I got my start as a model in a roundabout way – I worked as a portrait photographer (shooting on medium format, which I think is a fabulous way to start) in high school and college, and was often the subject of choice when my colleagues wanted to test new lighting or other techniques like double exposure.
I've been modeling for longer than I care to admit - because while I consider aging to be leveling up and love the woman I'm becoming, modeling isn't a career that puts the same value on maturity! However, it has been about a decade and a half, and countless hours in front of cameras - both still and video!
Modeling Portfolio
Shortly after, my entrepreneurial spirit kicked in, and I decided to make photography my side hustle. One late night, I was browsing photography portfolios on the internet, with hopes to find inspiration to start my own photography portfolio website, when I stumbled across a website where photographers, models, makeup artists, and other industry professionals could post their work for free to find collaborations. Since most of my work as a photographer was film and needed to be scanned, I decided to upload some pictures I had OF me, even though I had been told as a youngster that I was too short to model and had given up on that dream (sadly)!
I went to bed, and woke to tons of messages and offers to shoot. I was so surprised! This led to me building my portfolio, and heading to New York with a designer I worked with quite frequently for many years. I went to the agencies, and they all told me “you should move to Chicago – you have a great catalog look!“
Conveniently, I lived in the Midwest at the time, and decided to take the show on the road and took a trip down to Ford’s open call. I will never forget being in a room with 50+ beautiful women, all handing our portfolios and comp cards to the agent, and waiting – sizing each other up.
After about an hour, the agent came back and stacked up the books, and said “Amanda, you can stay, the rest of you, thank you for coming.” I couldn’t believe it! I went to my car and screamed! I was signed (non-exclusively) with Ford!
Since then, I have modeled all over the world – from Gary, Indiana to Paris, France, and several other glamorous and non-glamorous areas in between. I am now living in Los Angeles, California, and after a hiatus due to feeling old, am back in the game and seeking representation!
You can see some of my favorite archive images here – for my nostalgic purposes, as well as to show my range and chamelon-ness – just use your imagination and add some maturity to it!
Since returning from my hiatus, I have done mostly commercial/lifestyle modeling, a lot of hand modeling, and a couple random television appearances like a fashion show on Steve Harvey’s show, and a very brief appearance on the food network!
My resume is here, my commercial/lifestyle portfolio is here, my hand modeling portfolio is here, and the videos that show my hosting and tv appearances are here, going from most to least recent!
If you’re still reading, then I must be at least close to as good at writing as I am at modeling, which is a good thing, since I am now a writer as well! Since I’m patting myself on the back, I thought I’d throw in that a model with experience as both a makeup artist and photographer can be very advantageous – so you should book me by clicking here!
