This was the start of a prolific collaboration and an entertaining friendship.

Nicola is an intelligent, enthusiastic, and outgoing woman. She was working as a Film Editor when we met and was an accomplished photographer herself. In fact, she is the only photographer to have taken portraits of me.

She loved modeling and being the center of attention, so my fascination with taking pictures of women suited her very well.

Beyond that, she loved to discuss, another passion we shared.

In many ways, we were very different. She was conservative, religious, and did not believe in the concept of luck. I am liberal, atheist, and attribute much of the very privileged life I have now to the luck of having been born the person I am in this time and place in the world.

We had plenty to discuss!

And, when we weren’t taking pictures, we talked a lot. Often over voice calls while in our separate lands.

She lived in England, having migrated there as a teenager with her family from Zimbabwe. Her own experiences in the two countries informed her politics and beliefs. Hearing her perspective was often very interesting and, at times, quite challenging.

After our initial photo shoot in Copenhagen, we visited each other several times and travelled to Spain, Morocco, and Gibraltar together.

This book collected my experience of the 404 days from that initial meeting to when we parted in Gibraltar.

I printed only two copies, one for each of us.

You can see many of the pictures I included in the book, however, in Nicola’s couch surfer page.