If you are like I was when I first decided to do hair for beauty magazines and celebrity events, the only thing that you know for sure is that you need an agent. So far, you’re on the right track. But even though you really do need representation to get quality jobs, it takes time—probably more time than you now imagine—to build a topnotch portfolio and industry contacts. You see, a good agency not only wants someone who’s experienced and talented enough to get the job done in a professional, quick and beautiful manner, but also brings tangible value to the business. Are there companies, photographers or models dying to work with you? Are they even willing to work with you?
I don’t doubt that you know all about creating a portfolio for your salon work, but building a quality book for editorial purposes has different expectations. Images that are acceptable for a salon portfolio quite often fall short of the caliber needed to impress an agent or their prospective clients.
Developing Your Eye
Before you even begin to build your editorial book, you need to know what differentiates a great photo from a poor one; a worthy photographer from a hack. To accomplish this, studying photos by well-known beauty and fashion photographers should become your passion and favorite pastime. By closely looking at all the beauty and fashion details that make up each image, as well as the total composition, you will begin to train your eye and your hands.
Editorial Training
It’s also extremely helpful—make that necessary—to take hair classes for photography. Quality classes will considerably shorten your learning curve, not to mention teach you how not to make embarrassing faux pas during real shoots—unfortunate events that can set you back in terms of more seasoned professionals accepting you as a hair talent. It’s smart to take several classes from different instructors to receive a more comprehensive body of knowledge about all the ins and outs of a photo shoot. And always check the credentials of those in charge of teaching the classes before parting with your hard-earned cash. Are the instructors active in editorial shoots? Are their editorial works inspiring? Look at the photographers in the same way. Do they have great beauty and fashion images in their portfolios, or are they volunteering their time in order to gain more experience in these areas? Needless to say, you don’t want anyone learning on your dime.
Assisting at Photo Shoots
One important way to begin building a quality portfolio is to offer your services as a hairstyling assistant whenever and wherever possible. You should not expect to be paid or even receive an image or a magazine tearsheet after publication, unless you actually did the model’s hair. However, you should expect to learn from these experiences in terms of technical expertise and art, plus begin to develop relationships with good photographers and models that might prove to be valuable to your future career.
Test Shoots
After you’ve proven yourself to be a worthy hairstylist who understands the art of hair for photography, and have shown yourself to be both professional and talented, there could come a time when a photographer wants to do a test shoot—a freebie for everyone involved— and he or she will hopefully ask you to do the hair. If you’re like me, your first reaction would be “Woohoo! I’m finally the stylist doing the hair and not just an assistant!” But, before accepting the assignment, you need to seriously evaluate your competence level. If your skills aren’t quite up to par—not yet, anyway—you need to offer to assist on the shoot instead. Why? Test shoots are serious freebies. The photographer is doing it because he or she wants to work with a certain model and/ or get updated portfolio pictures; all the other talent on the shoot are doing it for the same reasons. Performing poorly can blow an entire day’s work, not to mention many more hours of pre-planning, and make the final images unusable.
Also know that test shoots are not just for new talent. I recommend that you continue to regularly do test shoots, as long as you have great talent to support your efforts. Frequent tests keep your portfolio current—a must for agencies—and allow you to work and develop relationships with many photographers and up-and-coming models that could very well request you to do the hair for highprofile shoots in the future.
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| Flaunt Photographer: Ben Cope; Hairstylist: Sean James; Makeup Artist: Anthony Gordon; Wardrobe: Factory by Erik Hart; Model Agencies: l.a. models and Photogenics |
Neo-Blitz Kids |
Shopping Agencies
Once you’ve gone through this painstaking process—which should feel more like a labor of love, if you’re really passionate about what you’re doing—and your portfolio is brimming with gorgeous shots that range from brand-new to no more than one-year old, it’s time to start shopping agents. This shopping process is important because you need to approach agencies that are known for the types of looks that you want to create. Some agencies are more commercial, while others specialize in edgier editorial. Some are mostly focused on fashion, while others might consider product shots to be their bread-and-butter. And lastly, after you’ve narrowed down the agencies that you want to approach and are lucky enough to get interviews, you need to work on aligning yourself with one that truly wants to help guide your career and use your talents in such a way that all assignments are best for both of you. Remember: When you get your first offer of representation, don’t let your crazy-happy feelings override your common sense. Before committing to a contract, you need to find out how the agency plans to mentor, promote and use your talents. I say this, because if you want to do beauty and fashion, and the agency only plans to send you out on fashion shoots, you might not have such a perfect fit after all.
When you first start out with an agency, it’s also important to know that you’ll still be asked to do a lot of free work. This shouldn’t be a problem, as long as these freebies benefit you in some way—working with a photographer or client whom you respect, for example. Never allow your talents to be misused, but do keep an open mind when your agent explains why you’re being asked to do a photo shoot or event for free. In these instances, the photographer or other talent should represent opportunities for future benefits for your career—and not just for the agency.
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| Chantilly Lace Photographer: Ben Cope; Hairstylist: Sean James; Makeup Artist: Miriam Jacks; Wardrobe Stylist: Dominik Laux; Model Agency: Photogenics |
Be My Toy Photographer: Ben Cope; Hairstylist: Sean James; Makeup Artist: Anthony Gordon; Wardrobe Stylist: Jayne Seward; Model Agencies: la models and Photogenics |
About Sean James
Sean James, education director and stylist for Fred Segal Salon in sunny SoCal, has been plying his hair art for many years. Beginning as a young stylist in Australia, where he first sought and obtained agency representation, James has had an illustrious beauty career that continues to gain in momentum. He’s currently represented by the LA-based Opus Beauty talent agency (OpusBeauty.com). James is the lead stylist for actresses Jaime Pressly and Jamie Lee Curtis, which he does for their everyday lives, as well as for galas, press tours and magazine cover shoots. While he works with many photographers, he frequently shoots with Ben Cope for magazine work and, of course, test shoots. James directs and teaches hair and makeup for photography at Fred Segal Salon in Santa Monica. (FredSegalSalon.com). You can view James’ online portfolio on the Opus website and at SeanJamesHair.com.
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| Suit Story Photographer: Ben Cope; Hairstylist/Makeup Artist: Sean James; Wardrobe Stylist: Vanessa Geldbach |
Chantilly Lace Photographer: Ben Cope; Hairstylist: Sean James; Makeup Artist: Miriam Jacks; Wardrobe Stylist: Dominik Laux; Model Agency: Photogenics |
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