Sunday scribbles #33: An intermezzo on my brief modeling past - part one.

I have already shared that I am often working for an eventmodel agency, called More than a face (MTF). This is an agency which mainly provides hosts and models for events. The idea behind this, is that we are in fact more than a face. As the owner describes: With "More than a face" as slogan we offer more than just beautiful appearances. Our event models radiate class, are hands-on, are multilingual and are not afraid of any obstacles to make your event a succes. Because of this, we get to work at high-end events a lot of the times, and this weekend was one of them. Along with three other guys, I had to work at a fashion show in Antwerp. This show was organized at the private apartment from the designer himself, a penthouse which many people can only dream of buying (if penthouses are your thing). Working at this event, I worked alongside some other MTF guys which had a connection to the fashion industry one way or another. Thus the subject quickly rose to the conversation, after which, as always, I share my short story of working in this industry as wel.

It all started back in 2010, my 6th and last year in high school. In school I was the kind of kid who stayed at the background most of the times. I wasn't vibing with the popular group, but I had my own vast group of friends whom I hung out with every day. Facebook was already around, but for reasons still unknown I didn't want it. Because of this I missed a lot of the parties, since they were all organised through Facebook. This was perfectly fine, since I kept my school and private life as separated as possible. Being a dedicated (read: addicted) gamer, this wasn't very hard. Don't get me wrong, I had friends at school, and I could get along with pretty much anyone, from different popular groups in my grade, to loners with whom I had to do some group projects. I don't know exactly when it started, probably the year before, but at one day two new girls arrived in our school mid-year. These were identical twins, both somewhere around 1m80 tall and gorgeous as hell. Man, everyone sure was blown away by them. Of course they became part of different popular groups in school, which weren't the groups I was in, too bad... or not? When moving from the 5th to 6th year, classes are often kept together so you already knew who you were finishing school with. Surprisingly this wasn't the case for my class. We got switched up! Ow no, this sucks.. Some people were swapped between classes because during the 5th year there was one class which always caused trouble. So, the school switched things up, after which I got put in the class with some troublemakers, but also one of these twins. Her name was Lara (and normally her name still is, assuming she's stil alive and hadn't had a name change). We quickly started to get along and this escalated pretty good. During the year we were best friends, and people also knew we were. This came to a point where some were asking me if we were a couple, what at one time I actually hoped to have been. During this friendship, the relationship I had with my first teenage love, came to an end after one and a half year. For those of you wondering: both events are independent of each other.

Whilst the year was passing, Lara once asked me if I had ever applied to a model agency . Lol? Me? I was kind of shocked by this. Now don't get me wrong, I was already happy with how I looked. Once, during a class of 'musical orientation', the teacher asked everyone how happy they were with themselves. We had to reply with a percentage. "99%", I said. The only thing I would've wanted to change, and would still want to, is my voice. I'd love to have a Liam Neeson like voice, so awesome! But for the rest, I am in fact happy with how the mixture of my parents' DNA has worked out. Back then I had longer hair than I do now. This didn't really accentuate my face though. Yes yes, a picture says more than a thousands words, so here's a picture of me with long hair. This was taken during my 5th year (2008-2009).

I was one of this kids who did have a long lasting relationship, +1 year is very long lasting in high school, but none of the girls in my year really found me attractive, or at least didn't say they did. Every year was the same: we took a class photo, and afterwards girls told me their parents or grandparents thought I was handsome. The only consolation was, that all girls in school would someday be of that age as well, and would then think I was pretty. So, in my head I made up that I had a bright future if getting older meant girls my age now would be attracted to me later. After asking me if I ever considered applying to a modeling agency, Lara told me I had the bone structure for this. Great, I thought she was going to say I was hot... no... I just had.. "the bone structure for the job". Remember my mind was actually going crazy. Here I was, being the hot girls best friends, at one point probably secretly in love with her, hearing I should try out to be a model. Having the bone structure was not what I wanted to hear??? Okay? This was in fact the very beginning of my brief modeling career since the seed was planted. Since this all played out in 2010, a class photo of this year seems appropriate. And yes, the arm on my shoulder is Lara's.. good times! Spoiler: a year later this friendship got messed up, so we're not on speaking terms anymore. Oh well, it is what it is. I am cherishing these memories so you won't hear me complain.

(Yes, it seems like I had a limited wardrobe at the time)

After she asked me if I ever thought of trying out as a model, I was playing with the idea in my head. A friend of my brother was into photography, and he mentioned this to her. We found a date which was suited for both of us, and so I had my first 'shoot'. The idea first was to take some photos I could use to send to agencies, but we got along so well, we did a couple more of these shoots just for fun. She became one of my best friends at that time with whom I did a road trip in Greece, the mainland. That's food for some other scribbles. I am already getting carried away with side information, but hey, side information makes for a good story, no? During this period of doing some shoots with her, I was approached by a casting agent during the 'Gentse Feesten'. For ten days straight, the city of Ghent organizes a festival where in different parts of the town there are tons of things to do, going from workshops to live performances on big stages. The timing couldn't have been better: I was already playing around with the idea of being a model for some time and I was already taking photos to send to agencies. So I sent some photos to this scout. Unfortunately, I wasn't the type of guy he was looking for. He was very kind though, and did refer some other agencies to me. He also helped me choose which photos to send (I'll add them at the end of this post). I got in contact with two agencies: one in Brussels, and on in Antwerp. Both agencies told me I wasn't fit for their customer base. Meh too bad, or not? The agency in Antwerp told me I should get back to them in a couple of months. They said that I could be a rough diamond. So, after their feedback, I continued working on myself and also got a new haircut, one which accentuates my cheek bones. A couple of months later, the slightly new me got in contact with them again, and after meeting them in real life I signed my first contract, woohoow!! I officially was a model... on paper. I did some small jobs here and there, none really worth mentioning next to the things I didn't do. Yes, in this story the things I didn't do, played a more significant role than the things I have done. To be continued next week in part two of my modeling past!

Below the photos I have sent to several agencies back than. Still loving the memories I have taking all of these!