Photo Credit: BOKASHI Website: www.officialbokashi.com
Model: Playboy Ambassador Paisley Fernandez Instagram: @waizley
Many Professional Photographers in the Fashion and Beauty Industry have asked themselves this question several times within their career: “Whatever happened to standards for Models?”. I'm serious about this. See, what you don't hear is the conversation Professional Photographers have after the last shutter click and the strobe fires for the last time and the “Model” (using that term loosely) leaves out of the building and those doors close behind them.
Photo Credit: BOKASHI Website: www.officialbokashi.com
Model: Brittany Instagram: @itsbeelovely
The post-shoot conversations that we have often allow us to vent about how much the quality of Models have gone down in the Fashion and Beauty Industry. I'm going to be brutally honest here, the venting goes well beyond who’s attractive and who’s not. It's boiling right down to the weight of Models; but more specifically the weight of Female Models.
If it’s left up to many Models, they’ll feel like they can eat their way into fame and the Fashion and Beauty Industry simply doesn’t work like that. Adding insult to injury, this irresponsible sub-culture of “body positivity” has really taken a detrimental toll not only on our day to day lives, but in the lives of many people who work behind the scenes of the Fashion and Beauty Industry. Whether you wish to hear it or not, there are beauty standards that are the standards of beauty in the Fashion and Beauty Industry for a reason - and they should be adhered to.
Photo Credit: BOKASHI Website: www.officialbokashi.com
Model: Ms. Harris County Lauryn Nicole Instagram: @laurnichole7
Moreover, the reason why this may sound so offensive to people is because so many of these companies will tell a woman anything she wants to hear just so they can make a profit off her. So of course these companies and especially these clothing companies will push the idea that it's ok to be a “Plus Size Model” so they can widen their bottom line and I guess that's ok; but the question still remains: “What about that waistline?”
What a Model is, is someone to look up to and aspire to be like. Secondly, a Model is a Muse for a brand, concept or idea which saturates and primes the psyche of the consumer and propels them to purchase, emulate and push the spirit of a brand. In short, a Model serves as the motivating factor that calls consumers into action so that they will to get up, get out and do something (in this case purchase a product and or an idea). The traditional expectation of what a Model should be is what Models should be striving to adhere to. Why? Because the failure to do so leaves a “Model” (and most women) open to being delusional, having a grossly inflated sense of self-worth and ultimately leads them to disappointment.
My advice as a Professional Photographer is simple; if you want to be a Professional Model and especially if you're a female and you're seeking to become a Professional Model - do the hard work. That means eating right and taking care of your body, spirit and mind. Stop trying to gain weight and get “thick”. Stop trying to get a big a**. Remember if you want to be taken seriously as a Professional Model, you have to fall in between the sizes of 0-4.
Photo Credit: BOKASHI Website: www.officialbokashi.com
Model: Kira
I know what many of you might be thinking right now: “I just can't get down to being a size 0 or 4, I'm simply not built like that!” and that’s ok. If that's the case, my advice to you is this: find a genre of modeling that you can get into and be successful at - and accept the fact that everyone (possibly including you) may not necessarily be a Runway Model. With that being said, still try to get as small as you can. If you're a Male Model, eating right and regular fitness training applies to you too, you already know what you're supposed to look like.
Remember it is as simple as this, you're either a Model or aspiring to be one - you're not selling your feelings, you're selling the looks of your body. And we as companies and Professional Photographers alike are selling an image that represents the spirit of a company or an idea. Finally, I need you to keep in mind that everyone simply can’t be and won't be a Model no matter how much they may want to be. Why? Because if everyone was a Model, then no one is a Model, because we wouldn’t have anyone to look up to and aspire to be like.
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