The Learning Curve
By Rick Trottier
Featuring Chrissy Victoria of Light Works Studio
Learning becomes part of the fabric of our lives from the moment we look up out of our cribs at the shapes and colors that adorn our rooms and subsequently invade our brains like benevolent viruses. Words cascade into our minds through song and conversation, encouraging associations made by the acquisition of visual and aural stimuli, deepening our understanding of the world around us with each passing moment. Before too many years are gone, learning becomes steadily more structured and standardized in its delivery, causing pupils to react in a myriad of emotional responses to that manner of educational conveyance. Some people thrive in classroom settings, others do not, but EVERYONE can and must learn to become a productive citizen, but more importantly a fully functioning, self-actualized human being. For as time passes and opportunities to learn, grow and evolve increase, the people who have taken an affinity for learning and married it to a passion for progress become those who find deeper meaning in living and are not just passing through days, merely existing. For with knowledge gleaned from each and every opportunity to acquire skills and understanding comes experience, which as time passes and both knowledge and experience accumulate, wisdom is accrued. And it is wisdom that allows us to find joy in the doing, the seeing, the feeling and all the avenues of living.
All vocations and avocations require a certain amount of proficiency, no matter how esoteric and trivial-seeming they are. A very good friend of mine spends a surprising amount of time learning how to create and then perfect his skills at making balloon animals, despite being one of the best athletic trainers I know. But the hobby of making balloon creatures combines artistry, engineering, problem-solving and inordinate patience just to name a few components, without even mentioning the delight it brings him. Most people tend to scoff at Modeling being considered a profession/pastime that requires skill, knowledge, understanding or depth, even my balloon-tying friend looked askance at their abilities as being absolutely superficial. Then I explained it to him in such a way that the light came on and he saw how many finely honed qualities young women had to have. Being pretty wasn’t enough, in fact sometimes if that is all you have, you really have very little. For modeling requires a great deal of a girl, it is a journey that takes time and devotion and it is a Learning Curve that really never flattens out. Instead, most models come to realize it might be time to step off the path and end the journey instead of apprehending just how far they can take the arc of discovery into their lives. For a long-time photographer like myself, we tend to see models come and go over many years, appearing like uniquely beautiful mists on the horizon only to wafted away by the winds of the world and ultimately vanish in what is a very short period of time.
You can read more of this article in our Jan/Feb 2016 issue of ModelsMania
