9 Ways to Become a Better Model

1: Learn what a good photograph looks like, who the good photographers are, (especially who will be actually useful to your career) and how a good photographer works with and relates to models, and organise your career around appearing only in good photographs made by good photographers.

2: Curb your ego

You are not, never will be and would never want to be a “public figure”, unless you go into politics, or play a leading role in several successful Hollywood movies

You are not “in the industry” unless you are making enough money to be supporting a part time career, making the tax man smile, or getting more than enough call outs from successful photographers.

And you will not be welcomed by photographers is you act like a spoiled brat or demanding diva.

3: Know your capabilities, and always work with photographers, make-up techs, stylists, or fellow models who at least equal your ability, and aspire to reach higher; working with inferior talent, fauxpros, pretenders or amateurs will brand you down at their level.

4: Learn as much as you can, and continue learning, about modelling in general, your particular field, and about each job, the people working on it, and how the resulting photographs are to be used.

5: Realise that you are in competition with only yourself and no-one else.

Accept rejection professionally not personally, it simply means you didn’t fit the criteria or needs for a particular job on a particular day.

6: Stay away from the cattiness, bitchiness, gossip, slander, scaremongering, foolishness and unprofessional behaviour which plaques the lower rungs and bottom feeders of the modelling and photography world.

7: Tune your B.S. meter, and rely your own common sense, knowledge, and gut instincts to detect and avoid the false promises, the honey drippers, the wannabes, the pretenders, the users and fauxpros, not to mention the sleazies, exploiters, wankers, creeps and perverts.

8: Keep in touch: answer all emails, phone calls, adverts, call-outs, and other communications in a timely and professional manner, and be upfront about problems, delays, changes in hairstyles, tattoos, cold sores, insistent and problem “boyfriends”, etc: don't give anyone any reason to be label you as a “flake”, as labels like this are difficult to remove once in place.

9: Always be on call, that early morning phone call might just be your “big break”… with special emphasis on looking after your hair, skin, tan lines, and nails (your natural ones). And No! Don't think it can be disguised with make-up, or worse still “fixed in photoshop”...this is your “money maker” we're talking about.

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