Model Profile: Laurie Lee

Laurie’s versatile look and commitment to her work have allowed her to woo the admiration of many collaborators, whether they are makeup artists or photographers. Her portfolio shows a promising ability on her part to change roles when in front of the camera. Able to demonstrate vulnerability, power, glamour, and poise within her photographs, Laurie’s fashion career has had a successful launch despite her lack of prior experience.

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Kel J Davies Photography 

Nee Hao interviews the prospective career model as she shares her ambitions, tips and viewpoints.

By Yinsey Wang 

Tell us about yourself. Why did you choose to pursue modelling? 

You should ‘never judge a book by its cover’; a lot of traits of my personality and the general way that I am are quite surprising to some people. For example, I hate shopping; play computer games; love food; have a big interest in IT and different cultures; adore all types of music; have a big sense of humour; and I value learning.

In terms of my interest in modelling, I actually did some as a child. People would tell my parents that I’m very photogenic when we have family portraits taken. Earlier this year I found out about some modelling websites where you can contact photographers/models/makeup artists in your area and work with them for free, through a trade or for pay, and I thought that would be a great kick start for me!

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Exposure Photography

As soon as I joined up, I had a lot of people messaging me with requests to shoot with me. As soon as I left my job, I started booking a few shoots and I still have quite a lot planned, some really exciting projects coming up that I can’t wait for you to see. You know what they say… everything happens for a reason! My job ended, which means that I am able to model and I recently changed careers, so things are looking very good for me now!

What type of modelling do you do?

I don’t want to keep myself to a specific type of modelling, I’ve done lingerie to fashion to goth and I’ll be adding a few more different types to my portfolio very soon. Although I am very interested in modelling and would like to take it further, I am quite happy to take my time with it at the moment and get a lot of experience while I’m still quite young.

What is it that sets you apart from other models?

The thing that sets me apart from other models is probably that I’m just different in general and I’m proud to be different, I don’t like to stick to how you would expect a girl my age or a model to act. I try to just be myself and portray this across in the images as best I can.

The fact that I am very diverse and love to try new things also makes me stand out, some people look down on lingerie style photos but I honestly really love them. I hope to have a lot more shoots like that because they can be really classy and sexy! I admire that kind of look.

Which person, movement or theme influences you the most in your modelling and artistic styles?

To be honest, I have never sat looking through a magazine or watching runway and thought ‘wow, how inspiring… I want to be like her’. I haven’t really had someone give me that effect, I honestly have no idea what made me like modelling; however, I absolutely adore a lot of photographers.

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Kel J Davies Photography

Tell us your secret beauty tip.

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My secret beauty tip is well-groomed eyebrows! You don’t need to pluck them too thin and you don’t need to put a lot of eyebrow pencil on. A lot of people don’t realise that well groomed eyebrows can actually do a lot to the appearance of your face! They can make you look younger or older, and they can make you look serious or laid back! They have a big effect on your appearance and people should pay more attention to their eyebrows if they’re trying to achieve certain looks.

A lot of young women seem to forget that there is a fine line between sexy thin and too thin, if you need to draw your eyebrows back on, you know that you have over-plucked, and that is not the look you want to go for!

What challenges did you face as a model?

So far, as a model, the biggest challenge that I have had to face is probably when connecting with photographers over the internet who want to work with me… some come across a little strange and I just learnt to be aware that there are probably fakes on this website!

There are some people who are a bit strange or can ask inappropriate things, luckily for me I haven’t met anyone like this nor has anyone ever said anything inappropriate. I have had a ton of people messaging me and requesting me to do some really strange ‘fetish’ photo shoots but I just ignore and treat them as spam. Some photographers seem normal and when you start to book a shoot with them, something about them or the way they speak to you may seem “a little off”, I usually don’t go ahead with the shoots that these people suggest for safety reasons.

Any tips for other prospective models?

All I would say to you is: be reliable and make sure it is something you really want to do. One of the most frustrating things in this industry is to work or plan a shoot with someone who is unreliable or someone who treats it as if it is just a hobby. I understand for some people it is a hobby but just remember that usually people want to make a career or something out of it, so they are quite serious and like to plan. When people ask me how to get into modelling, I refer them to websites but they have not used them.

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Exposure Photography

The amount of times I have tried to help a ‘friend’ and they end up cancelling shoots last minute is ridiculous, it doesn’t give a good impression to who you are working with! Treat modelling/photography/make up as a job, even if it is a project you’re doing for free. Be reliable, organised, punctual and professional. I don’t want to sound mean or rude, but if you’re going to have the mindset where you’re lazy to book photo shoots and you’re going to be unreliable, then I’m sorry but you are not quite ready for this industry. I have learnt this from experience and it is not nice trying to work with people who are unreliable.

Where do you see yourself in the next five years?

Hopefully I am still working in an office and I should have traveled a few countries to do some photography. I don’t aspire to become extremely famous, but I just want to do modelling to a standard where I can say it’s my career and that I am successful with it.

What is the most creative project that you’ve worked on as a model?

The most creative project I’ve worked on is probably a few of those that I’m currently in the process of doing. However I can’t reveal anything about them… but you’ll see very soon. I’ll give you hints for three of the projects: Honda, Bunny, and Nine Tails. :)

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Which fashion designer or label do you love the most? Why?

I have never really been that into fashion however I adore Jimmy Choo and LV! I fell in love with Jimmy Choo for the shoes and the perfume and LV for the bags. At the moment, I own the Jimmy Choo perfume… but in the future, I will definitely reward myself with some LV and Jimmy Choo! I also love to shop at Zara.

What’s in your makeup bag?

My makeup bag is quite simple, I don’t own much although I do my own make up for some of my photo shoots! I have Bobbi Brown concealer and foundation; make up brushes made from bamboo; a random eyeliner and eye shadow.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve had to do in the name of fashion?

Nothing, I’m so exciting, haha!

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