Easy Accessories

I suppose with many professions there are natural questions that arise in conjunction with that particular job.  Most questions are probably well meaning-- intended for the questioner to get a better picture of what that person does.

To the newspaper columnist, someone would ask, "Is it hard to come up with something new to write everyday?"

I imagine the accountant might hear something like, "Gee, you work with numbers all day.  That must be really boring?"

The graphic designer hears, "So how is it staring at the computer screen all day?"

You get the point.

Having made my career as a model, you might imagine that I get my share of questions as well.  One that I hear pretty often is, "Is it strange seeing yourself in magazines or billboards or other advertisements?"  My answer to this is that no, it isn't strange.  It feels quite normal to me.

I realize that when I say that, that certain people might take such a statement as a lack of humility or a smugness or something else along those lines.  In truth, I imagine humans can get used to just about anything-- however extraordinary or even perverse.  The astronaut would be amazed on his first trip into space.  Do it a few more times, and it would start to become old hat to him.  Or think of the millions of people who fly each year-- sailing over single continents in a day.  A hundred years ago that would have been unthinkable, and today we all board planes without the slightest bit of wonder, and more often than not, with a sense of annoyance that we have to stay cramped in a small space for so many hours.

All that to say that nope, it doesn't surprise me to see my face staring back at me from the cover of a magazine on a newsstand (and while I am not surprised, I would say that I am still pleased, particularly when I happen to like the picture!).

What does surprise me, though, is when I find my face lurking where I do not expect it.  The other day I popped into a bookstore here in Cape Town.  On a shelf, I spied a book with my friend, Shannon, on the cover.  I picked it up to see if she had any more pictures inside, and who should I find on the table of contents, but me?  I was NOT expecting that, and a quick flip through the book revealed that I am on a handful of pages.

I do recall shooting those pictures-- it was probably in 2004 or 2005 for a US magazine called Easy Knitting.  The magazine came and went and that was that.  Apparently, though, unbeknownst to me, they appeared in a book.

This makes me wonder-- where else are my pictures being run without my knowledge, and more importantly, have I been paid for their usage?

I'm going to have to get to the bottom of this one!

XOXO,