Being a Model for the Day: A Doppelgänger Photoshoot

Last year I ended my summer doing a shoot on the beach on Coney Island. This year I ended my summer doing a shoot where I was not only the makeup artist but I was also the model. 

Back in August I worked with two amazingly talented women on a shoot called Her Keeper. The photographer Woodline Dorcin who I had been corresponding with for the past couple of weeks, reached out to me to see if I would be interested in doing a Doppelgänger style photoshoot with Rana Campbell the host of the podcast Dreams in Drive. She felt we looked alike and could pull off a Doppelgänger theme shoot really well.

As a Makeup Artist i’m use to being behind the scenes so the thought of being in front of the camera, terrified me. However, I was intrigued by the concept plus I am a huge fan of Rana. The fearful side of me wanted to politely decline but my faithful side knew I just had to be part of this shoot.

Maybe We Came From The Same African Tribe.

Up until the day of the shoot, I still couldn’t see the resemblance between Rana and I, one of my friends pointed out that although we didn’t look exactly alike we did have similar features and maybe we came from the same African tribe.

As Rana and I were putting on our outfits and head wraps, I began to see some similarities. I asked Rana if she had ever done a DNA test and she said she had used African Ancestry. Come to find out both of our DNA results show that our ancestors originated in Cameroon. We even share the same birth month. So I guess you can say this shoot was meant to be!

Once we arrived at the shoot location, which was a beautiful park in New Jersey all my nervousness just went away. Woodline and Rana’s excitement plus the compliments from the on lookers who drove pass us gave me that extra boost of confidence that I needed and made the shoot more enjoyable. Playing Rana’s older sister wasn’t too hard as I am an older sister in real life.

Modeling is Definitely Not Easy!

After shooting for several hours, I have nothing but the highest level respect for Models, because modeling is definitely not easy! It’s all about taking direction well, knowing your angles, posing and staying focus even when you’re dead tired.

Being a model as well as the Makeup Artist added an extra layer of challenges, however I’m grateful for the challenges because it allowed me to see what I can and cannot handle as a MUA. I think I will stick to my first love, Makeup Artistry and leave the modeling for the professionals.

I can definitely say this shoot was one of the highlights of my summer. I can’t wait to see what next summer holds, but until then I’m going to continue looking online for a stylish winter coat cause I just know we’re going to have a long winter. Le sigh!

Until next time…