The Model Perspective And Retaining Culture At Penn
On Sunday the 17th of October the WALK shot its final photo shoot of the semester: Retain. The photo shoot aimed to highlight UPenn's cultural diversity by spotlighting the cultural identities of six student models. The models were asked to wear clothes that best represented their heritage as they posed in editorial artistic frames. Over the past week, I interviewed five of the six models about their experiences in the photo shoot and retaining their cultural identity at Penn.
Image Courtesy of the WALK
The Model Experience
Penn is filled with creative people. Even if it may not immediately seem that way, many students have hobbies outside of their academics that lead them down artistic roads and the WALK is a home for those types of people. Although almost none of the models I spoke with had academic interests in the creative field they all pursued artistic passions in their free time. From modeling to videography to painting each student had a different relationship to the arts yet all landed up on this photo shoot. Which for many of them was their first ever.
Hannah Zhang a Chinese student whose parents immigrated to the US from Beijing spoke about how “coming to Penn, there's a lot of bucket list item things that [she] wanted to do like getting involved in different communities and getting out of [her] comfort zone” and participating in a student magazine was one of them. Although she has done casual photo shoots with her friends in the past, she had never been on a set nor had the opportunity to “work with such talented photographers and creative directors.” Sharing an anecdote about the preparation before the photo shoot Zhang said: “We were all freaking out about how [our clothes] would clash! We were all like oh my god why didn't they tell us a colour scheme [...] but then when we actually got to the photo shoot even though, yes, the colours were clashing when we all sat together it still looked really cohesive and beautiful”. Zhang further mentioned how “in the moment when you’re watching them take [the photo] you’re like what is going on? But then when the pictures come out. I was like oh, this is insane” specifically referencing when they made her pose in front of coloured lights to create various shadows (pictured below).
Although Ansh Jakatimath had experience with modeling in the past for an Indian wedding clothing convention in his senior year of high school, he had never been in a photo shoot setting before. He said about the experience on set: “Everything is so in-depth. There are so many intricate details that you dont realise looking at the pictures as a viewer”. He furthered that although “having so many eyeballs just staring at you while you are posing in different angles and stuff is weird at first. I think [the team] did a great job of making sure everyone was comfortable”. This semester Jakatimath also started working in the marketing department of the WALK and alongside continuing that work when talking about his experience on this photo shoot he said “I would definitely want to do it again”.
Like both Zhang and Jakatimath, Tolu Adetola has had past experience with photo shoots, including modeling for a couple of small brands in the past and being an on-set videographer for the WALK this semester. Talking about why he chose to get involved in the WALK he said: "Throughout my past three years at penn I've gone to all the WALK’s runway shows and its always like a good vibe, and I've had a lot of friends in the WALK. [..] I realised I like to have my hands and toes like in a couple different artistic things at a time. And this is a nice place to express creatively”. Adetola also spoke about how his experience on this photo shoot has reframed how he looks at the videography he does for WALK as it gave him another perspective on the photo shoots.
A uniform experience from all the models, no matter prior experience, seemed to be how inviting the photo shoot environment was. “I was definitely a bit nervous beforehand, just because I didn't have experience. I didn’t know how to pose, or, like, what to do with myself. But the second I got [onto the set], everyone, both the models and the people in the WALK, were so nice” said Esha Pathi. Pathi added that “everyone was, like, hyping each other up” and that she “felt like, a lot more confident after the photo shoot than going into it”. Even though she had no experience modeling prior Pathi said that after this experience she realised that “modeling is really fun and, I think everyone should try it out”.
Like Esha, Usha Umair had no experience in modeling or fashion prior to this photo shoot. But when she saw the WALK was doing casting calls she decided to give it a go. “I’ve always loved fashion, but I haven't really got to explore it in adulthood”. Although she noted that “It was very out of my comfort zone”, Umair also said that “it ended up being a lot of fun and I’m really glad I did it”.
Retaining Culture
Although the experience on set is important to discussing modeling and this photo shoot, arguably more important, is the cultural identity of each student.
Image Courtesy of the WALK
As mentioned, Hannah Zhang is a Chinese student whose parents immigrated to the US from Beijing in their 20s. For the photo shoot, Zhang wore a traditional Chinese dress called a qipao. Zhang said that the qipao “represents where my family comes from, where I come from and its a big part of who I am as a person” and that “wearing the qipao embodies [everything my parents left when they emigrated] and reminds me and brings me closer to my family and were I come from”. She furthered that “It's very important to not lose touch of my culture” but that living in the US she doesn’t have the opportunity to wear those traditional clothes regularly. She noted that “on the surface, we all dress the same, but we can’t forget where our roots are [...] we don't need to hide [this clothing], its more something we should be showing off.”
Esha Pathi is an Indian student who wore a lehenga gifted to her by her grandparents. “Every year on my birthday, they like to give me a new Indian outfit. And so this is what they got me this year, which is why I wanted to wear it, because I think for them to be able to see these photos in the magazine would be a really special experience.” Pathi spoke about how although she is very proud to be Indian she is still trying to “make more of an effort to learn more about it and tap into more cultural parts of where [she’s] from and, like, [where her] parents grew up” and this photo shoot was a great way to not only re-connect but showcase her culture.
Speaking about Penn Pathi said “we go to such a diverse school, and one of the reasons why I even chose to come to Penn in the first place was to experience this diversity and sit next to people and talk to people that have a completely different background” so not only was this photo shoot a great experience to highlight her culture but learn about others too.
Another Indian student, Ansh Jakatimath who is from North Karnataka wore a traditional blue kurta overtop green jeans and traditional Indian slippers called chappals. Jakatimath said that wearing these traditional clothes reminds him of being in India with his family and that he thinks “we need to have more forums where people are able to showcase their backgrounds more openly” because “when you are coming from far and wide, some of the diverse parts of your identity and persona can sort of get diluted over time.” Experiences like this photo shoot and other South Asian, or similar identity, groups at Penn allow students to reconnect with their cultures. Jakatimath for instance is part of Penn Masti a fusion South Asian dance team and whilst he never considered himself a dancer he chose to join the group as a way to connect with culture.
Much like Zhang, Jakatimath mentioned how highlighting culture through experiences like this photo shoot is so important because at Penn “you feel as if you are in like, a microcosm of everyone being the same and homogenous but being [at the photo shoot] reminded me that everyone is so different.”
The final South Asian model I spoke to was Usha Umair. For this photo shoot Umai wore a traditional Bangladeshi salwar kameez that she bought from Bangladesh the last time she visited. “I’m not as in touch with my culture as I’d like to be” said Umai, but this photo shoot “provided a really great opportunity to express my culture and share it”.
Tolu Adetola, a Nigerian-Canadian student, was the only non-Asian model at the photo shoot. Adetola wore a blue ensemble comprising of a traditional Nigerian shirt, pant, hat and beaded necklace that were all originally his father's. Adetola explained how these garments are typically custom-made for all Nigerian parties based on a colour scheme provided by the host. He further explained that wearing these clothes “connects [him] back to the celebratory nature of the culture”. Explaining that “it brings me back to earlier days in Canada where I would get fitted up into one of these every couple weeks [...] so it's just a good vibe to wear the fit”. Although he noted that he doesnt get to wear these clothes as often as he would like, much like Jakatimath, Adetola also spoke about how “Penn does a really good job offering a lot of different cultural student groups. So however deep you want to be in [culture] you can be. Like PASA for instance, Penn African Association”.
The resounding opinions from the models I spoke with were one: Penn is so diverse and as students we must take advantage of that diversity however possible. And two: Stepping out of your comfort zone through experiences like modeling or evolving yourself in a new organisation is something that everyone should do during their time at Penn.