IRINA TRAVELING - Official Web Site - History with the modeling business. Hispanic story.

Every day we walked with my friends, not knowing where to go, we were interested in a lot. At that time, in 1998, I was a university student and had to work in order to be able to earn money and cover some of the costs of my studies. I played in a rock band that made money for me, but it wasn’t enough, so I decided to learn something new in order to be able to make money. I was just in these thoughts when an advertisement appeared in front of my eyes inviting me to a photography course, in principle I was interested in photography, but I did not have a camera, and money to buy lenses, filters and chemicals for developing, one way or another I, while attending this free course, I thought that maybe they could lend me the materials, but they didn’t, but they offered me something that would change my pastime, “

The course consisted in learning to use Photoshop and other photo editing programs, to be able to work on a magazine or advertising campaign. I gave my best and finally became an outstanding student, which allowed me to immediately get a job in a modeling agency.

My job was mainly to get the photos of the models that the agency gave me and edit them so that the models look great. I had to correct all the flaws and apply the necessary effects to have a great photo, in order to show it to the media and clients.

This simple role gave me an unexpected status, as the models tried to be my friends so that I would do better photo processing for them than for competitors.

In this job, I met Inessa, a model who came from Russia and was the symbol and standard of this agency, coming from a larger country, she brought the latest trends and the necessary experience to be able to lead this group. She was very tall and also versatile, so it was a pleasure to work with her, I got to know the other side of the Russian personality, because she was a really charming woman, but as soon as the flashes or lights came on, she became very professional. serious and disciplined. Russians are generally disciplined. But I felt that I envied her, and I didn’t like it, but one day she said something to me that could change my work.

In conversation, she told me. “Get ready to work in a team of women, because I assure you that you have not experienced a stronger storm than this one.”

Innesa, due to her leadership qualities, organized a group of models, mainly Chilean, but later Argentine, Brazilian and German models appeared. During the time that I worked, I participated in various productions and organization of shows, because we were all a team and everyone needed to participate.

The world of modeling was rather isolated and little known at that time here, but from what I could see, I was struck by the enormous ability of the models to adapt to every situation, the emancipation of the body, many times I had to go into the dressing rooms and see how many of them are naked. dress, but no one was shocked, we finally accepted the body as it is, something natural for every person and we should not have been shocked. At some point in our life, there is a painful need to cover up our body, but here everything was natural.

This was also accompanied by friendliness, because, as you can imagine, these were very beautiful women, but at the same time so friendly and close that they did not seem to realize how beautiful they were and behaved naturally with everyone. It is here that the phrase sounds: “When someone really has something, he does not flaunt it.”

In fact, the models were very friendly and close people, and nationality did not matter, I can say that the Russians were more passionate about dancing and much colder during the shows, because at that moment they were not joking and showed complete concentration, very different from Brazilian models who were always joking.

On the other hand, there has been a constant trend towards dieting and consuming chemicals in order not to gain weight. This was especially the case among South American women, who were inclined to be overweight. But the Russians, due to their genetic characteristics, did not need this, on the contrary, they ate two or three times more than caused burning envy))).

There are many stereotypes about drug use, but I did not see this, maybe in the modeling business in Europe or more famous agencies, but there was less glamor and much more effort and dedication, I personally saw contrasts, such as, for example, the glamorous dressed model taking off his shoes and climbing a stepladder to the ceiling to change or move the spotlight for shooting.

In general, very good and close-knit teams are formed, but there is also a lot of jealousy and competition between them, many times I saw frictions and blows between the models, sticking chewing gums, clothes that were hidden to keep a partner. Everyone had a need to show off more than the rest. But, oddly enough, after this event, they continued to communicate. Together we went to the mall or celebrate a holiday.

Another thing that was a frequent occurrence was the large number of men who pursued this group of girls, competing fiercely to offer more things to each model to conquer. The models were only spoiled by this, but in general they were people who enjoyed enjoying their own lives. And they felt very protected as a group, many times we ran to the beach or lake, and on weekends we danced, and in general we were a big family, but everyone had a little inner loneliness and desire to have their own family. … The latter, unfortunately, was the reason that these beautiful women often fell for the promises of manipulative men and ended up having a bad time. In general, the models felt confident about their beauty, but very insecure about their ability to achieve their goals in life.

Another very special thing is that they are very frugal women and they all have a plan to have a nice house and car. They usually dress simply and sporty and only use glamor at work. Finally, the modeling business is a means of achieving stability in the future, and because they know they are beautiful, they take advantage of this advantage that nature has given them.

The experience here was a great lesson in that I got to know a group of people who know they will have a promising part-time job, but they care about being the best and they have a strict discipline that allows them to save money in order to provide basic things for the future. Models are people who seem detached, but in general they are people with a great need for affection and feel protected, especially Russian women are very confident and easily adapt to the group, showing captivating leadership, they generally show strength and are far from being prima donnas, because in order to make an event a success, they are able to do everything in a supportive manner and not just feel like “role models”.

The modeling business is a competitive world in which not only beauty is the most important thing, there are women like you or any other woman in the world who walk the catwalk of life every day and at every step show their firmness, how strong and decisive, and above all they feel and know that they are the most beautiful, wherever they go.