Okay, so this morning while watching GMA, Diane Sawyer did a clip with Tyra Banks about Tyra’s new cruisade against “fake” modeling scams.

Every year, young girls are being molested, raped, and killed at these so-called model search scams. It rarely if ever makes national news, but it’s something that I’ve long been wondering why it hasn’t been brought to the forefront more often.

Just a few things I’ve even told girls myself, that have now been put out there by Tyra:

• Absolutely, under no circumstances, should you be paying money to any “agency” or “scout” or anyone else. Real agencies want you because they KNOW you’ll make money for them down the road. They’ll never charge you for photo sessions, filing fees, or anything else.
• Always, when going to a photographer, bring along a friend or parent. Be polite but extremely firm, that they be present with you during the shoot. (It’s okay to have them in another room if it’s a job you got through your accredited agency, that’s not the time to be bitchy. But when it’s something you’ve decided to do yourself, make sure someone’s there with you.)
• NEVER EVER EVER do anything you’re uncomfortable with. Some of these people will tell you anything to get you to take your top off, or pose in less-than-ladylike positions. This should never be required, and repetitive requests should not be tolerated. If a photographer asks you more than once to take your top off (or worse, your bottoms) after you’ve already made it clear that you’re not going to do that, leave the session. Period.
• Keep in mind that TFP (time for prints) work can really help build up your portfolio, but it should be a huge red flag if they’re asking you to go to a hotel room or something like that. Most TFP work happens either in the photographer’s studio, outdoors, or in some other public place.
• If an “agent” tells you that they want you to make calls yourself, or doesn’t set you concrete appointments, there’s something fishy going on. This is by far not something you should be working to get for yourself, that’s the agent’s job. Your job is to go to appointments, “go-sees”, and gigs, do the modeling work if you get it, and go home. People who tell you to book yourself, and they’ll negotiate the pay, aren’t doing what they should to deserve that commission check they’re going to negotiate for themselves.

These are just a few things that I’ve personally come across, and some of which Tyra talked about this morning.

Watch Tyra’s show later today to catch all of the undercover surveillance and “setups” she did as part of this whole thing. If you missed it, like I did, because I was watching GMA like a retard, you can catch the recap later on this week (or the start of next week).

Popularity: 21% [?]