Snakes around their necks like necklaces, wrapped around their waists like belts, cold-blooded animals slither over warm, half-naked bodies drawing fascinating twisted shapes, carefully supported by delicate hands... and still tarantulas adorn beautiful pale faces and others with their tender eight legs cover turgid, young breasts drawing another areola. Arachnids and snakes, the animals for which many people feel revulsion have a place of honor in the shots of the talented Alex Zalix Huber, a photographer from Trentino known for his great passion for tarantulas.
Zalix immortalizes the perfect union in an equally perfect shot: a woman becomes one with the tarantula so much so that she "wears" it as if it were an accessory, or even takes on its likeness as the model with her face scaled like the skin of the snake she clutches to herself. The beauty of the tarantula blends with that of the woman by enhancing it. What emerges from Zalix's shots, in addition to her talent for making images speak, is the tenderness that these animals convey.
In Zalix's eight-legged world, even cockroaches make a valid and amazing element of decoration on female bodies. But now let's get to know a little more about this artist who kindly gave me some of his time answering my questions...
A: Is Alex Zalix your stage name?
B: Alex is my real name, Zalix has been my Nickname for many, many years.
A: You are known for your great passion for migals and snakes. How long have you been a lover of these cold-blooded animals?
B: I have loved spiders since I was 3 years old. Even as a child I used to go to the garden to catch them, put them in jars to feed and care for them. I had my first migale in my hand when I was only 6 years old at a museum exhibit-it was love at first sight. I currently care for about 800 tarantulas and about 50 scorpions.
The passion for snakes came to me about 10 years ago--I currently have 6 snakes and also own other reptiles.
A: What made you want a tarantula more than another type of animal?
B: The passion, the elegance of spiders, the colors, the beauty, and especially because you can very well create a suitable habitat for them where they feel good and live as in nature.
A: What was your first tarantula?
B: Aphonopelma seemanni.
A: What do these eight-legged beings convey to you?
B: A sense of "calm," elegance. If I'm angry, or nervous, or down in the dumps -- I go to the "spider room" and I'm fine -- there I'm surrounded by these beautiful little animals and I feel good and calm.
A: Years ago I was an arachnophobe, now I'm not because I have a few tarantulas in the house. I've gotten to know them and even become attached to them. Were you also an arachnophobe?
B: No, never been.
A: What do you love about tarantulas? And what are your favorites?
B: As mentioned above, elegance, the colors, their way of life that is just instinct.
My favorites are the Asian ones. Haplopelma ssp. and Poecilotheria ssp for example.
A: Your photo gallery includes photos of beautiful models in the company of your animals. What prompted you to put together a female body and a migale, or a mouse, or a snake?
B: Photography is a hobby I've had for many, many years. But I had another style before -- it blurred into fetish.
Then I thought, why not combine two passions and see what comes out of it? Also because there aren't many photographers who do what I do.
What prompted me?
A female body is beautiful, sensual, erotic.
A snake is mysterious, even in its own way sensual and erotic.
A perfect combination!
A: How do you find these girls willing to be photographed with a tarantula or snake? Are there many who have been brave enough to pose with a tarantula on their face?
B: Sometimes I find them on Facebook and other platforms, sometimes they find me because they want to have photos that are not like the others, but something special. Some want to experience the feeling of having an exotic animal on their skin.
Directly on the face so far will have been 6 or 7 girls.
A: Have you ever been contacted by them for a photo shoot?
B: Yes, often.
A: On what basis do you choose one model over another?
B: I still don't have a lot of "choice" because so many are afraid or don't trust these animals.
But seeing so many different girls on my site, or on Facebook they see that there is no need to be afraid and they take courage too.
Let's say the models choose me.
A: Have the protagonists of your beautiful shots ever been afraid of your "pets"? Did they ever refuse to pose together with a python or any other animal?
B: Yes, the 90% was afraid at first. But after not even ten minutes, when they saw that my animals are good and docile they calmed down.
I always allow time for both the girls and the animals to get used to the situation.
Before the photo shoot I explain everything to the models, because the more you know about an animal, the less you are afraid of it. No, so far no rejection.
A: Describe a perfect model for your art.
B: Perfect? Hard to say what is perfect, it is also personal taste.
The model has to have a very expressive face, she has to have character, maybe some tattoos because I love tattooed female bodies... a girl together with one of my "friends" and my light are three elements that represent a perfect combination.
A: What kind of migals do you use in your photos with models?
B: Usually Brachypelma Smithi or Grammostola Pulchra which are known for their tranquility.
But sometimes I also used others such as Theraposa Blondi or Pamphobeteus ssp.
A: Would you ever choose a dangerous tarantula like a Lividum or a Murinus for modeling shots?
B: Never, ever. Even though they are really beautiful and distinctive spiders, and the photos would certainly be wonderful with them, I would never risk the health of the models and the health of my animals for a shot.
A: Which are the dark girls with whom you have done the most unique photo sets that would most interest DarkVeins users?
B: They are mainly girls from abroad: from Austria and Germany.
A: Skulls and black veils appear in some photos. What is your relationship to the macabre?
B: I really like the macabre. I really like the skulls.
At home I have various kinds that I use as decoration, I also have some macabre paintings, and I love to wear clothes depicting the face of death. I like the dark. It is mysterious -- unfamiliar.
A: Have you ever seen horror movies with migali? If yes which ones?
B: I have seen three-four of them, but I don't remember the titles well, partly because I saw them in German, being a native German speaker.
Unfortunately, in horror movies the spider is always the monster that must be exterminated.
And this thing sticks in the minds of people who don't know about spiders and don't know what they are like, what they do, and especially how important they are to the natural balance.
A: There are several films in which tarantulas were used. In Pau Freixas' Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (1977), however, dozens of them were killed to shoot a sequence. What do you think about animal violence?
B: There were not a dozen, but hundreds unfortunately. Violence on animals? It is one of the worst things you can do. I love all kinds of animals, sometimes more than humans.
And I always try to defend creatures who cannot defend themselves.
A: In the 1964 film At Midnight I Will Possess Your Soul and the 1967 film This Night I Will Embody Your Corpse, director and actor José Mojica Marins tortured actresses by covering them with tarantulas and snakes. In 2008, the legendary Marins has not lost the habit and stuffs Embodiment of Evil again with his favorite animals that decades earlier cost him several censures. Do you know this director known as Zé do Caixão, aka Coffin Joe? You kind of remind me of him.
B: I have never heard of him, but as soon as I get a chance I will look at his work.
A: What do you think about this interview?
B: Very interesting questions and very well thought out.
A: Can you leave a message for the people of DarkVeins?
B: Be yourself! Be different! Be special!
A: Thank you Zalix!
I leave the link to the photo gallery Zalix Arts For those who would like to view and admire the beautiful shots.
