :) Today we had a special day in London...

I've been missing the Luk Yu teahouse in Hong Kong so much, but dining at The Dorchester's China Tang  certainly helped ease my withdrawal symptoms!

Authentic Cantonese dim sum in a fine Chinese 1930s deco dining room- can it really be beaten by anything other than sex??

We also sampled The Dorchester's famous Peking duck pancakes! The only thing I didn't order were the steamed roast pork buns that I ate at Luk Yu. They are a bit of a naughty treat for me- I don't usually eat pork, or white flour- so perhaps it is better that I wait until my next tour of Asia before I get to indulge in any more of them ;) I may be getting called back there as soon as March, but a particular job has to come together for that to happen, so we'll see :)

 Even the deco powder room was lovely!

After lunch we stopped off at a bar on the way to the London Eye- only really worth mentioning as they gave me a shot of Smarties with my Irish coffee for no obvious reason :D

We reached the top of the Eye just as the sun was setting; it was pretty to watch all the opulent old buildings lighting up. We could see the Palace of Westminster (which I've been reading a lot about recently, must go and visit it properly soon), Big Ben, St Paul's Cathedral, the MI5 building, the Shard and lots of other famous landmarks.

On top of the world!

I'm using one of the pictures I took from the very top on my phone as my cover photo on Facebook atm, where you can see Big Ben and red buses and the Thames and everything, go see!

Must go to bed now, shooting shooting shooting tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, followed by a full day of admin and errands on Wednesday!

Yours, a very loved-up,

Anita xxx



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Team ADB Going for Gold!

Well, I just wrapped another two straight days of modelling for Jerry Ghionis' portraiture workshops at the lovely Bloomsbury Hotel in London. It was great to be working with the world's #1 wedding photographer again, catch up with Melissa and make some new friends :) I could REALLY use a month off to catch up with myself though, but it doesn't look like that will be happening anytime soon- I just finished making all my arrangements for this year's Asian Tour! I will be visiting Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and possibly Jakarta over November and December! I am so excited to shoot at these exotic locations with great photographers that so few Western models have access to!

Goodness knows when I will find time to do my Christmas shopping, though! I love to shower my friends and family with all sorts of gifts over the holidays! I would love to figure out a way of doing the same thing to you..! Any ideas how (or what)?

I just got these photos back from my shoot with Rayment Kirby, a highly experienced photographer who I always love working with! He and his wife, Pru, are such fun people, and their hospitality is great too (we always shoot at their place). I have many a kooky diet preference but the main three things I try to stick to are NO land animals, NO cow's milk and NO white flour, purely for health and beauty reasons, and Pru always remembers and cooks us something nice for lunch <3

In my head I've been calling these "the golden girl pictures." The effect on the skin reminds me of the ads for Dior J'Adore perfume with Charlize Theron. Coincidentally, J'adore is my favourite perfume and I was actually wearing it while was posing for these photos- almost the only thing I was wearing! I did the styling ;)

Shoes are from Kurt Geiger!

Speaking of nudes, it looks like I might be producing my own nude 2013 calendar! At least, that's how the voting was looking, last time I checked! Please do treat me to your opinion on whether it should be a latex, sexy lingerie or nude themed calendar on Facebook!

FetishEyes produced an "Anita De Bauch Tribute" calendar for 2012 that was all heavy rubber, so I'm of half a mind to go for lingerie or nudes this year, but not if everyone is still hungry for more rubber ;) I want the calendars to be accessible to everyone so will exert all my power and influence to ensure that they cost no more than £5 each! Everyone deserves a little glamour and sexiness in their home or office to last the whole year through, am I right? If I could give them away, I would!

Love and kisses,

Anita xxxx




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Innuendo

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Remember I said in December that I was making a video in Singapore with Ukay Cheung, Sinapore's leading fashion photographer? Well, here it is!! I hope you like it! It's an artistic film about women's struggles for equal rights in Singapore, with tightlaced corsetry representing male dominance and female submission...

I'm so excited to go back to Asia this winter! I plan on visiting Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and maybe more! Asian photographers are brilliant. The weather is always amazing, the people are so friendly and hospitable, the food is delicious and the cultures are fascinating... I can't really describe how it feels to be there but I always feel so relaxed and laidback. I think I'm looking forward to Singapore most for the food, beach and seeing the friends I've made there during my previous Asian Tours; Hong Kong to see Hannah Ashlea, who's living there with her boyfriend for a couple of years- she just moved and we have lots of shopping and wine-drinking to be catching up on, I think! And Tokyo for the amazing food, culture, huge variety of architecture, modern and traditional fashions, the tea ceremony... I went there for the first time in December and just fell in love. I didn't want to leave!! So I am very much looking forward to returning.

Today was spent shooting for the first time with a real photography icon of mine, Stephen Perry, in a great outdoor location in Folkestone. He called me yesterday morning and asked if I'd be interested in popping over and shooting with him today- I was like, hell yes! He's photographed lots of celebrities but my favourite section on his website is called "Peepshow"- check it out! He is one of the people on my secret wish list of photographers that I want to shoot with "one day". Well, today was that day! I hope to be able to share the photos soon. They're a combination of fashion, nudes, and fetish too, if you want to see it ;) I love fashion-orientated fetish images that are full of fetish innuendo!




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Photo Booth!

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Photos from Hannah and Ras' leaving do on Friday night! I cannot believe they're moving to Hong Kong tomorrow! :'(

Various pictures of me, Hannah and our long-haired boyfriends in the photo booth at the party!

Saturday was spent drinking soy hot chocolate in front of an open fire and watching the snow fall and yesterday I visited Highgate Cemetery for the first time, which is odd really, seeing as it's so local to me; I've just never got that far down on my "to do while living in London" list before.

I had lots of preconceived ideas of how it should look based around the Victorian Gothic novels and poetry I read so much of when I was in college and it didn't disappoint. Amazing that a place of death should feel so warm, comfortable, and surprisingly full of life.

On an entirely unrelated note, go see what I have for sale on eBay!! :D



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The magic of styling!

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It's amazing what different creative teams can produce when photographing the same subject, which is why I love styling so much. I get to be thousands of different people, characters and creations instead of just one.

For example, would anyone who didn't know guess that all three of the following photos are of me and were taken within the same five month period- and the last two within a week of each other?

Photographer: SMD | Hair and makeup: me

 Photographer: Trevor Yerbury | Hair and wardrobe: Faye Yerbury | Makeup: me

Photographer: Julian Kilsby | Designer: Kaori's Latex Dreams | Hair: Leigh-Anne Regan | Makeup: me

Crazy, huh??

I had such a nice time at Hannah Ashlea's leaving party last night. It's so sad to see one of my best friends leave London for Hong Kong, but I'm thrilled for her too because she's about to start such an exciting new chapter in her life. And I must remind myself that I'll be able to visit when I'm touring there in the winter and that she'll be back in two years with lots of stories, recipes and freckles! :)

The party was at a place in the City I've never been to before called Clerkenwell House and they'd hired a photo booth, which was hilarious! Everyone came away with these adorable little prints of ourselves crammed into the booth with comedy props and cocktails. I'll post some scans soon :)

My minor triumph of the evening was successfully curling my hair all by myself for perhaps the first time in my life, using hair straighteners, of all things. I'll definitely be working on that technique and bringing it to shoots!

Oh and before I forget, thanks for all the messages from people who liked my triple page Jane Doe Latex editorial in Skin Two magazine! It's one of my favourite publications to date, too :)



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Bangkok Airport

I have an hour to kill before the hotel taxi takes me back to the airport for my second attempt at flying to Tokyo :p And on the theme of airports, here are some snaps from Bangkok Airport, where I had to stay overnight on my way from Hong Kong to Singapore (no choice!).

Before I left Hong Kong, I had a great fashion shoot in the executive suite on the 81st floor of L'hotel Nina!

This is pretty much all you can do with a leather jacket in the Hong Kong heat ;p
Photographer: Teddy So | Styling: me

Then it was off to Bangkok Airport, to camp in Starbucks for approximately 17 hours before my flight to Singapore. I was too scared to go into town in case I got stuck in the floods :s I passed some of the time by photographing the many interesting examples of Thai arts, crafts and shrines in the airport:

 Some kind of massive sea serpent sculpture

 These are called "stilt shoes"- a bit like ballet heels, but without the heel! The female opera singer's feet go pointy-toe first down each leg into the tiny false feet at the bottom to make it look like they have had their feet bound in the traditional Chinese way, for certain opera roles. Walking in stilt shoes is considered a real skill!

 Beautiful male opera singer's costume

 Me next to a display in honour of "The Celebration on the Auspicious Occasion of His Majesty the King's 7th Cycle Birthday Anniversary"

 Cool (Buddhist?) shrine in the middle of the airport

 Closeup of the pretty flowers and offerings at the shrine

Statue of a mythical Thai giant (it was so big that even kneeling down on the floor, I could only fit it all into frame by tilting the camera at an angle!)

Must dash now, just got buzzed for my taxi- hopefully the next time I blog, it will be from TOKYO! :D

Naked chicks from Hong Kong!

Today is my day off in Singapore! Before I head out, I'll post some more art nudes from Asia- this time, Hong Kong :)

Photographer: Teddy So | Hair and makeup: me

I think the last one might be my favourite :)

I also have some snaps from my last day in Hong Kong on this trip :) I got the ferry to Central so that I could have lunch at my favourite place in Hong Kong, the Luk Yu teahouse, the oldest in Hong Kong.

 On my way to lunch

 Inside the Luk Yu teahouse. I kind of want to redecorate my living room in the Chinese Deco style now, rather than the American. Hmm!

Lunch! Spring rolls, shrimp and yolk balls and black sesame for dessert, with lots of jasmine tea :)

I walked to Hong Kong Park to take pictures in the walk-in aviary and walk off my dim sum after lunch :) BIRDIES!

Ciao for now! I'm off to roam Singapore by myself for a day!

Yoga. In high heels

For some reason, I felt the sudden urge to look up my 2011 new year's resolutions the other day and see how I'm doing.

The answer is: not as badly as expected.

Here they are:

1.    "I will eat healthily, drink more water and stay in shape" - Yes, photos indicate that I am currently in better shape than I was this time last year. Hurrah!

2.     "I will learn French to the point where I can hold simple conversations with French people" - nowhere near. My French has gone from "able to get by" in 2004, to "crap" in 2009, to non-existent in 2011

3.     "I will do at least one entirely self-indulgent non-work-related thing a week that is purely for my own pleasure and nothing else (e.g. getting a massage or visiting an art gallery)" - mostly, yes. Done lots more socialising, seeing films, going to museums and galleries, events, parties, and spas outside of modelling this year :)

4.     "I will not buy junk food" - haha no, I've bought tons! Bought so much chocolate since I arrived in Hong Kong that it's ridiculous >.<

5.     "I will read more classic books" - yes, I downloaded a ton onto my Kindle for free and have been working my way through them. Most recent one was Crime and Punishment, I think

6.     "I will get a smartphone so I can do my emails on the train on the way home from shoots and thus have more “me” time at home in the evenings!" - yes, and now I can't figure out how I ever managed without one!

7.     "I will try and get more non-speaking video roles, e.g. music videos" - yes, I was in Cradle of Filth's music video for 'Lilith Immaculate' and also did a lingerie show for Playful Promises on Fashion TV (you can watch both for free here if you like)

8.     "IF I have time and IF I can afford it, I will get voice coaching" - had the money but nowhere near enough time >.< May look into it again in February

9.     "I will gain a basic understanding of the stock market" - nope, haha. Still a mystery

10.  "I will visit at least one country that I have never been to before" - I'll be fulfilling this one next month by visiting Tokyo!

With the whole "staying in shape" thing, on 2nd January I started doing yoga every Sunday morning and Pilates a couple of times during the week as part of my "tone up/ get bendier" plan. It does actually seem to have worked- I'm still surprising myself with the poses I now seem to be able to do very comfortably that I might not have had the strength or flexibility to do very well before :) And what's more, I really enjoy doing them! It feels good to be stronger, fitter and healthier :) And I can do a greater range of poses now that I don't have to worry about hiding wobbly bits as much ;)

 Photographer: George Swift | Styling: me

I have yet more photos from this productive day with George on the way, so please subscribe to my blog if you haven't already using the widgets at the top right corner of the page. If you like my blog, you could also hit the Facebook Like or Twitter button to share what you're reading with your friends and followers :)

Last night in Hong Kong/ Closer to Heaven

I updated anitadebauch.com with new photos today, but here's yet another that you won't have seen anywhere else yet, because it was taken floating 81 floors above Hong Kong just a few days ago :)

Photographer: Kwok Leung Chau | Styling: me

Tonight was my last in Hong Kong on this trip, so I took the tram to the top of the Peak and had a luxurious dinner at the opulent Pearl.

 View from my table at Pearl tonight ♥

 Breathtaking view from the terrace

After a quick stopover in Bangkok tomorrow night I'll be onto my two-week Singapore assignment. I really missed Singapore when I was away, I felt so at home there. I'll be back soon :)

For now I'll leave you with my last few snapshots from Hong Kong :)

 Soya milk vending machine on Star Ferry Pier Central

 Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier

 Luk Yu Teahouse, one of my favourite places in Hong Kong

Having dinner in my favourite booth at Luk Yu last night

 Goldfish Street

Not sure what I'm going to do before I head to the airport tomorrow... sightseeing? Sleeping? More shopping? I'll see how my whim takes me when I wake up!

Ooooooooooooooooooooooh!

More japes in Hong Kong.

After seeing A Symphony of Lights last night I was hungry for dinner and started wandering the seafront looking for some manner of protein. After I'd ignored the McDonald's and pasta places, I came across a steamy Cantonese greasy spoon with a menu outside reading "steamed pork ribs with chicken's feet". My time had come.

No-one in the restaurant spoke English so I had to bring the waitress outside and point at what I wanted on the poster. She kept saying, "chicken's feet? Chicken's feet?" and giving me a strange look. Clearly Westerners don't often order it. I wonder why!

I suppose that technically, I didn't eat a whole chicken's foot. But I did eat all its toes.

Sex and the City (of Hong Kong)

Mmmmmmmmmmm, suuuuch a relaxing, self-indulgent day yesterday ^^

 Photography and wardrobe styling: Adam Robertson | Hair and makeup: me
27.11.11 EDIT: The rest of this photo set is now available to view on Zivity! If you don't already have a Zivity account, let me know and I'll send you a free 30 day trial so you can take a look ;)

Woke up with one of the worst cases of "Model's Back" ever (when your entire back is sore and knotted from endlessly posing and transporting suitcases) so cancelled my touristing plans and went to the Tai Pan spa instead, which is just around the corner from my hotel. It was so lovely that I'll definitely be going back and recommending it to my friends- it's cheap, chic and the foot soak, Chinese full body massage, head massage and hand massage were absolute lifesavers!

Entrance to Tai Pan spa

Gotta love spas with shrines ^^

Having had my leg and back muscles unknotted, especially my right shoulder, which was completely mullered from dragging around my most recent enormous leopard print handbag, I decided to go and knot them all up again by walking to the Ladies' Market and spending the afternoon/ evening SHOPPING ;)

At the implied advice of my shoulder (ahem) I bought a new handbag, which is better than the old one not least because it has lots of internal compartments. I spent a very pleasant 15 minutes or so back at the hotel clearing everything out of my old bag and arranging where each item is going to live in my new bag. I like doing things like that >.<

And of course, I also had to buy the matching purse and makeup bag for my little "on the go basics" makeup (as opposed to my full makeup collection, which requires its own telescopic carry case and separate roll bag for brushes etc)!

I also bought a Christmas gift for my "niece" (Liam's little cousin) who is obsessed with Hello Kitty at the moment. I picked out the only non-pink Hello Kitty item I could find ;) And it also promotes healthy eating. Hurrah!

My camera freaked out and refused to switch on on the way back to the hotel, then magically started working again once I was back in my room. It had better not stop working or I'll have to stop posting these huge, long, pointless travel blogs ;p

Now I'm off to catch me a ferry! :D