I just realised that I had promised an update about my encounter with one of London's fashion agencies (albiet not a very high profile one) so here it is. Sorry it's a little late.
About a month ago I saw an advert on Gumtree for new faces at a London based modelling agency (that I probaby shouldn't name). The advert said that height wasn't an issue and so I thought I had nothing to lose by giving it a shot. I sent through a couple of my previous photos, which I'm quite proud of (an example is the photograph at the top of my blog) and they offered me an interview. I told a friend about it and she decided to do the same thing so we agreed to go along at the same time for moral support.
I knew that I'd have to do a test shoot (apparently to see how well or not I worked in front of the camera) because I've changed my hair colour since my last photographs were taken. I chose an outfit the day before the interview and flicked through some magazines to get some posing inspiration.
When the day arrived I was pretty nervous. We arrived at the agency building and wandered into the waiting room. The man who would be interviewing us walked in and handed my friend a clipboard with a list of questions to answer (height, hair colour, weight, dress size, type of modelling work sought etc) and then walked out again. I looked across at her, confused. When he walked in again I asked him for my question sheet. He raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, you're doing it too?"
I smiled, wincing through the verbal blow and answered happily that I was.
He got me a clipboard and I joked with my friend as I answered the questions, keeping a smile on my face to keep the burning feeling of humiliation at bay. The agency had claimed that it wasn't just looking for the thin tall type who usually model but their reaction when they actually saw a different kind of woman proved otherwise. I looked across at my thin, blonde-haired, amply-breasted companion and realised that they had seen me as the dowdy friend who comes along to provide moral support. As I answered the questions I felt irritated. Blue/green eyes, brunette, perfect ten. I am not ashamed of the way I look nor should I be made to feel that way.
When we were interviewed the clipboard man, who was no Brad Pitt himself, openly flirted with my friend. She gave him her photos and he asked her to select two that the agency could hold on to. She told him, with no flirtatious intent whatsoever, that he could keep all of them if he wanted and he grinned and told her obsequiously that he would love to have them all. Holding in the vomit, I passed over my photographs and relaxed into my chair, mirroring the nonchalence he displayed towards me.
He told us that we would get a few minutes each to pose for some shots and then we would pick five of the best ones to send further up the agency for consideration.
The shoot was a whirlwind and felt very rushed but I tried to keep my experience at hand by constantly saying snippets of advice in my head: "Always look just to the left, right or above the camera", "Never do something that looks unnatural", "Bend anything on your body that will bend - angles are in!"
About three minutes later it was all over and although there were some awful shots (partly the photographer's fault and partly mine) I chose five that I felt at least 60% happy with (in some of the photos I haven't quite found the light - a fair criticism). I still haven't received my favourite shot from that day (my friend loaded them onto her memory stick and has only sent three out of the five to me so far) but I will share one of the full length shots with you.
Stay confident,
Emzikles xxx
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