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25
the first few times I modeled; it was not
something I had planned. These experi-
ences just started falling into my lap. The
first time was for a shelter for homeless
children, called “Covenant House.” I am
not even sure they still exist. Anyway, my
mother worked there & they were looking
for a teenager to be their poster child.
Although I was 12, when I was younger I
looked older and now that I’m older I’m
told I look younger so I guess I lucked
out. The other thing they were looking
for was someone who did not necessar-
ily look like any particular nationality.
They wanted someone who looked like
they could be any ethnicity. I am a mix
(or mutt as I like to say) of many differ-
ent backgrounds. So I have been mistaken
for everything under the sun. Oh and the
last thing was they wanted someone who
could look sad on demand. Therefore, my
mom actually waited until I was genuine-
ly upset about something and crying and
then got out her camera and started taking
pictures of me! Anyway, they ended up
thinking I was perfect so my first mod-
eling job was being on the cover of a huge
1-800 # poster for Covenant House. I was
also featured on little cards they would
mail out to people with made up stories on
the back. On the back of mine, they wrote
something about me being a 15 year old
who ran away from her pimp! I always
thought that was hysterical, especially
considering my real age.
My second job was modeling a wed-
ding dress for a designer who was being
featured in a magazine. Again, it was very
accidental on my part. I was 16 and had a
friend from school who was a couple of
years older and she started working with
these photographers. She was gorgeous!
One day she brought me to the studio and
one of the photographers took a liking to
me and thought I would be perfect for the
wedding dress job. The only problem was
the model had to be 18 or over. Therefore,
he lied and said I was 18 for me to get the
job. That was my first “glamorous” mod-
eling job, with a hair stylist and makeup
artist. It was a lot of fun.
My third experience with modeling was
a runway show for new, up & coming
designers. Again, it was totally by ac-
cident that I got the job. A friend of mine
was the makeup artist for the show and I
came to be with him (it was at a club in
the city). The designer liked my look and
asked if I would be in the show. That was
a crazy experience. I think I was 18 or
19. At that point, I was big into partying,
drinking and dancing, etc. The models
were allowed to drink as much as we
wanted, it was an open bar for us back
stage. Therefore, I just remember I was
totally wasted by the time I had to walk.
They were doing a video of it and I still
have it somewhere. I did manage to pull it
off; you cannot tell I was drunk onstage.
However, they were filming backstage
and I was just dancing like a lunatic, hav-
ing a blast. The person doing the video
also took a liking to me and asked me to
be part of this group of models he worked
with. So I did at least one other job with
him. It was some strange event at a club
opening. He had me and the other models
take turns talking on camera about the
club and describing what was going on.
Then we were paid to just hang out at the
club. It was funny because pretty much
everyone at the club was Asian except
us. We were all different nationalities but
we (the models) all stood out like sore
thumbs so everyone was asking us all
night what we were doing there(laughs).
Then a few years later, I had a friend who
did nude artistic modeling. I had always
been comfortable with my body. I had
done exotic dancing prior to that so it
was not that big a deal to me. My main
concern was just that the photographer
was cool and safe to work with. She said
he was looking for another girl to work
on a project he was doing. Therefore, I
met with him & he seemed nice. I did
not end up working on that project with
him but I did start working with him on
a regular basis. It was a very good first
experience with nude modeling because
he truly was an artist, not just a “GWC”
(guy with camera) wanting to see hot girls
naked and photograph them. Not all of
the work we did was even nudes; he was
very open to my ideas or concepts so we
tried many different things. He was also
taking pictures for a friend’s jewelry line
so we shot that as well. I was fully clothed
for that and some of the other shoots & it
was a nice combination of being intro-
duced into that “world.” I think it spoiled
me though because he was always so
nice and respectful and on top of that, he
always paid me much more money than
what we had first agreed. He paid me the
same amount, no matter what it was that
we were shooting. He was very generous.
Of course, I later learned that was not the
norm in that field!
Is this a full time job for you, or do
have any other activities?
No, modeling is not a full time job for me.
I currently do not work full time but I am
very busy with all the other activities that
I listed above that I do such as writing,
music, etc. Modeling is one of the things
that keeps me busy though as well and is
one of my passions.
How did you see the world of modeling
when you started to model and how do
you see it today?
That’s a very interesting question and
one I alluded to above when I mentioned
that I felt I was spoiled on my first artistic
nude shoot experience. Since I worked
with that one photographer exclusively
for quite awhile, I did not really have a
context to put the experience in. My other
experiences modeling before that were all
so varied. After I stopped working with
him, (he retired), the next couple of shoots
I did were time for print shoots and again,
they both happened organically. One was
with a somewhat renowned photographer
who a good friend had shot with and
referred me to (she was also my Make-up
Artist for many years). It was an artistic
nude shoot but he had a very clear vision
of what he wanted which unfortunately
did not pan out. My next experience
was with a photographer I met at a party
who asked if I modeled because he was
interested in shooting me. At that point,
I decided I wanted to pursue it more. We
did one shoot, more of a glamour type
shoot where I learned that it is imperative
to take the time to get hair and makeup
done. The first batch of photos I did my
own hair and makeup and hated the pic-
tures. After that, I went and had my hair
and makeup done professionally and we
shot again and got gorgeous shots. I still
have a few in my portfolio today. It was
not long after that I got pregnant with my
daughter and took a break from modeling.
When I started again, my first couple of
jobs was actually with my former English
teacher from High School who had got-
ten into photography. He had been doing
nature shoots mostly and I was the first
person he shot. He was incredible to work
with. They were glamour shots, not nudes,
but he paid me insanely well.