The Choice to Model

Written by and Photography by Rick Trottier – RJT Images
Models: Joanna Marie & Ashley Nash
Every single young woman who steps in front of a camera and strikes a pose as a model does so for her own reasons. Those motives can be deeply felt, passionate and visceral in nature, or they can be blithe, carefree and shallow. Many girls step into modeling in hopes of pursuing it as a profession, while some are only interested in dabbling as a pastime, while others just hope to partake of the experience that one instant in their lives. But what few young ladies ever realize as they polish up their hair and makeup in preparation for stepping onto that photography set, is that they have walked the very first steps on a Journey that will lead to levels of self-discovery not any less disparate than their intentions for taking the plunge into something that seems so superficial, but often times will lead them to paths of self-evaluation like no other vocation/avocation out there. Life is about the Voyage, not the Destination, and most of what we engage in for activities and interests helps us to learn about ourselves on that Life Quest. But what makes modeling special is that often times, it can be a process of self-discovery from the outside and then delving deep inside to places many young women don’t ever expect that they will seek out.

It begins in front of a mirror, often times as young as ten or eleven years old, sometimes a little older, but even more commonly just a bit younger. Girls begin looking at themselves with a hyper-critical eye, internalizing the commentary of family, friends and acquaintances about what they consider to be definitions of beauty. That series of statements made to young girls leaves an indelible and lasting impression causing most females to see themselves through extremely warped and distorted perspectives of that they THINK they look like, what they WISH they look like and what they HOPE to look like. As such, a girl’s self-concept can often have just as many negative aspects to its intricacy as positive. And far too commonly, young girls enter modeling seeking affirmation of beauty that they don’t truly feel in themselves but wish and hope for with all their hearts. So as the journey of modeling opens, many young women are forced to come to terms with their real strengths and weaknesses of physical beauty and discard misconceptions of what their PERCEIVED strengths and weaknesses were. Often times there are degrees of overlap when it comes to reality and perception, but modeling is frequently one of the very first times girls address the “tapes” they have been playing in their heads since their childhood and early adolescence as to what they believe their appearance to be as opposed to what it truly is. Being forced to come to terms with real weaknesses and how to compensate for them as well as embracing true strengths and how to celebrate them is one of the first genuine liberating moments in a girl’s sense of self.
You can read more of this article in our July/August 2016 issue of Modelsmania