Weronika & Olga: Friends With Everything

Photography by Steve Marais
Berlin, 2024
[Heavy] Feral Magazine, Vol. 1

Project: Weronika & Olga

This project delves into a photo-and-film essay and a candid conversation with two Polish best friends, Weronika and Olga. Together, they explore their remarkable 17-year platonic, yet deeply physically intimate, relationship.

Concept & Development

The primary objective behind this project was to challenge conventional definitions of relationships. Weronika and Olga, who have grown up together and now, interestingly, share a bed in Berlin, truly offered a unique story of friendship that seamlessly incorporates shared sexual experiences. Furthermore, the shoot was self-styled by Weronika to reflect their vibrant, '90s techno-inspired aesthetic. Consequently, the interview evolved into a free-flowing conversation that authentically captured their shared history, their individual dating lives, and the unspoken language of their undeniably deep connection.

Execution & Deliverables

• Location: Berlin, Germany

• Format: Photo Essay & Conversational Interview

• Publication: Feral Magazine, Issue 1 (Pages 66-77)

• My Role: Photography, Interview, Art Direction, Layout, Editorial Design, Video

• Links: heavyferal.com

The Opposite of Domestication: (HEAVY) Feral – Issue #1

Fences can’t hold us in. (HEAVY) Feral – Issue #1 is a pivotal photo+film essay and conversation with Weronika & Olga, exploring their 17-year platonic, yet physically and sexually intimate, relationship. This inaugural issue features 15 captivating stories.

About (HEAVY) Feral – Issue #1

This special edition is a tangible experience:

• Edition: Limited to 500 hand-numbered copies (250 per cover variant).

• Design: Features an elegant design printed on premium Munken paper.

• Content: 180 pages of intimate artistic studies across queer life in the 2020s so far.

Feral, Not Famous: A Journey Across Four Continents

I've harboured a desire to create a print magazine for as long as I can remember, and the pandemic served as the ultimate catalyst. It was the last straw. The knots that bound me to my old ways with photography suddenly became undone, and I decisively chose to follow my dreams instead.

As borders eased, I began hopping from place to place. However, despite the travel, I still felt isolated. Consequently, I turned my gaze to thin, invisible spaces, experiencing days without night. Ideas rushed over me in showers, washing away doubts and the weight of judgment. I embarked on this journey with a rough plan, but no roadmap, letting life guide me. My arsenal consisted of cameras, a backpack, and voice recordings on an iPhone. Late nights were spent transcribing candid conversations, dumping strings of disconnected thoughts into a notes app. Eventually, a clear theme emerged: Is it still OK to be gay? A powerful record of queer life in the 2020s started forming – moments caught, going, and ultimately, letting go. The question lingered: Where to next?

Life, in its essence, kills. We are a generation longing, connected by Wi-Fi, yet desperate to meet in person. Our connections are built out of late-night DMs and secret photo dumps, often leading to short interactions. Sometimes, these connections stick; mostly, however, they don't. Regardless, that's fine. We won’t be told we’re not normal, and we won’t change. The deeper question remains: Is life even about living anymore?

Geographic Explorations & Intimate Studies

The journey documented in Feral delves into diverse locales and experiences:

• London: Something is about to get blown. With them, everything is play: words, ideas, bodies. A friendship that isn’t sex, but is profoundly intimate. Joy is contagious, and clothing remains optional.

• Berlin: Formless. Red paint. Czech stallion. Carb-loaded. Body count lost in steam. Witnesses didn’t matter, because this wasn’t for them.

• Paris: The erupting self-portraitist of the Bois de Vincennes. Dreamy-eyed, rumpled. Pollinating the internet with his body. He smelled like earth.

• Cape Town: Bluephoria. Baby-face. Lush pits. Pansexual power-vers. Heavy construction. Here, it was less sightseeing, and more about "them."

• Île du Levant: A naked island in the Mediterranean. Bare feet on salt-etched rocks. Steak, peaches, Mister Levant. Erotic, perfect.

• Amsterdam: Filter culture. A Romanian stoner turned homoerotic cutout archivist, erased by Instagram. They still think we’re animals. If only they knew they’re not wrong.

• Berlin again: Two girls, seventeen years of shared beds, shared boys, shared lives. While they state, “We don’t date,” they’ve touched each other, and they unquestionably love each other.

Ultimately, something has formed that’s bigger than geography, connecting experiences across Brazil, Poland, Czech Republic, South Africa, Germany, USA, Italy, France, Netherlands, Romania, and Portugal.

I slipped off my shorts as they asked me to join them on that terrace and let go of everything. I dropped my restraint, leaving it to simmer in the sun. We might have parted ways, but what I left behind still lingers on that London rooftop. That’s where Feral kicks off.

Infinity, unresolved.

Next Project