Born in Germany, raised in France and Monaco, Vanessa studied graphic design in The United States at Parsons School of Design. Her passion for photography came at early age and already at the age of 22 she published her first photography book. She has worked for world class jewellery brands such as Cartier, Chopard, Graff and Boucheron. In the cosmetics arena her customers were the two largest cosmetic companies in the world, Revlon and L'Oreal.

World known personalities and celebrities such as Gianni Agnelli, Luciano Pavarotti, Mick Jagger, Sean Connery, King Juan Carlos of Spain, Prince Albert of Monaco, Monica Belucci, Carla Bruni, Georges Clooney have come under her lens and the list of celebrities just goes on and on. With total confidence and simplicity, she refers to them on a first name basis.

Her free time is shared by two relentless passions horse show jumping and philanthropy. The first led her to work for the Emir of Qatar and to publish the first book on the extraordinary horses of the emir. In 2011 Paris was in awe at the exhibition carried out at the Petit Palais.

Known to few is that Vanessa is foremost a dedicated philanthropist whose heart and soul stands behind the fate of the Mercy Centre in Bangkok. We invite you to look at the video of her angels. We are honoured to have Vanessa reply to our two questions.

Just the mere thought of my husband Juan and our 14 months old baby Rodrigo brings me so much happiness!

I am so proud of them!

Having a family for the first time and only recently made me realize how precious life is and has further opened up my horizons!

Nothing can be taken for granted.

The bond of love of my family is certainly the new oxygen of my life.

If I could change the world to make it a better place for all of us I would try to help other people to understand that helping others is the most precious and rewarding thing one can do. I would like to open up the eyes of people that are selfish, ignorant and think of only themselves.

I have just returned from Bangkok and I witnessed a child that was brought in to the orphanage for his mother in a fit of drug abuse had harmed him. I wish that more people would care and do something for their fellow humans. Small gestures can be done such as starting with appreciation.

I would abolish selfishness and rudeness and simply make humans more human.

At last I would like your readers to answer one question to me and that is: What is it to be human?

Editorial | Image Courtesy Of Vanessa Von Zitzewitz