Cheronce horas y el fotógrafo que le hizo olvidar el reloj

Hay trabajos que empiezan a las diez de la mañana y terminan cuando ya Discipline’s bright lights have faded, an improvised stage is set: a worn sofa, a single lamp, a photographer's gear, and the visual references that will guide the session. Gabriel Machado remembers that Cher did not arrive with vague ideas or empty promises. She came prepared.

The artist reviewed Machado's work on Instagram and Facebook, and selected photographs featuring Argentine actresses Dolores Fonzi, Araceli González and Natalia Oreiro. Those images became the starting point for the aesthetic of the new session, which lasted for an impressive eleven hours.

A marathon with a clock that nobody wanted to check

Machado was emphatic when describing the length of the meeting: from ten in the morning until nine the following day. There was no time for a conventional break or a quick coffee. Even in the middle of the night, the work continued with the same attention.

“From ten in the morning until nine. I swear it on my children. One whole day.”Gabriel Machado

Around four in the morning, Cher came out of the dressing room wearing part of the wardrobe and a wig, and asked the photographer whether everything was working as intended. It was a small gesture, but one that reveals the level of concentration involved: in a photo shoot, a scarf or a change of hairstyle can alter the entire composition.

Machado described her as attentive to every detail and warm throughout the long session. He also highlighted that the production team recreated stones and other objects from the campaign with Fonzi, based on the images the artist had been reviewing on the studio's social media accounts.

The collaboration was not limited to that single session. Machado photographed the covers of two Cher albums: Closer to the Truth, released in 2013, and Dancing Queen, the 2018 tribute to ABBA. The images show radically different stages of the singer's visual career, from a blonde portrait on a bed to a composition that brings together two profiles, one with dark hair and the other blonde.

There was also a gesture that Machado still remembers with gratitude. When he and his historic partner, José Cicala, needed recommendation letters for an extraordinary visa to the United States, Cher wrote them a handwritten letter praising their work and detailing her professional experience with both photographers. The two later founded the Machado Cicala studio, which worked with figures such as Al Pacino, Kate Moss and John Travolta.

• The session ran from 10 a.m. to 9 a.m. the following day.
• Cher used photographs of Dolores Fonzi, Araceli González and Natalia Oreiro as references.
• Machado and his team recreated elements from the campaign with Fonzi.
• The photographer also made the covers of Closer to the Truth and Dancing Queen.
• Cher wrote a handwritten letter to support Machado and José Cicala's visa application.

Machado also recalled a session with Kate Moss in which the model expected to find the photographer full of energy, as she remembered him from an earlier job. The story, unfortunately, is left unfinished in the available material. But the anecdote adds a useful perspective: behind every striking image there is a person who has to make thousands of decisions, coordinate details and understand what the person in front of the lens needs.

The lesson is simple, even if the work behind the cameras is not. Cher arrived with references, asked questions and paid attention. Machado, for his part, kept the camera ready for the entire day. The result was a session that lasted longer than a normal workday and, judging by the stories, was far more memorable than a simple photo shoot.

My recommendation is to look closely at Machado's work with Dolores Fonzi, Araceli González and Natalia Oreiro, and then review the covers of Cher's two albums. The connection becomes clearer, and so does the value of a photographer who knows how to turn references into images without losing the personality of the model.