by Eric van Aro

all photos (c) 2025 by Mauro Balletti

One of my all-time favorite work experiences was a full-day photo shoot with the legendary Caterina Valente, photographed by none other than Mauro Balletti—the genius behind Mina’s iconic record covers.

We’d collaborated on a Valente session before, but I’d been stuck elsewhere, probably directing a photoshoot for a cereal box or something equally glamorous. So for this one, a major German magazine cover, I was finally in the room as the creative director.

The previous session’s motto seemed to be “Make it for the German public.” My motto was… let’s just say, “Not just for the German public.” I wanted to build everything around Caterina’s wicked, fantastic sense of humor.

I’ll be honest, I was a little nervous. How would a living legend react to my ideas? And more terrifyingly, how would Mauro Balletti, a man who has literally defined musical iconography, react to me, some guy, suggesting how everything should look?

Turns out, working with the real deal is a revelation. There were no creative tantrums, no technical meltdowns—just a glorious, seamless flow of ideas. The day was a masterclass in professionalism.

The proof? We drove from Lugano to Milan—a 1.5-hour trip—with a car full of about 15 different looks. Caterina got into makeup, we shot, Mauro somehow found time to be a world-class photographer and whip up lunch for everyone, and by 8 pm, Caterina and I were back in Lugano. We nailed about 12 of the planned looks and even improvised a few that featured me and my dog, Wiz. I’m pretty sure we were just there to make Caterina look even more professional by comparison.

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Oh, you know how Caterina became huge in Germany back in the day? It was those musical films in the 50s. She had this image with a really long ponytail—very fiery and Latin.

But then she had her first son and chopped it all off for a short haircut, which she kept for pretty much the rest of her life. And Germany never let her forget it! For decades, everywhere she went, people were always telling her, “Oh, we loved you better with the ponytail!” Can you imagine?

So that’s exactly why we set up that photo of her tearing at her ponytail. It was our little inside joke on the whole thing.

And get this—the costume she’s wearing in that shot? It was tailor-made for her in the mid-50s. And in the mid-90s, during our shoot, it still fit her perfectly. Let that sink in for a second! Just had to throw that in there.