Top photos: A retrospective on my “model” life in words and pictures

 

I started blogging here because, above all, I felt the need to express myself. Writing my thoughts down has been a real challenge for me. However, what I find most difficult is not what to write or knowing what I want to tell, but to keep a link between storytelling and my passion for modeling. After all, it was after I posted many pictures of me on Facebook that I got to be part of many fashion shows and coach other models.

I wanted to post photos of me on Facebook to show off and maybe to prove something to myself, I must admit. I was aware of my greatest assets such as my hair and my smile, but also my breasts. It may have been to sneak at those who had told me before that I was not beautiful enough to be a model.

I often heard that it was not enough simply to be photogenic to be a good model. It was necessary to be able to transform oneself in front of the camera, to know how to create emotion with one’s face and body, all this while respecting the artistic direction previously set for the photo shoot.

For my part, I continued to be a model by making personal projects that made me feel good in my spare time. I sometimes wanted to highlight my face and other times, my body. I showed my smile, my daydreaming, my strength, my sensuality, or my vulnerability.

Without pretending to be a professional model, I was looking for a way to express my personality through photos. What was a simple hobby then became something I involved my heart in. I started getting more and more messages of sincere encouragement from women, while I was used to receiving messages mostly from men.

By putting my personality forward, I was brought to be one of the faces of DevMcgill’s “My Style, My Condo” campaign that ran across Montreal’s transportation network during the summer of 2017.

Over the last few years, I have met several other inspiring models, for whom photography has helped to reject the negative image of themselves and to value their beauty. They are women with unusual features and body shapes that we were not (and still aren’t) used to seeing in magazines or Fashion Weeks. They are also women who sometimes overcame hardships, such as an eating disorder or cancer.

Thanks to Instagram for example, we now see models of all sizes, ages, and ethnicities. Whether they have the support of the fashion industry or not, some showcase their physical differences to defend a cause, confront the usual beauty standards, and to create their own identity.

At first, I did not care about photo editing, knowing that it was part of the photographic process, even though I often thought I didn’t look like myself. However, the camera does not lie, and I no longer want to hide details that make me unique, such as my white hair.

Can anyone become a model from now on? I do not think so. Talent is not given to everyone. However, I think all kind of models can do well, especially now. In 2015, I was super happy to be one of the seven finalists for “Casting All Silhouettes” from Clin d’Oeil magazine and to have experienced a great professional photo shoot in every aspect of it.

Am I legitimate myself without necessarily being signed by an agency, without modeling for famous designers, and without appearing on the cover of fashion magazines? According to high fashion traditionalists, I would even be a real joke. Never mind!

Fashion icon or not, fashion is what has fascinated me since childhood. After a few years of being photographed here and there, doing projects of any kind without any specific purpose, I realized that I had a story to share with those who wanted to see and hear it. So here I am.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! xoxo