During my short 3-4 years stint as a creative director and fashion photographer before my shindigs in tech, start up, digital media, social media and advertising, I have been blessed to have worked with and mentored a bunch of beautiful, young aspiring models, some are as young as 12-13 years old.

Being involved in voluntary work, community development (specializing in youth and young adults) apart from my full time job running a photography and creative studio, my passion lies in fashion, media and youth wellness. And I am also a consultant and an advocate of positive media.

However, my little attempts are always futile in the midst of the pressure from the industry. Here are some of the things I wish I could have told my young aspiring models more about.

I wish I could have told you that you are beautiful because of your uniqueness.
You are beautiful. You are beautiful inside out. You are beautiful both in front of the lens and behind the lens.

While everyone is praising and cheering for the fashion image that we the creative team have created — that skillfully crafted unreal image piled with ridiculously thick make up, designers clothes as well as another round of Photoshop’s butchering which makes the tiny you, even skinnier and taller, the youthful you to look way beyond your age, you are in fact more beautiful in real life.

I wish I could have told you that you are beautiful even when you were cringing at some of the ‘fashion’ photos which the industry heavily celebrates, just because you have grown over critical towards yourself, your facial expression, your posture and even your body as a result of the unreal expectation of beauty in the industry.

You are beautiful when you first rocked up to the studio, with no make up, with your stubbornly messy hair, unplucked bushy eye brows, in your school uniform or baggy sports wear, that image which you probably detested and deemed as the epitome of fashion faux pas, that image which you tried to shy off and hide from public eyes. It is the youth, the energy, the natural beauty, the passion in you, your thoughts, your smile, your playfulness, your personality and your uniqueness that make you beautiful.

You are indeed beautiful!

I wish I could have told you more about how beautiful your smile is.
While the world celebrates and endorses sexuality based image and everyone in the team have been instructing you to pose in a sultry, sexual provocative manner, which is far beyond your age due to the industry’s pressure, I wish I could have told you that your smile is much more beautiful than that alluring pose in which the industry and the media have been endorsing for the past few decades.

I also wish that I have more opportunities to show you the candid shots that I took of you in between different poses, during the intervals and breaks, when you stopped, smiled and laughed while we were cracking out jokes, dancing to the background music. Your smiles were beautiful.

I wish I could have told you that it is absolutely okay to say NO.
In the wake of Terry Richardson’s sexual scandal and exploitation of young models in which the industry is turning a blind eye, with big brands and magazines which are still booking him, even celebrating some of his inappropriate work, which in turn indirectly endorsing this kind of tyranny, pushing young models’ boundaries to cave in, to be silenced by power and manipulation, I wish I could have told and taught you that it is absolutely okay to say NO to all these sexual advantages and violation if you were ever being placed in a manipulative, sexually violating situation.

Whether they are the big shots in the industry or the perverts with a camera, who prey on young models’ urge and aspiration to make it in the industry like a vulture eyeing on its helpless preys, it is absolutely okay to say NO if their requests make you feel uncomfortable and violated. Even if some of them might threaten to complain to your agency, blacklist you or jeopardize your modelling career, it is never worth it to succumb to these kinda of demeaning manipulation.

The psychological damage and aftermath is far greater than losing a job or two, or even your ‘modelling career’ as some of these manipulative culprits have claimed it. You have so much more amazing life experiences waiting to be discovered by you.

And, it is always advisable to bring your parents to photoshoots with you especially when you are a minor and are uncertain about what lies ahead of you.

And lastly, I wish I could have told you that life is so much greater than the glamourous facade of the fashion industry.
While you are young, and the industry might have promised a whole new world of glamour and fame to you, I wish I could have told you and shared this with you — you have the whole world at your feet, dozens of fresh, new exciting experiences awaiting for you out there, whether it’s travelling, studying or chasing for your dreams, doing what you are passionate about.

I wish I could have told you that you, each and every single of you, are talented, smart, intelligent, unique and incredible, and you have got so much to offer to the world and people around you, which is way beyond your comprehension. While some of you might have not been able to grasp this vision just yet, I see you being a great leader, an influencer, a successful and inspirational individual in your forte, a great wife or husband to your future spouse, a great mother or father to your future kids, all because you are born to be great.

And to the beautiful and incredible people who have been holding onto strong work ethics in the industry, whom I am honoured to work with — thank you! Your effort to make a stand is making a change in the industry, little by little.