Giving feedback to models part II


Everyone seems to be wanting feedback these days and it has to be constructive and full of praise for someone's potential development - even though that potential may be very hidden.
As a dA group moderator, like my fellow mods, I keep on getting requests for feedback on every single submission that is rejected. Occasionally people will resubmit the same item more than once even after it has been declined, demanding 'feedback'. The thing is: if you apply for a job and dont get it, you cannot expect feedback to be given to you. When my agency sends me  to a casting and I do not get the role, I do not pester the client to let me know why I was not chosen. I do my own assessment of the reasons why it did not happen, I might discuss it with the booker,  but I do not insist on finding out from the client. When I apply to a casting independently  and end up not getting the job, I do not ask why. It can be counterproductive.
But  I am digressing.

Photographer: Nagib El-Desouky

Imagine how  puzzled I was when, as editor of UdA (please see our latest feature), I got a request from a young model  to give her feedback on her work. I wrote a blog post about this nearly two years ago - time flies, I have been blogging for some time now. I wrote about models wanting and needing feedback. But this request was out of place. So here is Giving feedback to models part II.
 First of all the model in question asked UdA for feedback, rather than me, even though she could have reached me easily. UdA is an online publication which features photographers and models who already have, by and large,  an established and varied portfolio. The request I received was from a  newbie who sent a handful of pictures taken by one photographer. Why write to UdA? I could not help feeling this was because the young lady was fishing for a feature. So I politely declined to offer any feedback and to offer any feature because the sample sent was not sufficient to warrant one.
I also found I was at a loss as to the type of feedback I should give her. The photos were not particularly good. Forget the model. It was the photographer who needed feedback, badly,  and he probably would not have liked it.

She wrote in a huff saying she just wanted feedback, not a feature. Hold on girl. The feedback was already there when I mentioned a varied portfolio with images by talented photographers.
So feedback is something that needs to be understood, as it is often given implicitly.
What kind of feedback do you give a young model who has just started and has probably been told, rightly or wrongly, that she is destined to stardom? Well, keep your wits about you, girl. If you are twenty and modelling remember that there are thousands of other young models who also have the potential of becoming stars. Whether they all will remains to be seen. Work with as many good photographers as you can, build up a good portfolio and then features about you, no doubt, will abound.

(All photos modelled by Alex B)

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