Sexy couple, great photos -- Viral 'Follow Me To' project comes to Hong Kong
By Alisha Haridasani, for CNN • Updated 6th June 2014
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It's a sweltering May afternoon in Hong Kong.
In Tsim Sha Tsui, facing the city's iconic skyline, a Russian couple poses -- a slender woman with impeccable style drags her boyfriend by the hand toward the skyscrapers across the harbor.
Nearby, a hoard of journalists takes their own pictures of this couple taking pictures.
It's all for a perfect Instagram shot.
This is the couple behind, or in front of, the "Follow Me To" project.
The images of Natalia Zakharova leading her photographer boyfriend, Murad Osmann, toward exotic, picturesque locations around the globe took off last year, and Osmann's Instagram account now has more than 1.1 million followers.
All the images are taken in the same style: from Murad's perspective showing just his extended arm and Natalia's back against beautiful backdrops.
The project started accidentally in 2011 during a holiday in Barcelona when Natalia got frustrated with snap-happy Murad, who was pre-occupied taking pictures of the city.
"This is just a hobby," says Natalia. "We're not thinking about being famous at all."
Will Russia follow them?
Osmann and Zakharova take their creativity to Hong Kong.
courtesy harbour city
Now, the Hong Kong Tourism Board has commissioned the pair to lure more Russian tourists to the city.
Out of the 54 million tourist arrivals in Hong Kong last year, 223,664 came from Russia. That's a 20% increase from 2012.
Russians spend more than any other tourists (HK$9,258 ($1,190) per person, on average), including those from Mainland China (HK$8,937), according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board.
The couple have taken their signature images at some of Hong Kong's top tourist spots -- such as the Choi Hung Estate -- as part of the Tourism Board's social media campaign.
The first two images were revealed over the last week and the rest will be released one by one leading up to winter, a key travel season for Russians, explains a HK Tourism Board spokesperson.
Both Zakharova and Osmann have day jobs back in Moscow -- she's a journalist and he's a film director -- that they try to juggle with this continuously expanding project.
"It's really hard to balance our jobs and all the travel," says Murad. "We plan ahead -- we speak to the local photographers and communities for recommendations. Then we have to take weekends out.
"We have to take up to 20 dresses with us [for Natalia] to see what looks best and all the equipment. It's not an easy project -- it's not a holiday."
In future we can expect to see short travel video guides from the couple, comprising behind-the-scenes footage of the creation of each image as well as walking viewers through each destination's history and culture.
"It's not a commercial project," says Natalia. "Each city, each country has its own unique character. We love all of the places."
