A few weeks ago I had a shoot with photographer Thomas Dozol for a French magazine featuring models with tattoos. It was a really cool concept. Each model will have two shots. For the first shot he took a snapshot of the tattoo, printed it, then used a projector to place it on a different part of the body. The second shot was a portrait featuring the tattoo. Each model's second portrait was different, shot in different places. I personally think mine was coolest. The photographer brought me up onto the roof terrace of the loft in Tribeca and shot me with the Hudson River and New Jersey skyline in the background. I haven't seen any of the final photos yet, but I did see this polaroid from the shoot on his website.
If the polaroid looks this good I can't wait to see the final pictures. The magazine is biannual though, so it will be a while!
Now for the news... I'm moving back to Fargo at the end of November so I can spend the holidays with family and start school at NDSU again next semester in January. There were a lot of factors in play while making this decision. Trust me, it was an extremely hard choice. Harder than the decision to drop everything and come here. I kind of realized that modeling industry has been changing due to these economic conditions. It's primarily because retailers and magazines are trying to reach a broader audience. Who is going to reach more people, the all-American good looking guy with the buff body or the skinny, edgy fashion guy? I hope you see where this is going. This last show season was pretty much the nail in the coffin. Nobody like me worked.
My agents and I had a talk about this, about how I didn't feel right for the New York market, and decided to try to place me in London. They tried, but nobody wanted to take me on right now. After that, I called a meeting with the agents again and told them that since things are so slow I felt it would be in my best interests to get back into school. They were completely supportive and will still be representing me. They said that if a project came along that I was right for they would still submit me and I could just come back to shoot. That sounds really expensive but I can get round-trip tickets for under $250 and stay for free with friends. You also have to think that I'll be spending around $500 less a month on rent though!
I am a little worried about switching back to the old lifestyle. I'm going to really miss my life here. The energy of the city, the mindset of the people. The diversity, the style, the individualism. I'll miss it when I'm dropped back in the land of parking lots, identical vinyl sided boxes, and people wearing the same haircuts and Abercrombie clothes trying to fit in. I'm going to stick out in Fargo after feeling like I fit here for the last 18 months. Really, the only thing I'm looking forward to are my family and friends. That and going to school again. It'll be a big change but I know it's time.
New York will still be here. I hear they hire architects too.
