“An Essential Quality for Models”
Written by Rick Trottier – RJT Images-Light Works Studio
A valued colleague once asked me what I thought the most prized skill or quality was that a model should have. I carefully considered his question. There are many traits and talents a model must utilize to attain success. My eventual answer was “responsible work habits”, as I knew many a beautiful girl who amounted to nothing because she was unable to navigate the expectations and rigors of this Industry. I stand by that answer. But in that long ago time, my friend replied that my response made sense and was a fine idea, but that he felt something else was of equal importance. “Courage” was his answer. “Without courage, a model will wither under the constant assaults she will take from all quarters”. I never forgot that discussion, because over all the years since, I have come to realize it is one of the greatest truths of life. And courage is even more important in today’s world of unrelenting public condemnation for anyone who does not fit the world view of those persons who feel licensed to cast about their bitter aspersions in the most insensitive manner possible.
Many people must wonder why a model would need such great amounts of courage, and now more than ever in today’s degenerate world. To those on the outside looking in, the life of a model seems so charmed and glamorous. But there are sharks that cruise the waters of life within striking distance of women, day in and day out. Threats come from within the Industry itself. The challenges of dodging nefarious characters masquerading as photographers is reason enough to gird oneself in armor of all types. With the advent of the internet, inexpensive digital cameras and pirated editing software pilfered from the web, any lout bent on chicanery can call himself a “photographer”. And while the numbers of these malcontents increases exponentially every day, this is not a new problem, just a problem exacerbated by new technologies of the Modern Age. A related threat to a model’s safety and sanity is the overwhelming tide of shady attention all girls receive from ne’er-do-wells cloaked in names like “promoters”, “agencies”, “talent managers”, all hiding behind the screen of social media. Each and every day, a torrent of verbal fencing is delivered to their inboxes like an artillery barrage from “men” who somehow hope their unctuous asides will be received in some manner that will grant them access to a model’s life. Then there is the tsunami of “dudes” from all over the world just messaging girls because they are “thirsty”. Most smart models don’t even open the messages, even after they pile up like so much dross left behind after the garbage scow has dumped its payload. And much like the “photographers” who have haunted girls’ steps for time immemorial, this really isn’t anything terribly new. It is just an epidemic that is spreading faster than smallpox because of a transmission vector that encourages such behavior.
You can see more of this article in our Spring Issue of ModelsMania
