» Model City
Sandra Omo finds herself running through her repertoire with an audience
There are always new trends in the fashion industry. I love it when designers not only come up with new designs, but also with new ideas to launch their designs. This week, a very good designer friend of mine (Anoosh & Morris) invited me to model for their new collection. He caught my attention when he said it was going to be a ‘live fashion shoot’. I assumed ‘live fashion shoot’ meant there were going to be photographers around capturing a runway event. Well, why announce this? Are there not always photographers in fashion shows? After a while, I decided to stop wondering about this and look forward to strutting down the runway instead.
“I have absolutely no problem performing in the presence of thousands”
On the day, we (models) arrived at Tamarai, the venue for the show and began our make-up and dress fitting backstage as the audience began to flock in. It was not until after the whole make-up and dress fitting when the show was about to begin that I realised there was going to be no walking down the runway today. We were having a live ‘photo shoot’. I mean a proper live studio-style shoot in front of hundreds of people. There was a studio set up on stage and we had to work it for the cameras like there was no-one there. The thing is that with this situation, there is no room for mistakes. You just cannot mess up and say ‘let’s take that shot again’. With normal photoshoots, this is possible. You are constantly under the direction of the photographer and you can afford to miss it at times, but there was no room for such here. I mean, there were people watching, so everything had to be perfect from the beginning to the end.
The pressure was mounting as each model returned from stage. Finally, it was my turn to go onstage. Boy, I could feel the adrenaline rush as I approached the sofa on the studio stage. There went the first snap, second, third, and then I just began to work it for the camera. I guess shooting in front of an audience puts more pressure on you – you just want to give it your all. That is exactly what happened to me, not because of the people, as I have absolutely no problem performing in the presence of thousands. It was the screaming and the excitement of the crowd that I had to fight from soaking in. I must confess that I felt so uncomfortable in the beginning. However, towards the end of the shoot I began loving it. It was like shooting a movie in the presence of one’s fans. The reactions from the audience made it even sweeter. If you have ever been to a live theatre act, then you know what I am talking about.
As I looked at the photos the next day, I felt a different kind of pride from what I would normally feel when I see a well-executed photo of myself. This show was the first of its kind. I have not heard of – or seen – a live fashion shoot before but I can tell you it was fun and highly entertaining for the audience. Moreover, it is a good way to show the kind of hard work that photographers and models put into creating beautiful pictures. In addition, what better way is there to draw attention to one’s designs?
