I had arranged to photograph Apple in a Pattaya hotel room, but I had done another shoot before she arrived and the room itself had turned out to be dismal. The furnishings were charcoal grey and black, producing an ambient light that drained away all the flesh tones.

Apple arrived at 3pm, so we had only a couple of hours in which to take the photos. In some desperation, I asked her if she had a room of her own. She said she had, and so we took a song taew, the converted pickup truck that acts as a bus-come-taxi service, into a residential part of Pattaya that I hadn't been before.

Apple led the way down a small lane to an apartment building. It was one of the blocks built very cheaply to house workers, only three or four storeys high and one room in depth, with a walkway along the front for access to the rooms.

Apple's place was a single room, which she had divided with a wardrobe to create living and sleeping space. With the front and back doors open the room was a suntrap, and Apple's red bedspread cast a warm ambient glow to the tiny space.

Even the bathroom, squeezed into the corner of the miniature balcony, was light and airy. It was perfect for my needs. I took the photos in record time, finishing just as the light was going.

Apple, for the record, was a lovely girl, just 18 and recently arrived in Pattaya.