Tivo

Tivo, 18, lives in Bratislava, mostly with his grandmother, and picks up odd jobs here and there. We were introduced through Marek G, who I suspect gave him the nudge to come to the photoshoot. That is very Tivo. He is not a self-starter. He often needs a friend to put something in front of him. Once you are on friendly terms and you actually present an idea, he is surprisingly willing and flexible — he will “do anything.”

When we first met he was a little quiet and shy. He says he is very introverted. I would not have guessed that later, being out with him, or with him and Marek. He is sweet, open-minded, and, at least in my experience, reliable. He summarized his interests without much decoration: cars, girls, casinos, money and night clubs. He also mentioned he sometimes gets into fights when he goes clubbing. I have been out with him a couple of times and never seen him aggressive. I can barely imagine it. What I see is a young guy with a good soul still finding his feet. From the little he mentioned, his parents seem to have stepped out of the picture. That would leave anyone a bit without an anchor at eighteen.

The photoshoot itself went very smoothly. It was his first time doing anything like it, and he took to it with surprising ease — comfortable, happy to go along, and in good spirits the whole way through. I also photographed a duo session with Tivo and Marek shortly after. Although they both say they’re straight, they played along amazingly well and there was great chemistry between them, even though there were many instances of momentary hesitation and a lot of laughter.