06/30/09 04:39 Model Advice
Model Advice
I recently got the following question from an
aspiring model (let’s call her Joyce) via email. She
writes:
“With the oversaturation of the market I don’t
see many people getting discovered these days. So
how does a determined lady go about taking her
career from the amateur level to actually working
without pulling a Cubana Lust if you know what I
mean.”
I think what Joyce is actually asking is, “how do I
become a working model in the industry without
resorting to booty shaking videos or doing something
I might regret later?”
That’s a difficult question, because supply greatly
exceeds demand right now in the urban market, which
means that even qualified models have to work harder
and resort to more drastic measures to get noticed.
The first step is to be really honest with yourself
about where you stand compared to the competition. I
don’t think a top notch beauty will ever have to turn
to booty shaking videos to get noticed. It may take
longer, but quality always rises to the surface. Of
course, not every girl can be Melyssa Ford. So where
does that leave the moderately attractive model with
a nice figure who still wants to retain her modesty
and excel in the industry?
Well, there are other ways to stand out besides doing
booty shaking videos. Model/actress
Claudia Jordan is doing quite
well right now because she has a gift for gab
and has made a name for herself in radio.
Rosa Acosta is using her
ballet training to produce videos that mix
eroticism with classical dance. Today’s urban
model has got to be inventive if she wants to
set herself apart.
As just one example, some aspiring models are gaining
a fan base by making Youtube videos talking about
controversial subjects (often times quite
passionately). The pretext is the speech, but what
viewers are really interested in is how beautiful the
girl is. For instance, check out
terra904’s
speech about the backhanded
compliments women of darker complexion often
get. Notice the low cut top she has on and the
overall aesthetically pleasing quality of the
video? Not a mistake. Today’s vixen will have to
be clever in ways like this to get noticed.
Another way to set
yourself apart from the crowd is through your photos.
If everybody else is shooting glam in the studio,
take natural light shots at the beach. If everybody
else is oiled down in a thong, wear a one piece. Your
styling also plays a part in this. Amber
Rose stood out because she had a blonde buzz
cut. Now she’s Kanye’s girlfriend.
Finally, you’ve got to buck up and get ready for the
long haul. It simply isn’t going to happen overnight
for most girls these days, and especially the ones
who want to maintain their integrity. But if you
understand that going in, you won’t be discouraged.
Just remember, before there was urban modeling, women
of color who wanted to model simply got an agent and
went out on castings for things like TJ Maxx catalogs
and McDonalds commercials and continued to improve
themselves through strict diet, exercise, speech and
acting classes, etc. -- none of which are degrading
-- until something hit. That's the traditional way to
break into the market, and it still works.
Tags:Getting Ahead Without Degrading
Yourself, How To Stand Out