Photoshoot - Huw Jenkins

Huw and I were introduced through a mutual friend. One simple purpose, to get work for our portfolios. There are lots of stories of young girls and boys being scammed out of money for photos, whilst being fed dreams of grandeur. Thats not the way it should work. Photographers need to constantly update their portfolio just the same as models have too. In this way photoshoots are invariably to the benefit of both the photographer and the model.

I met Huw at his studio a couple of weeks ago. I say studio, he was working out of what I think is called an artist's commune. A big building with rooms for 8 artists, as well as big open spaces for studio work or whatever they may have in mind. There were numerous displays showcasing their work; all in all a very cool location. We tried to make the most of our surroundings and what was available to us, and manipulate it into the photos. I met up with Huw a few weeks before, setting a relaxed tone from the start. the fact he was English and I was able to actually converse with the photographer probably helped as well! Im extremely happy with the results.

Huw Jenkins

TV Spot - Oral-B Toothpaste

Every job usually has at least one stand out factor. In August I was cast as a drummer in an advert for Oral-B toothpaste. Now I've never played the drums and thank fully I wasn't required to here. I along with two others formed the band for the Oral-B Spokesperson...Shakira! I'm a twenty-five year old guy, I grew up watching Shakira's bum shake! Can you imagine my delight upon being cast in this advert! Filming consisted of a three scenes. Firstly we, the band were simply walking down a corridor behind Shakira, as if walking backstage in a stadium on our way to the main stage. Second scene was a copy of what we're told Shakira does every time before she goes on stage, a team huddle. Final scene was us on stage in the background with Shakira at the front. 

Th place was set up as if Shakira was actually performing of course, including 40 or so screaming fans, to add to the effect

I think I made quite a convincing drummer

Needless to say, this was one hella day! I actually had a chat with Shakira, brief but awesome! She asked what I was doing in Barcelona, I of course told her all my hopes and dreams! Just a really great day!

Thats the advert then. I know what you're thinking, I wasn't in it that much! well you would be right, a side from the first scene I didn't get any screen time really. Just another example of how you are constantly challenged in this industry, in this case mentally. For me, i'm just grateful I had any air time, and besides, being on screen at the same time as Shakira, even a split second...has got to be equal to pretty much everything else Ive done!

Making-of - Shakira Oral-B

Above is the link to, obviously, the making-of video, you can see just how much fun Shakira had :)

I mean, I think we look good together

Family Tales...

So here's a tale for you, one which Im going to tell to the best of my knowledge.

My Grandfather was one of ten children. Not all together that odd for families of the early 1900s. What made my Grandfathers family a bit special was that he was the youngest and all his elders females. Yep, nine sisters. Two of his sisters were twins, a trait that I actually share with them; I have a twin sister. Anyway, the elder twin, had a child, and for whatever reason was forced to give up said child. Only the eldest girls were aware of the situation, meaning my Grandad was none the wiser. The elder twin passed away maybe ten years later, but it was not for another thirty-forty that the lost child would have contact with the family again. She rang up one of the younger sisters proclaiming to be the elders' child. Obviously the younger had no idea and had to get confirmation from an older sibling. As a consequence my family tree grow a little arm. Also on that arm, is the child's  daughter and my third cousin Kate, and her son Oscar, who, by the pure coincidence of life happen to live a 15minute walk away from me in Barcelona.  

Kate, Oscar and I get together every week that I'm here. Its strange how quickly you can build ties to people because they're your family. I mean when I met the two of them, they were just strangers, but within a half hour I genuinely felt a connection to them both. You only have to look at photos of Oscar and I to know we're related. As for Kate and I, I think we were happy to have somebody we could talk freely and honestly too. As exciting as it is being out here in Barcelona, its inevitable that I go through serious bouts of loneliness. By finding family here, we have both found someone to remind us of home. 

Sent this photo home after our first meet, my family couldn't believe the similarities

We like Superheroes, but both agree that Batman is THE superhero!

 Practising our Spidey-webs just to show we like variety :)

 We're all kids, just some of us our bigger than others

A family of Superheroes!

The upside...

Today was a good day.

Quite simply leaving the clouds of Hamburg...

...for the blue skies of Barcelona 

Blanket of clouds to golden seas.

That's enough to put a smile on anyone's face

Ich bin ein Hamburger :D

Well, I've had two days in Hamburg, and I sit here with mixed emotion. If you read tuesdays post then you know my reasons for coming out here, and you would know that I arrived with very high spirits. Today, I have to be honest, I feel pretty deflated.

This is my first time in Germany, and I have to say on the whole I am extremely impressed with Hamburg. I landed around 4.30 local time, giving myself around 10 minutes before the sun went down. By the time I was off the train and into the heart of the city, it was five o'clock and Hamburg was on its way in to night-time. My hotel is very close to the main station, Hauptbahnhof, in the St Georg region. Im sure the majority of the world has a warped perception of the life of a model. Of course the boys and girls at the very top of the industry get extremely well looked after. Rightly so, if a client is spending maybe tens of thousands on a shoot then the model should be treated accordingly. Im not in that top bracket and as such have to take care of myself. That means all the money I earn, goes straight back into the progression of my career. Not wanting to shell out fortunes, I went for a pretty basic option. 

Hotel BeeFang - Private room

That's my room, in its entirety! The bathroom is on the floor below. Please don't take this for criticism by the way. Ive actually had a very comfortable stay here; I really am a man of simple pleasures. 

I ventured out on on that first night just hoping to get a feel for the city. Hamburg is extremely spacious. The roads are wide, the pedestrian streets are wide. The majority of the city appears to be no higher than six, maybe seven floors. With the river running through it and various little parks scattered around, Im often being reminded of English towns when walking around. 

A small canal in Nikolaifleet, a particularly tranquil spot

On my first night I went and found an Irish Pub, first point of call for any travelling Brit, in the hope of watching my footy team, Manchester United, on TV. I ended up at the Shamrock and quickly made friends with the owner, a lovely guy called Richie from England, and the barmaid Carolina, from Chile. I have to say, within 5 minutes I felt at home here, I really don't think I could have chosen a better first outing! Watched the footy and then slowly made my way back to the hotel and eagerly to sleep, in anticipation of the next days plans.

As I stated previously, I had two meetings on the first day. Numero uno - Modelwerk. This did not go exactly to plan. If you read my post about rejection the other day then you may see a similar pattern emerging here. I know my height is a hindrance, but I thought that the agencies I was seeing would be aware of my height and still wanted to see me. That was not the case, instead I had flown 500miles to be told that, despite my great look, I was simply 2cm too short. The meeting was over within minutes, and Im not embarrassed to say I had a real struggle to maintain my emotions once I was outside. 2cm! If i was turned away for my look, if I wasn't suitable to their market then I could deal with it; but to be shunted because of 2cm, having flown all this way and spend money that I really don't have to waste, well that was hard. And of course the worst part was that I had another meeting which I simply knew was going to go the same way as this. I started to sense that this trip was not going to go the way I wanted it too. However, I headed over to SPIN with as positive an attitude as I could muster (still pretty darn positive!) This one was a little better, by which I mean I was in there for more than 3minutes, and they even took some polaroids, but still the general consensus was that I am to short for the German market. I was not a happy weasel. I came here with real aspirations and excitement, and within an hour on my first day I felt ready to cut my losses and leave. I exchanged a few messages with my agent, and thankfully had my family and one friend in particular who cheered me up. I decided that i would enjoy the rest of my day in Hamburg and wake up the next day with a fresh mind and a list of other agencies in the city to go and visit. I was determined that if this was to be a wasted trip, I would have at least given it my all. So, I took a walk, I grabbed some food, and I headed back to Shamrock t watch Arsenal beat Borussia Dortmund. (By the way, if you ever wanted to know how to silence a German pub, just watch an English team beat a German team, you'll soon be the only one talking!)

Ok, so day number two. I fired my images around to five or six agencies on the previous day, in an attempt to arrange meetings. Three came back with an apologetic no, but thanks to my effort and that of my agent, I found myself with three agencies to see: Kult, Louisa Models and MGM. The first two ran along the same lines as the day before, but MGM felt slightly different. That isn't to say I was greeted with open arms and signed on the spot, far from that, but I did get to sit down with three agents and given the opportunity to sell myself, something I feel I've grown quite competent at doing. They didn't even mention my height until the very end of the meeting (that had to be better right?!?). I had some polaroids taken and then sent on my merry way. 

Hamburger Rathaus (Town Hall), seen on the left of the picture

Its been a tough few days here, but informative nonetheless. As the saying goes, "hindsight is a wonderful thing", and at the end of the day, as my father pointed out to me, if I hadn't come here to try, then I probably would have just been sat at home wondering. I might be sitting here now, feeling pretty down and literally cutting my losses (screw the ten days in Hamburg, Im going back to Barcelona tomorrow) but if I hadn't have tried then I wouldn't know what I know now. I imagine some people are reading this thinking, "when will he get the message that he is to short for this industry". Well what I have learnt is that whist I know I can work in the modelling world, I think my portfolio of jobs says as much, I have to look at where that work is going to come from and exactly what type of jobs they will be. In the last two days, since these agencies started going down the pot, I have spent serious hours researching acting opportunities in the UK. I have two weeks in Barcelona, before hitting London on the 21st November. Yes, I will be looking at modelling still, I haven't lost all my paths in that regard just yet, but I do aim on auditioning for anything and everything I can find, be it big or small, in an effort to get the ball rolling in that field too. The true tests in life are those that come out of adversity. I have had a lot of good fortune this year, and now I am being challenged. 

Just wait and see how I come out the other end.

Weasel out x

I get Planes, like others get Trains

Today is a big day for me. The start of what I hope will be new representation in a fresh market. One of the great aspects of modelling is that it is a profession that you can pretty much do all over the world. What this means is that whilst the majority of the industry works out of the big cities (London, New York, Paris, Milan) there are smaller markets that, for the right model, at the right time, can prove to be just as prolific and exciting. Barcelona is one such city. Not known worldwide for its modelling industry, there is an awful lot of commercials set and filmed out there due to pretty much yearly good weather and the beautiful backdrop of the city. Today I flew to Hamburg, in an effort to get myself involved in another european market and hopefully get more work and experience under my belt. 

Tomorrow I have two meetings set up with two very good agencies, Modelwerk and SPIN. For those that don't know the ins and outs of the modelling industry, let me try and explain this idea of multiple representation. Every model will have what is called their Mother Agency. For me this is Trend Model Management in Barcelona. They are my main agency and as such have a large say over the future of my career and indeed any success I get. A year ago, when I first came to Barcelona, I was made aware of some interest in me from Modelwerk, however as Trend were not my mother agency at the time, there was little they could do in terms of progressing this. As such, the momentum of the interest slowly waned, and, as the work began to roll-in in Barcelona, talk of Modelwerk fell completely by the wayside. Around a month ago, maybe a little longer, I changed my mother agency from Oxygen in London, to Trend in Barcelona. Giving more control to the guys at Trend was an easy decision for me, I have a fantastic relationship with everyone in the office there. As I signed on, I had a chat with the two top-dogs in the agency, Joan Tornay and Omar Enfedaque, and expressed my desire to get representation in other commercial markets around Europe and hopefully (fingers crossed) the world. With both the fact that Hamburg is a very good commercial market, and that I had already received interest from an agency here, albeit some time ago, we decided that this would be my first trip. My first destination!

In absolute honesty I am a little nervous. Let me clarify that. Coming out here on my own, that doesn't make me nervous. Being in a city where I know maybe three words of the language, that doesn't make me nervous. What does make me nervous is the idea that trips like this will lead to nothing. I know there are many models throughout the world who are lucky enough to have these opportunities thrust upon them, without raising so much as a finger. I refuse to let the fact that I am not one of those models stop me or even hold me back. I have a real determination to succeed in this world and eventually transition that success into acting. But I am fully away that that dream will not just be handed to me. I am aware that if I am to achieve all the things I want to achieve in life, more often than not I will have to go and get it myself. I hope that people meet me and see there is more than just a pretty face there. Often models get branded as dumb or stupid, well here I am trying to change that perception. I don't think I am your average model. I got in to the game later than most, something I feel is to my benefit, as it allows me to have a (hopefully) wiser head on my shoulders. As I said in my post earlier this week, Im not 6'1" and strutting down catwalks. What I am is someone who knows their strengths, who knows how to use their body and voice to hopefully stand out in a crowd. That may sound a touch arrogant, but in a world where people can be quick to dismiss you, a world where judgements can be made quickly and seemingly on very little, I think it is imperative to have personal confidence and belief.

I have ten days here in Hamburg, and if tomorrows meetings do not go well, they are going to be a loooooong ten days! Obviously I'll keep y'all posted....

until then, peace and sweet dreams internet :)

Campaign - Coolway

Im sure for each model there are certain milestones they want to surpass. For me, starting out in this world I had three desires. One was to be on a billboard, which I achieved thanks to Estrella Damm. The second was to be on TV in some capacity, achieved overwhelmingly by my SEAT commercial which went all over Europe. My final desire was to have my pictures all over a store on Oxford Street. To me Oxford Street is the number one shopping street in the world and of course being from London, there would be no greater thrill than to walk down that famous road and see my own face staring back at me. Cue Coolway!

Coolway, is a Spanish shoe brand that began trade in 2003. They market towards a young urban market with stores across Spain as well as flagships in Germany and London. 

Go to Coolway to check out the 2013 Fall/Winter collection including campaign video.

Photoshoot - Javi Avila

Effectively, everything I have posted since starting this blog has been updating you guys with my past. Well now I want to give you a glimpse of the present. The most recent shoot I have done was two weeks ago with a young Spanish photographer, Javi Avila. He picked me up in the middle of Barcelona and we took a hours drive down the coast to Castelldefels. We got on really well and had a great day down on the beach. What do you think of the results? 

Rejection and how to ignore it

For the vast majority of people working in my industry, as well as industries similar to it such as acting and professional sport, it is their ability to deal with rejection and failure that will ultimately lead them to success. There are of course exceptions to every rule, as we see people who have gone from nothing to something seemingly overnight. Their lives are not so much dictated by their ability to deal with rejection, but rather whether they are able to keep their feet on the ground amid all their success. For me it was and is a case of the former. I have had to learn how to cope with getting turned down left, right and centre.

I started modelling when I was 22, off the back of 4 years studying at University of Nottingham. As my university life came to an end, I was faced with the reality of hitting the big bad world without much of a plan. I didn't know what I wanted to do, I hadn't studied a degree that led directly down one route. As I twiddled my thumbs, thankfully my friends got themselves in to gear. Growing up I had a friend who loved photography and used to use me as her practice model, however it wasn't something I had really thought about doing. Then as University finished a second friend joined a very small modelling agency in Bournemouth, down South, and I went down there to meet her colleagues and get there opinion on my chances in this world. The meetings were good, and they installed a confidence in me that had not existed in this capacity, however, I knew that if I was serious about modelling then I would need to get signed to an agency in London; so thats what I strived to do. 

As one of the biggest cities in the world, London is home to people from all walks of life. Opportunities are in abundance, dreams can come true; a person can be nothing one day and something the next. Ive grown up on the very outskirts of this melting pot of cultures and ethnicities, something that has allowed me to have a bit of both worlds; the hustling bustling city life, as well as the more relaxed country-bum lifestyle. In many ways, I think growing up with both the stability of a family friendly area and the chaos of one of the worlds major cities both within walking/driving distance, has prepared me for the crazy world I now find myself in. 

When I went to London on that first day, full of high spirits and excitement, I truly believed I was taking my first steps towards the rest of my life. Sadly, not many of the agencies in London agreed! Models 1, Premier, Select, NEVS - and a few more on top of that, I visited them all...and was duly rejected from them all. I received positive feedback, well I felt more positive than negative. Something along the lines of: "How tall are you? Five foot eleven, I see. I think you have a great look, you're a handsome boy, but just not what we are looking to take on to our board right now." Or at least words to the same affect. My height was going to be my problem! Nonetheless, find an agency I did! Cue Oxygen Models, with the mens board headed by a guy called Mark Rowley. Mark and I got on instantly and I felt he was looking at me as a person as well as a model, whereas the other agencies saw me purely as a marketable tool. He took a chance on me, something I will always be grateful for, and signed me on to his books. 

Well I had done it, I had set out to get signed in London, and I did, albeit not to one of the top agencies I had hoped but I was signed and I was happy! The next step was to start casting. Speak to any model and Im pretty sure they'll be able to give you an endless stream of complaints regarding the casting process in our industry. Numerous occasions I have sat on a train across London, for an hour and a half to wait outside a casting room for an hour and a half to go in and cast for 30 seconds. Literally, photos front on and profiles, quick chat. See ya! When I first began modelling in London, I had to quickly get used to being rejected. It quite simply comes with the occupation. I had to get used to the quick no's; the meeting people who, no matter how much enthusiasm I tried to muster, would greet me and just look beyond me. In the first year I "modelled", I booked two catwalks (despite my height), 2 hair modelling jobs and to be honest did very little else that actually earnt any sort of money. In my second year I booked a job with SONY, for the playstation move, and then another good job with Reebok Classics. I must have casted for over 150 jobs. In fact it was probably more than that, yet I can count the jobs Ive done on two hands. Thankfully when I moved to Barcelona, represented by Trend Model Management, my fortune changed. It was there that I truly began to believe I could make a career out of this. I left the UK and Oxygen behind and in the 9 months I have spent in Barcelona, as you know I have booked TV commercials with Peugeot, SEAT and Estrella Damm. What you don't know is that I have also worked with MTV Europe, Garnier BB Cream, as well as Spanish shoe brand Coolway. It hasn't just been the quantity of work, but rather the nature of those jobs, that has really made me happy. 

Last week I came home to London for 10days. I had a date with my brother-in-law and the NFL as well as it being my Fathers birthday. I decided that I would use the spare time I had in the city to try and find new representation. One of the small positives in the modelling world is how much control I have over my own career. Around 2 months ago, my agent in the UK, Mark, left Oxygen for Bookings Model Agency. I took that as my cue to move on as well. I felt that Oxygen wasn't the best place for me to be anymore and thankfully I had the freedom to simply end any agreement I have there. On tuesday just gone, it was like going back in time to that first day walking around the agencies. Start on Mortimer Street with Select, before heading to Holborn/Covent Garden to see Models1 and Premier, then on to Kings Road to see Storm and NEVS finally finishing in East London with FM Models and SUPA. Thats seven of the top agencies. Six of them turned me away within minutes of walking through the door; my height continues to work against me. I went in with a portfolio of commercials and campaigns and still got rejected without much thought or consideration. I think that shows you exactly how cut-throat this industry can really be. Thankfully, one of the agencies looked beyond my height. I was able to have a real chat about my aspirations and my dreams. In an industry where so much is put on appearance I was grateful to meet someone who was interested in my personality as well. I still don't know if they are going to sign me... thats for them to decide, but Im happy that I put myself out there. In a world where so much is out of my hands it felt good to be trying to take my life into my own hands, even if I was still reliant on other peoples opinion!

I guess the point Im trying to get across is that rejection is something 90% of models/actors have to deal with, it games with the territory. However, if you believe in yourself, if you believe in your talents, then literally anything is possible. That may sound cliche to you; I went to six agencies who all said I was too short to work in this industry. Since then I've been on TV all over Europe in a SEAT commercial, Ive had my face on billboards with Estrella Damm, and I am all over the Coolway flagship on Oxford Street. We get one life, don't let someone else tell you how to live it!