Look Back... And Dare!

New Year's Eve is finally upon us and having been so busy and unable to blog the last couple of months I thought I'd take the opportunity to take a brief look back over the last 12 months of what I've achieved and re-vist my own personal highlights.

First and foremost I think my greatest personal achievement and accomplishment of which I'm most proud this year was the Charity Calendar I developed, project managed, cast, graphic designed and modelled for on behalf of 'Save The Children UK' in just one month! It was an almighty task of which I could not of accomplished without the kind support of everyone involved. I was truly overwhelmed and endeared by the many photographers, models, make-up artists, hair stylists, printers and assistants that came together to make it such an overwhelming success. Some campaigns never even get off the ground as they proceed to fade without a trace after being launched. I am proud to say not only did we achieve what we set out to do from the start within a very tight deadline of just 30 days from concept to completion, we delivered a quality product that got featured in the press, sold as far afield as the USA and Brazil, Been entered into 'Best Calendar Design' and 'Best Charity Calendar' categories by The UK Calendar Distrbutor '8 Days a Week' and has so far raised over £1,000 for this worthwhile cause! I am continuing to sell the last few remaining copies in order to raise proceeds further before donating them to 'Save the Children UK' in the New Year.

If you would like to help, you can still purchase a copy for yourself or friends by donating to pledge@MAprofile.com via the 'Send Money' option on PayPal.

Prices: £15 (UK Delivered) / $30 (US Delivered) / ROW £18 Delivered.

Thank you to all who have purchased a copy so far and a big THANK YOU to the following for all their help and creative contributions; Debbie and Steve Underhill of TipTop Photography, Paul Silver, Birmingham Fotography, Clare Louise, Nick Reynolds, Adam Davies of DeadGoodUndies, Safeer Ahmed, John Chapman, Chris Sinnett, Simon Montrose Taylor, Heather Stringer, Anita - Exstasy Queen - Model, Aria Davis, Terri Hope, Anita Coleman, Tetiana Darling, Tanya Mihailovic, Jackie Wood, Pascale Recher, Adele Coxon, Make-up by Danni, Chayya Udani, Gaynor Morse of 'Secondskin', Tamara Joseph, Doctor Agamemmnon When, 8 Days A Week Print and last but certainly not least the invaluable Rajeeta Rani for helping to co-ordinate it all.

My next highlight of 2012 without question was my life changing trip to the USA shortly after the calendar completed. It's unfair for me to even compare these 2 experiences as they could not be any more different if they tried and both have an equal place in my heart for very different reasons. This trip simply came about by way of a messaged recieved via 'Star Now' on the 1st August from awesome US musician Jane Train! I was contacted and asked if I would like to play the 'love interest' in her music video when she came over to the UK? Of course I would and after finding we already had a friend in common - Ginger Wildheart - and bonding further over months of Skype calls it seemed to make more sense for me to just go to the US and film the video with her in LA whilst pursuing other career  opportunities I had there too. Simply put I fell in love with the positivity and vibe of the people there and met a wealth of true friends and industry contacts in addition to getting representation by a New York acting agency and shooting for a Pennsylvania editorial. After 3 weeks there I simply did not want to leave and now plan on leaving the UK and relocating to LA next summer to pursue my acting career if all goes to plan.

The next accomplishments for which I'm most proud are a combination of my acting achievements so far which include me completing my Intensive Course at Birmingham School of Acting, featuring in the commercial for 'Billy Boy UK' and The Loyalties 'Til The Death...' music video (out next year), a featured role in Sean Forj's Indie film '17 Spleens', an upcoming role in 2013's 'Thorned Hands', plus working on Hollywood movies 'The Councillor' with Ridley Scott and Penelope Cruz and 'Fast 6' with the very friendly Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez who I was fortunate enough to talk at length with and gain some valuable advice from. I hope one day our paths cross again when I have made my name and can thank them very much and so they can see first hand the positive effect their time for me made.

On from that I again got to model at this years 'Elton John Wig Party' as a Terminator Barbie (above) which was a privilege indeed and also feature as a Bodypaint model on ITV 'This Morning' with Phillip and Holly courtesy of my awesome friend and body featured artist Sarah Attwell (video above). In addition to this I have also been fortunate to work with an array of incredible photographers throughout the year on some amazing modelling shoots of which I have gained some incredible additions to my portfolio. A particular dream come true was working with the lovely and always inspiring John Farrar who as a rule doesn't generally shoot males. A privilidge indeed.  I have also again worked with the award winning Clare Louise and Paul Silver amongst many new faces who have all produced some of my favourite images this year...

So that brings my look back at personal highlights of 2012 to a close and leaves me very excited and full of big dreams and plans for 2013. I have many amazing projects already in the pipeline which I am anxious to share with you and see where they will take me personally. I hope you all have a great New Year and will see you on the other side where I hope you'll continue to follow my exciting and unpredictable journey...

Anger, Tears and Headshots...

Sunday 12th saw my 3rd shoot in 3 days.  This one however was more of a personal nature than the 2 previous.  This one was to capture my head-shots for 'Spotlight' and present a range of emotions for my acting work.  My photographer of choice for this project was Paul Silver... A friend I have worked with numerous times and who knew I would not only feel completely comfortable baring my soul with but a photographer I knew who would also capture it at it's most beautiful. so first things first... Those damn head-shots!

I did a variation of 'hair up' and hair down shots in order to give myself a range of options when marketing myself.  The standard mean n moody expressionless shots were pretty quick to capture.  The subtle smile shots however proved a different matter entirely... With Paul eventually shooting me several times with his £4 Nerf gun! Y'know what... Worked a treat! LOL! :oD Below are some of the results.

Next up was the section I expected to be hardest... The grief shot! Not so... Seems I could detach and get into character quite quickly and Paul captured a series of shots that although painful to look at are stunning to behold for a true snapshot of human pain.  I am personally very proud of these and am pleased to say I switched back to normal instantly.

I say instantly... Though I went a little further than that. Pulling of a series of happy shots which were quite the contrast and following through to explore further emotions such as anger, curiosity, lust and determination amongst others.

Click here to see all the photos from the shoot :)

Aside of being a thoroughly enjoyable shoot which is always the case when working with Paul it was also one of the most difficult and intense projects I have undertaken, given the drain on myself emotionally. I don't go easy when getting in character that's for sure.  But it is without question one of my most favourite collections of photo's I've ever produced, which not only tested me as a model but stretched me as an actor and left me with no doubt that there is far far more within me to explore.  I truly look forward to sharing my innermost self through both modelling and acting as I continue forward in my career.

Thank you again to the legend that is Paul Silver who I highly recommend you commission for work.  His results speak for themselves and always enable me to be captured at my best :)

A shave and nod to a bygone era...

Sunday 26th February saw the arrival of a shoot I had been looking forward to since it's bizarre conception one night in January. Oddly on reflection.... I was clean shaving my beard one night and did what I'm sure many of us have at one point in our life.  Shaved a moustache to see how it looked and have a bit of a laugh at myself. Surprisingly it didn't look too bad but did change my look completely and I thought... It would be well cool to do a shoot that made me look so different to normal. It then came to me... I'd always wanted to do Film Noir type images and that look would suit it perfectly. Having been fortunate to work with many photographers during my career I immediately called Paul Silver as I knew his style would suit  my concept and vision perfectly. He immediately said YES he'd love to do it and a date was set. Then I called Hair and Make-up extraordinaire Jean Rhema who with over 40 years in the industry I knew would be the only person up to this task of creating exquisite hairstyles and period make-up. Next I confirmed a female model whom I thought would fit the role perfectly and then set about to find suitable costumes and... Errr... Location ;) - LOL! - Thanks Paul you certainly delivered on the location! Kudos!

The initial inspiration! LOL

The venue confirmed was the wonderful 'Big Strawberry' veggie cafe in Hanley who taking gestures to a whole other level, opened especially for us and even provided catering! -  BIG THANKS to the wonderful Charli for her kindness and hospitality. Then 2 days prior to the shoot, disaster hit... The female model had to withdraw from the project due to personal circumstances and I found myself without a leading lady! DISASTER! 2 days out, everything in place after weeks of planning and suddenly it looked like the project was going to fall apart as quickly as it was conceived. After a momentary pause in time whilst the news digested I remained calm and racked my brains. I needed a model... But not just any model. I know many fabulous models but not with the particular look I was after for this.... Especially one who might not only be available at such short notice but would also  be able to find a suitable wardrobe and accessories too. I went through my phone and saw a name that made me stop and think... I just wonder.  So I contacted her and she was interested... BUT was not free that day, which I'd had to expect.  But Wait... There's more... She said I may be in luck and indeed I was! The charismatic, beautiful and perfect girl for this shoot 'Victoria Roelake', casually said... It's ok I can change my plans and have lots of suitable attire for it... Are there any accessories you'd like me to bring too? I was stunned and blown away by her attitude, commitment and compassion to this project so late in the day. WOW! Now that is what you call a friend! Suddenly it was all back on and I couldn't be more excited again.


The 26th came and myself, Victoria and Jean met at Paul's house where we had drinks, I shaved, we packed equipment and headed off to out chosen location.  It was perfect... Very retro with lots of interesting elements both inside and out for us to indulge. Not to mention the highlight of the day... A recently vacated room that had a New York Skyline. OMG... How perfect! You know when some things just feel meant... This shoot was feeling just that.  Against all odds everything was suddenly perfect! The venue... The Team... The costumes... The Female Lead and the host! We set about getting ready with hair make-up and costumes whilst Paul set up equipment. Then suddenly we realised something was missing... A soundtrack! Something to swing the shoot along in the right manner and get us all going. Then again as if fate would have it... I remembered a CD I'd bought on a whim just a week previous that I'd not even listened to... Hugh Laurie's 'Let Them Talk'. It was perfect! - And highly recommend too! LOL


My vision for this shoot was to not imitate the era but pay homage to it, a nod to it if you will.  I certainly didn't want a bunch of stock type looking images either that were clearly contemporary.  I wanted something believable... As though the shots had been lifted from a film of it's time or it's promo.  Not obviously posed... Just candid with a natural charm and integrity. It was also important to me that each photo said something different... Set a different mood... A different tone... A different look... Even a different genre. I wanted a mixture of styles and tones from that period... Romantic, gangster, comedy, tender, sensual, the list goes on. Thank you to the efforts of all involved and particularly the amazing Paul Silver, we got them and MORE! MUCH MORE!  We shot for 2 hours and got a wealth of beautiful imagery that I am personally very proud of and am delighted to share with you.  Please take a look at the selected images below and be sure to click the link and visit the gallery of this shoot which is being continually updated as fast as poor Paul can process them.

Click here to see more...

Thank you again to everyone who made this day such a success and a very fond memory, in particular Victoria Roelake without whom it would not of happened at all... You are a natural star and true friend. Thank you x