Becoming a model was never something I ever dreamt of as a kid. Being a POC with physical attributes not exactly meeting the criteria of a conventionally-attractive model, I had absolutely no interest in fashion or art or modelling for the most part of my life and decided to go down a more academic path. But I owned a camera growing up and was always the one taking photos of family and friends during events, holidays, and pretty much anything that I felt like documenting in my life. I never actually liked being in front of the camera because I felt I wasn't photogenic at all. This got worse as I got older. (I learned later in life that a lot of us have this problem!)

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This all changed during Covid lockdown where I was determined to work on getting myself comfortable in front of the camera, to learn how my body moves, what my better angles and poses were. As we came out of lockdown, I booked my first professional photo shoot - it was a creative boudoir photoshoot. As I was preparing for the shoot, I looked for inspiration online by browsing portfolios of many local photographers, but quickly became disappointed when I realised that I couldn't really find anything that inspired me, any images that resonated with me, or any photography subjects that looked even just a bit like me.

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It was clear that there still was quite a huge lack of diversity amongst the models that local photographers would feature on their online portfolios. I spoke with several photographers to figure out why this was the case and the top reason I was - and still am - often given is that it's difficult to find models who don't necessarily look like your typical western supermodel who would agree to shoot and have their photos shared, particularly in the boudoir and art nude category.

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This really bothered me. Should I still do this shoot? Maybe this isn't for me? But also, I just wanted to have some really good photos of myself taken, and I wanted to find confidence in some of these photographers that they knew how to work with someone who looked like myself. I quickly realised this is a chicken-egg situation: I wanted to see more diverse models working with local photographers but because of the lack of diversity no one is getting encouraged to step up.

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Eventually, I thought: maybe I can be the solution that I was seeking.

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I have since then enjoyed doing a lot of modelling work and have worked with some incredibly talented photographers and artists. I've met some really awesome creative people along the way and have been learning a lot about myself through this journey.

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Maybe someday, someone who is like I was once was might come across my work and think, "oh hey if she can do it, I can, too!" 

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Follow me on Instagram @thealiciacho to see more of my work.

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