Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Tan
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I knew in the back of my mind that I always wanted to start modeling at some point. I was always drawn to the stylistic appeal of fashion, and I especially admired the fresh aesthetic of Asian e-commerce fashion sites as well as the captivating visuals of poster campaigns that I happen to walk by either at the mall or the airport. The way models pose in photos always looks so effortless yet confident, and it made me want to do the same. I didn’t start pursuing modeling until around last year when I asked a friend of mine to take my first set of digitals. I submitted those to a local agency in my area, and when they got back to me, I was ecstatic. My time with them, however, was rather brief, and after I left, I started using social media to find photographers by myself and build my own portfolio. The first photographer I worked with was in New York, and during the shoot, we were scouting around for a location with good lighting. It was my first time working with someone I barely knew and a part of me didn’t really know what to do, but the photographer gave me some guidance and advice on how to model in front of the camera during the process. To this day, I’m very grateful I got to work with this person and I feel like I gained some valuable insight from this experience. Afterward, I continued to reach out to different photographers myself with different styles I liked as well as attended any events or gatherings where I could meet other creatives, and eventually I was able to build not only a portfolio of my work but also a network of people who create incredible pieces of work. I’ve met a lot of different people throughout the process, and it’s really opened my eyes to what is out there as well as a glimpse into what life is like as a model.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
At first, I was really nervous about reaching out to other people on social media or just in general, since I wasn’t the type of person to just randomly message someone out of the blue. I was also afraid that I would be turned down or even worse, just straight up ignored because I had almost little to nothing to show back then. I felt like I wouldn’t be taken seriously. There were times that my fears did turn out to be true. Sometimes no one responded or the photoshoot just never took place. However, these things didn’t stop me, and I continued to reach out to different people in the hopes that someone would answer. There’s so many different kinds of people living in this world, so if one person isn’t willing to work together, there is someone else out there who will be. Indeed, my efforts did not go to waste and there did turn out to be people who wanted to work with me. I’m very glad I got the chance to collaborate with such amazing individuals, and it’s thanks to them that I was able to grow to be where I am now. The experience I had with finding and connecting with other creatives on my own taught me to better handle rejection in any aspect of my life and not to take it personally. Sometimes, I might not be what other people are looking for, and that’s ok. It doesn’t mean I have to stop myself from doing what I want to do, but rather, it’s a way of telling me to go about it in a different manner that would more truly speak to me.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As a model, I usually take on fashion or commercial related projects. I’ve done a couple shoots for magazine publication and an upcoming brand, but normally I’m pretty flexible with the projects that are offered to me or that I take on myself. Some of the shoots I’ve taken part in were ones that I pitched the ideas for myself or put together a mood board to layout a vision for the project. I’m generally pretty open to contributing ideas and working with the creative team on the projects I participate in, and I find that I actually learn a lot through engaging in conversation with others during the process. My goal with every project I do is to produce a piece of work that would hopefully inspire its potential audience.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I think how one defines success depends on the current circumstances a person is in for what they want to accomplish. I hope that one day I can see myself on a big commercial campaign in a mall or at an airport or that I find myself modeling at the international level. Regardless, I still celebrate the smaller successes I get that I never thought I would ever see myself achieve, whether it be taking on a bigger project or simply just catching the eye of someone whose work has inspired me. Now that I’ve gained a bit more experience and built a portfolio, I get to be a bit more selective with the projects I choose to take on. For me, proof of improvement is what defines success. Even the littlest bit of improvement would still be considered a success in my eyes. The fact that I am able to do something today that I wasn’t able to do yesterday tells me that I’m making a step in the right direction and that I’m, more importantly, making progress.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/l_eahtan_/
Image Credits
1st photo (white dress in yellow field) = Photographer: Katrina Cristobal
2nd photo (with Grapefruit) = Photographer: Joshua Francis, Makeup Artist: Nina Salluzzo
3rd & 4th photos (black dress) = Photographer: Zakari Thompson
5th photo (with tennis court) = Photographer: Simon
6th photo (Black & white) = Photographer: Alex Cheng
