Today, many people look back on the silent films of the jazz era as more artistic than our modern motion pictures, as those filmmakers and actors had no sound to work with in order to convey a story, to make the audience feel something.
And yet, at the same time, few people understand how much skill and passion goes into being a model, even though models have much the same job to do. Modelling is about so much more than looking pretty or striking a pose; it’s about embodying a mood, a feeling, becoming a living vessel for a motif in art or the spirit of the times in which the model lives.
The parallel that exists between silent films and modelling has been noted by models themselves; famous supermodel Helena Christensen once observed that, “When you are modelling, you are creating a picture, a still life, perhaps something like a silent film. You convey emotion but you are only using your body.”
On a recent model shooting in Limassol Old Port (which I did while working with the excellent Croatian wedding photographer Martina), starring 26-year-old model Themis, I was treated to seeing this visual storytelling skill in action. Silhouetted against the modern geometric style buildings of the Port, with their glass façades, and leaning back against the railing of the nearby docks with her long hair flowing down around her shoulders, Themis told us a story of the power of the feminine presence. One can see in the photographs of this beautiful young woman how a touch of femininity can soften even the hardest landscape, and how a woman can be made all the more beautiful by the contrast of steel and concrete framing her being.
Themis was perfect for such a shoot as she is the epitome of the vivacious modern girl; she is an avid cyclist, loves the cinema, and her dream is to travel the world—a dream which, of course, goes hand-in-glove with the career of modelling. She is the embodiment of our era, of our global society, hoping to absorb the diverse sights and cultures of the planet into her own individual universe. She even teaches English, the prominent language of the digital age.
Themis expresses her unique and creative energy wonderfully through her style—as you can see in the images of her, she knows how to blend classic with “cool”, hard with soft, edgy with sophisticated—making her an unforgettable model to work with.
