Modeling 101 - Answering Reader Questions

Anonymous Wrote:  Hello i read your blog and its so interesting I want to be a model but the problem is that im from Paraguay hmm and i want to go the US to try in agency but i dont have the Visa to work as a model because here in my country i dont modeling because the agencies are not high fashiob do you think that even i dont have the visa a agency can hire me ? Thank you sou much  Hi, Anonymous! I'm not an expert on the subject but I'm pretty sure you won't be able to work with any agency in the US without a visa, unfortunately. The best shot you have is to get signed with an agency within a 2 hour's drive from where you live so that the agent can make the arrangements to try and send you to work in the US. If there aren't any high fashion caliber agencies in Paraguay, maybe you can look into submitting yourself to agencies in Brazil. As long as they have experience with placing models with US agencies, that is what matters so try to look up the websi

Anonymous Wrote: Hello, My daughter is interested in modeling. We have been in contact with a booking agency that has sent us a contract. In addition to the contract they required her to get her own photos taken which we have don. We are to send the photos along with $199. They tell us the fee covers the layout of her marketing materials as well as her feature on their website. Do you think this is ligit? Any advise you can give us would be appreciated. Hi, Anonymous! Based on the info you provided me with, I believe this is a legitimate charge because you have a contract offer to go along with it. However, it is important to find out if the $199 is a one time fee or not so make sure to be clear about that so there aren't any unpleasant surprises or hidden fees. Another reason why I believe the charge is okay is the fact that the agency allowed you to go about getting the photos done on your own and didn't pressure you to use one of their chosen/recommended photograph

Anonymous Wrote: Hi, im 15 almost 16 in two months and I wanted to know if there is anything I should work on before going to an agency and seeing if they will sign me. Thank you! Hi, Anonymous! I don't know what type of modeling you're interested in (fashion/runway, commercial/print, etc.) but the best thing you can do is to visit the official websites of local agencies within a 2 hour's drive from where you live to find out what the submission process is like for each one. In most cases, you'll want to work on getting together some quality non-professional, digital snapshots. Take some practice flicks and see how they turn out. Submitting good snapshots are the strongest materials that could get you an interview with an agency or interest them further if you're attending an open call. If you're tall enough to do runway/fashion modeling (5'8"-6'0") then you'll want to get familiar with doing a runway walk. Definitely make