I am not a bride. I am a model.

Castings here are a lot different then they are in the western world. Taipei still tops the list of worst casting procedures of all time. However, Seoul is running in at a close second place. I go to castings with my three roommates and one of my bookers. The booker is there to drive us to the casting, and to translate the castings. Most of the clients do not speak a word of English. We usually have to stand in front of these people in a line. One by one the client will ask us to show them "poses." Essentially, we have to pretend we are shooting right then and there. Each pose needs to be held for a few seconds. Rather then an accurate way of proving I can, in fact, actually model - it feels more like a lame, robotic, objectifying dance.

Bikini castings are some of the worst castings I am required to go to. Recently, I had to walk into a room in a bikini and heels. The room was filled with six Korean men. They were chain smoking cigarettes, and sitting around a table. They all had their super hi-tech phones out, and took photos of me while I showed them "poses." It felt wrong for a lot of reasons. And, surprise, I didn't book the job. However, my seventeen year old roommate is on hold for the job. Something about that feels wrong, as well. Catalog castings are not as objectifying, only because I am not standing in front of groups of men half naked. Catalog castings are mind-numbing. If the client likes a model, that model will end up trying on an endless amount of "outfits", and doing the "pose dance" in each outfit. When this happens, I feel like I am working, except I am not getting paid. Editorial castings are the only castings that are even close to a western casting. Sometimes, the client will just look at my portfolio (in the modeling world, we call this our "book"). Other times, they might ask the models to take a few test photos. And then we have commercial castings. Commercial castings are by far the most hilarious of all castings. In these castings, we are asked to "act", read lines that are barely in English, and do a lot of things that don't make any sort of sense at all. No matter what the conditions or terms of procedure are, all of these castings are a weird experience. This is primarily because the client/s will look and look at me, and then blatantly talk about me in a language I don't understand. So. I stand there. And I feel like a child who is earnestly listening to the adults in the room making jokes that are seemingly funny, but sigh - I'm too young to understand what the hell is actually going on. But, you know, I'll laugh anyway and try to "fit in." It is a bit demeaning and over the top objectifying. But that is my job.

As objectifying as bikini castings are, and as mind numbing as a catalog casting is -- nothing, and I mean nothing, is worse then a wedding casting. We go to wedding castings on a regular basis. I have no idea how it is even possible that there are so many wedding related jobs in this city. At the wedding castings, my roommates and I will sit down on a nice couch in a nice room. One by one, we will climb up on a stage-like platform, usually guarded by an ornate curtain. When we get behind the curtain, we will find a few Korean ladies holding strapless bras, pins, and a huge (and I mean huge) wedding dress. We will strip. After stripping, we will be aided while we jump into the dress. The dress is usually not finished. So, after jumping into the dress, we will wait while the ladies fit the dress to our bodies. Then, the curtain will open. The client/s come into the room. A camera is pulled out. Our booker will tell us what kind of poses the client wants to see. We will do the poses, and feel stupid. Really stupid. We will try to show them profile angles of the dress, but the dress is so big - that we will have a really hard time turning around in it. If the client likes the model, the model might have to change into more dresses.

Usually, I am an automatic "no" for this type of job. No one wants me to represent their bridal line. Besides, obviously, for my physical appearance - this is maybe the one "persona" I can't portray on camera. It just isn't me. Honestly, I don't want anything to do with the wedding world. I put on these dresses and think, "this will never be me." Everything about my attitude and energy screams "not someone who wears huge Korean wedding dresses, or wedding dresses of any kind." The whole wedding world, this is not something I know anything about.

Anyway.

The other day, in the middle of this typhoon, we were stuck at our last casting of the day. It was a wedding casting. The dresses were the most horrendous I have ever seen. I looked at their past advertisements that were plastered in photo albums, and on their walls. I asked my booker if I absolutely had to do the casting. I pointed to the photos on the wall and said, Do you really think I am going to book a job like this? Do you really think the client has any interest in someone like me? I am just wasting time by trying on that dress. Although he did agree with me, he said I had to do it. This is Korea. Breaking procedure is never okay. This is when my roommate said something that cursed the entire casting. My Brazilian roommate then said, You never know what a client is looking for, or likes. Doomed! That was it. The client then decided I was the only one who even needed to try on the dress. She was immediately obsessed with me.

And so yes, tomorrow, I am shooting a wedding editorial. I will spend hours in wedding dress after wedding dress. The client asked to see "strong" poses at the casting. I did my goddamn best not to show her any kind of poses. She still loved me. Tomorrow, I will be forced to "make strong poses" all day while wearing the most frilly of all wedding dresses ever created

You never know what a clients wants. Unfortunately.

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By the way, check out my Brooklyn roommate's blog. She has been suffering from jet-lag, and busy with settling into this crazy city. However, she typically updates it regularly, and it is a good read.

Also, Sasha is one of the raddest models around. I just discovered that she also has a blog. I was hooked after one post. Check it.