QandAs: Buzz

What is a Modeling Portfolio?

Answer:
A modeling portfolio is a collection of ten to twenty photographs that showcases a model’s appearance and personality in a variety of poses.

It is her resume and perhaps the most important tool a model uses, as it is usually the first thing a prospective client will see.

Depending on her range of work, a model may have more than portfolio, each one focused on a main category in which she expects to work. For example, glamour and swim wear may appear in the same book (an alternate term for portfolio) but high fashion models should have their best high fashion shots in a separate folio. Whatever the category, it is important for a model (and her agent, if she has one) to be realistic and, at times, brutally honest. Commercial and print media, including lifestyle photography, do not demand the same tall physique that is a must in high fashion. If you are not tall enough, stick with what works best for you.

That said, what kind of shots go to make up the portfolio? In a few words, it must contain only the best of the best. All must be professional shots – tearsheets from previous work are ideal if a model has prior experience -- and there must be at least one headshot, one ¾ body shot and a full body shot. The precise mixture of color and black and white photos, of poses and locations, will change as a model’s career progresses and she updates her visual resume, but every one of them must have the ‘wow’ factor that gets and holds the viewer’s attention. If an otherwise well-composed picture lacks that punch, the client will move on to a portfolio that does deliver that moment of amazement he or she is looking for.