Modelling during this year has been a really fun experience, i believe this is due to the confidence i have gained from the shoots i have helped with and simply the ego boost i get from it. I have found that during my time as a model, i have gained a greater understanding of what it is like for my own models when i photograph and direct them. At the beginning of the year i found it rather hard to understand why my models would seem awkward and stiff, but i have come to now realise that some people need a lot more direction than others (me being one of those people). It was a sort of realisation that the individual modelling doesn’t really know the vision you have in your head, and therefore sending moodboards and pose examples to the models beforehand will help them get into character and understand the concept a lot better.
Being a model, i have also come to understand what the best conversation starters are when photographing them. I’ve realised that its nice to be told you’re doing great while shooting and that you look fabulous. To basically be as informal as possible and to try and not only build the confidence of your model, but to make them feel as comfortable as possible at the same time. I have really enjoyed modelling for my friends. Sometimes it has been a planned thing but sometimes it has been an incident in which their model has cancelled last minute and i have had to step up in their place. This has made me realise that i am much more of a team player than i originally thought, it has however been a negative thing in some aspects. Simply in terms of myself putting others work before my own, which is something i want to change drastically in the future.
As a whole, the experience has really helped with my social skills as well as given me inspiration for my own personal work. In the future i would love to continue modelling and therefore continue to build my own confidence. I feel that sometimes having a fellow photographer as a model can be a positive, due to them eventually also becoming an assistant on that shoot, like i have done. I will include images underneath that i have modelled for my peers this last year.
ELL, FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY 