Photographer Fay Hill
Today most children have at one stage of their life expressed a desire to be on stage or a model walking the cat walks and wearing gorgeous clothes. WHY?
words by Michelle Wilson-Stimson
does your mother know? 44
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hey want to be those kids, they look cool, seem rich and therefore must be popular! The ones on TV, in magazines, social media... When I was a teenager, I desperately wanted to model. I dragged my dad to open days, photo calls, model events and begged him to pay the ridiculous fees scammers were charging – he didn’t, thankfully, but I had no idea how to become a model. Nowadays children know the best agents and how to apply, they understand fashion and that modelling isn’t just looking pretty. My daughter is thirteen. For the last year she has wanted to be an actress and model. Our location isn’t perfect for the majority of the London based agencies so representation hasn’t been easy. She’s a quirky girl with an English rose look, big blue eyes and long baby blonde hair, but she doesn’t think she’s pretty. However she knows that modelling isn’t about just being pretty it’s far more than that. I love that confidence in her, I think she’s beautiful and pretty, she says I’m biased. Earlier this year she promptly gave me a list of the best agents and photographers she would like to work with, (I wish I was that switched on when I was climbling by way through my modelling career). She knows what she wants and she was going for it. We applied to some agents in London but sadly turned down over and over because of our location…too far away!It’s heart-breaking for a parent to see their child disappointed. But I had to be strong for her and to coach her through those let downs and no go’s! So that’s what I did, I worked with her and explained how casting works, what agents are looking for and helped keep her head high regardless of let downs. She grew in confidence and has now developed a great skin for not being accepted for a job, whereas before I would see a sad face she now understands she didn’t fit what they were looking for and skips off, still happy Mia. So we had nailed the wellbeing of Mia – she gets it, she understands it, she loves being in front of the camera and giving her best ‘Blue Steel’ or jumping around for casting agents and photographers. She is well adjusted to this industry. Her wellbeing was the most important thing for me to
