Modeling 101 - Answering Reader Questions

Unknown Wrote: I have a skin condition known as vitiligo along with acne on my face back and chest. Could I still be a model? Hey, Unknown! There are several celebrities that have vitiligo. Winnie Harlow is one of the most famous since she is a top model who doesn't use makeup to cover her skin condition. Brooke Burke has melasma, which is similar, in that she has loss of pigmentation on her face, which she does use cover up to conceal. So there are ways to pursue a career in modeling with a condition like vitiligo. As far as the acne goes, if you're able to get your skin to a point where it is healthy enough and with few blemishes, there is a chance that you could pursue modeling to some degree. Winnie Harlow has definitely shown the modeling industry that being "different" can be something to embrace and break the pattern but you have to also possess all the other "it" factors that will get an agency's interest in representing you (i.e. phy...

Steve Wrote: Dear Dania, Because I am unrepresented and new to the commercial/print modeling, I guess I should pursue my local market, Phoenix. Would you say the smaller agencies of medium-size cities are of a ‘type’ designed to fit part-time models more? I say “part-time” as I’m being realistic about how much paid work a new model in my field can actually secure. Do you think most agents would not object to a model being represented by non-competing agencies in Denver, Phoenix and Los Angeles? How common are the mother agencies, do they consist of both large agencies and affiliates in other states? I am the William H. Macy lookalike in the Showtime TV series, Shameless. Showtime will not talk to me directly, but said they would talk to my agent. But when I talked to agents in Arizona earlier this year about making the connection for me, it felt like they did not have the connections or interest that a mother agency might have. Even the largest lookalike agency in the world, Mi...