On the Friday before many Durbanites
were preparing for the Vodacom Durban July, the girls of #ProjectScouted - the
extremely fortunate Top 10 - were busy creating art at the Essenwood Park for
the Phase Six shoot. Having read Phase Six official photographer, SamanthaDuckworth's, brief for the photoshoot, some may have raised their eyebrows a
little. But as is often the case, those who are sceptical are soon blown away
by the amazing results.
The
theme for the shoot itself was eye-catching and intriguing; vulnerability. Each
girl would have 10 to 15 mintues with Samantha lying on a mattress with white
sheets and a pillow to capture a shot that exposes not their body, but their
inner selves. Portraying the emotion of vulnerability and being completely
unguarded is not an easy task. Its far easier to strike a pose full of fierce
attitude but to portray strength through being open takes a skilled model. And
this is what Samantha endeavoured to draw out from the girls who have excelled
in the other shoots so far.
The
images were shot from an angle above the girls with Samantha teetering on a
step-ladder and they were encouraged to pose in a way that felt comfortable to
them, either showing their face or not. It might seem deceiving when taking a
look at the images, but the girls wore strapless tops and shorts, allowing them
to experiment with the shape and lines they could create with the sheet on
their bodies while not being provocative or inappropriate. Iman Sheik, model at
Ice Model Management, Durban and our guest judge from Phase Five, was also
there to help direct the girls in their posing and to occasionally fluff up
their hair.
Following
the success and popularity of the students of Make-up the College owned by
Jacqui Bannerman applying the make-up for the models at the Phase Four fashion
show and the Phase Five Top 15 high-fashion shoot, some of the college's fresh
graduates came along to prep the girls according to the concept. The
#ProjectScouted models have really been getting a taste of what it feels like
to be a professional model with these regular shoots and professional make-up
applications!
Our
regular lurkers were also in attendance as they would not have been able to
miss such a unique shoot with such a distinct concept. Jerome Stoffels, Roy
Esterhuysen of Firsthouse Photography, Nilufer Yucel, Jessica Van Goeverden of
Van.Go Photography and Simphiwe Mkhwanazi all came by to shoot
behind-the-scenes and also to take pics of each other taking pics. Scouts
Lailah Osman, Dakota Jude Baptist and Ryan Francis of Shoelaced Clothing were
also there to rally their girls and keep the morale up. Our scouts have also
been rather modest throughout the Project, not realizing how important they
are! The beautiful Charelle McAllister of Make-up by Charelle also dropped by
to meet the girls, three of whom will be given the full treatment by her with
hair and make-up done for the Top 3 shoot. Another loyal supporter, Se-Anne
Rall of the Tabloid Newspapers, also came by to check out the action which
might help her in her duty as the guest judge of this phase.
Keep
up to date for the photos from the shoot as well as the behind-the-scenes images
as they are released on the Lee Folkard Photography page and also read up on
the fascinating people involved in the Project on the blog. We can't contain
our excitement and neither can the girls of #ProjectScouted as we're skirting
towards the end. Some of the first place prizes were also revealed this week;
the Apple iPad mini and a MAC make-up hamper, being the two prizes which have lit a
fire of motivation under the models. We can't imagine saying goodbye to some of
these girls with the next cut ahead of Phase Seven with the Top 5 approaching,
but this is a competition and there can only be one winner. Do you think you
know who that might be?
