FHM

Part of what prompted me to venture out to Singapore in the first place earlier this year was a series of chats I had with my friend Sam, whom I met during my first contract in Thailand nearly two years ago. Singapore is a bit of a playground for her - she works well there and has a good lay of the land, so hearing her gush about her experiences and her plans to return nudged me into giving it a shot myself. Glad I ended up following through with it, and one of the highlights of my stint was that Sam and I had a chance to work together again, this time for FHM.
From the May issue: "Raise the Red Pattern", photographer: Simon Sim

Wiener Models - Vienna, Austria

Went to Vienna this weekend and popped in to visit my new agency there - Wiener Models! The two bookers, Dominika and Kosmas, are really cool and run a very solid, tight board. Very much looking forward to working with them :)

August Man

Two of my favorite shoots in Singapore were for August Man, a "monthly men's luxury lifestyle publication" in the vein of Details and GQ. Shot on location (which I always much prefer - gives a picture more texture and depth vs. a boring plain-background studio shoot) at Indochine @ Clarke Quay (story - "Chinois Noir", photographer - Scott Woodward) and at the Marriott Hotel just off of Orchard (story - "Zen and the Art of Dressing", photographer - Dave Kennedy)

Singapore - Looking Back

Two extensions and many great memories later, I'm finally back in London after a 2.25 month stay in Singapore. Was initially apprehensive of model apartment life after my stint in Milan but there's something special about the camaraderie and mayhem that ensue when 15+ people from 'round the world hunker down in cramped living conditions. So happy I went and so thankful for the great times with Adrian, Lucie, Jessica, David,Angie, Sam, Chuando, Colin, Frey, Ivana, Fernando, Ana, Isadora, Chadli, Olesya, Jacqueline, Faz, Tanya and Renata.

Some highlights:
Night Safari with Jessica and Addy
Two shoots with August Man
Night swimming at a deserted Sentosa beach w Addy and Angie
Easy access to vegetarian food on Orchard - 8 Immortals, Takashimaya, Lingzhi
Bye bye Balmoral, hello Grange :)
Saturday nights at eM Studio

Better yet, I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Singapore

Greetings from Singapore! I've been here for two weeks now and am really enjoying myself. Have met some great people and there's so much to do so no complaints. Below are a few pictures of places I've gone and people I've met...

London Revisited

Had a good friend from SF visiting this past week and it afforded me the opportunity to purposefully explore London once more. I know - shouldn't need an excuse but it's always more fun doing things in the presence of good company. Some places/sites I never get tired of seeing (Portobello Market, Ben, the Eye) and others I glaringly hadn't gotten around to visiting until now (Tate Modern and the Millenium Bridge)
Hitting you with some highlights...

Scout - Zurich, Switzerland

Recently signed with a great agency in Zurich - Scout Models, headed up by Bettina Schaefer and Brigitte Gubser!

Vegetarian Festival - Thailand

This time last year, I was in Thailand enjoying the first few weeks of what would ultimately extend into a lengthy four-month stay. Little did I know that I'd be arriving in the midst of my epicurean paragon - the ten-day Vegetarian Festival. Occuring every October, it's a time when many Buddhists partake in a cathartic ritual of abstaining from their traditional diets and instead, eating healthily and cruelty-free. Supply shifts comfortably and rather seamlessly to meet demand, as stalls quickly transform themselves under the omnipresent yellow banner to sell meat-free variations of their best sellers. The Festival just started a couple days ago and already I'm wishing I were back...
Pictures from last year:

Kite Heaven

Shot a TVC for Nokia right before I left for Thailand. From what I hear, it's catching some good airtime in Singapore, HK and Taiwan. Was a fun day made moreso by some great co-stars - Dali (son) and Clare (wife). Easily one of the best parts of business - the cool people you meet along the way...

Link to the English version of the commercial

Comfort TVC

hey guys, sorry for the prolonged silence. just got back from thailand and have lots to catch you up on! shot a tvc for comfort laundry detergent a few weeks ago and i've heard from a few friends in bangkok that it's currently on air. the shoot itself was relatively painless save for some 30+ tumbles off a bike. scenario: pass by a group of five ladies and one in particular is so captivating in her olfactory charms that i lose concentration and take a spill. yes, there was a mat to cushion my fall but i was pretty bruised up the next day. serves me right for not getting it perfect on the first take!

Milano

What New York is to bankers and Mecca is to Muslims, Milano is to models (wow, perhaps I should submit that to the College Board for SAT consideration :p) so with the quick 1.5 hour flight from London and the ubiquity of low cost carriers here in Europe I figured it was something I ought to try at least once. Late June is when the menswear shows happen in Milan, so a few weeks prior, male models the world over (but mostly from Eastern Europe and North America) descend upon the city like vultures on freshly fallen prey.


Unfortunately for said vultures, prey is scarce and competition is plentiful. A friend recently mentioned that Milan is one of those places only worth going if you've already made a pretty sizeable dent in the industry and I would tend to agree. Show castings are huge cattle calls the likes of which I've rarely seen, and the odds are pretty slim given that a typical show doesn't use more than 20 models. Showroom castings are even worse - hundreds of models vying for a job that entails 12 hours of walking back and forth in a showroom for potential buyers and getting paid a little more than 100 euros a day for your efforts.


The city itself was also a bit of a letdown. Somehow I'd expected more from a city renowned as a big fashion hub, but what I encountered was rather provincial compared to NY, London and Paris. Public transport infrastructure was downright primitive, food options were uniform and unsavory (after 9 days of pizza, pasta and foccacia I'm happy to pursue more culturally diverse fare), and beyond the Duomo at the center of the city, there isn't all that much to see or do.


Still, it was a good life experience and a trip of many firsts: first time
working in a market where i do not speak the native dialect (though Spanish is a pretty effective surrogate), first time I've lived in a model apartment (roommate was a French chain-smoking teenager who would borrow my towel (nasty) and use the kitchen sponge to scrub his sandals at the end of each day (nastier)), first time optioned for shows for some of the big fashion houses.


Model Apartment - The Four Seasons this is not...

Ladies Who Lunch

Is a charity event ever truly complete without a cadre of models prancing around in silly hats and expensive suits? Such was the premise a few weeks ago for a mid-day soiree to raise money for a children's charity here in London. Attendees consisted of approximately 300 well-heeled women paying £80 a head to lunch with their similarly well-coiffed counterparts. As a yearly tradition, my agency here hands over ten of their male models to serve as eye-candy for the event. Turned out to pretty well-coordinated and it was for a worthy cause, so all in all a good day.

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Doesn't get much more glamorous than this folks :p