We recently connected with Yasmine Ouaguenouni and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Yasmine, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?
The most significant trend I’m seeing as a photographer working in the modeling industry is inclusivity. I think social media has shifted the paradigm because people want to see models who look like them and not what “perfect” looks like based on societal standards. I think it’s great! People are wanting to support and buy from models they can relate to and social media has given them that opportunity. I think as a society and mostly for younger generations it’s showing that we are embracing our differences instead of fearing and rejecting them and most of all people are loving themselves more because they see a model who looks like them and maybe that model is thriving in the industry and it lights a fire and motivation within themselves to pursue their dreams despite the status quo. I have also realized that with this shift modeling agencies themselves are starting to loosen up on their restrictions, a lot of them are no longer requiring models to be a certain weight, height, or size. It’s a really beautiful thing and I think with this mentality we are moving a step forward on changing the world and realizing that we are all flawed humans doing the best we can. It sounds so cliche to say and I don’t want to get too political but I hope when push comes to shove we all stand together and help each other make life beautiful :)
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Well I got into photography because I love Tumblr lol and yes I still use it to this day. I went to school and majored in graphic design which I also use to this day but I had an intuitive feeling that I had an eye for photography. I was following a lot of fashion photographers and models when I was in my early twenties and I just felt like I had all these artistic ideas so why not give it a shot? Your whole life as kid you’re told you should pursue your passions and go after what you want and then you get older and people tell you that your twenties are the time to “find yourself” and “make mistakes” so I did just that.
My main muses were Jenna Yammato aka GypsyOne and Mimi Elashiry aka Mimi Elashiry on Instagram. I think especially Jenna because she’s also a female photographer and I loved the way she edited her photos so effortlessly and much like her I love to shoot in natural environments, I would pick a forest over a studio any day! So Jenna if you see this and I know you will, let’s shoot! But anyways yeah I ended up doing some research and buying a canon 5d mark 2 and a standard 50mm lens and I reached out to a bunch of models on Instagram and they luckily agreed to shoot with me and from there I slowly started to experimenting with ideas and editing styles. I eventually built the confidence to reach out to small agencies and then big ones and started shooting with bigger and bigger models, this is over the course of years obviously and now I’m here!
I now shoot mostly swimwear and fashion and my main goal when someone books a shoot with me is to make sure they feel comfortable and have fun. A lot of people who book shoots with me are not models that are signed with agencies so I can sometimes sense that they feel intimidated and shy in front of the camera which is totally normal. There’s something odd about having all the attention on you and being expected to “pose” and “look good.” However you just have to develop an alter ego, much like how Beyonce has Sasha Fierce. You just have to fake it till you make it and have fun with it! I think it also helps that I’m also a woman in my 20’s so I’m a similar age to a lot of these aspiring models. I usually put on some music and try to chat with them and get them to laugh to lighten up the mood. Life is short, get your picture taken, when you look back on it one day you’ll realize how far you’ve come and how much things have changed.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
By far the MOST rewarding aspect of being a photographer is actually the people I meet who I would never cross paths with in normal circumstances. I’ve met so many different personalities and have learned a lot from these people within a 1 hour shoot lol. Some have become friends and some have become more. Some have changed my life, some have given me a new perspective on it, and some have just made me laugh. It’s like that Beatles song, “In my Life.”
We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice
So I only know a little about what these things are, I feel like they are somehow connected to this “metaverse” and it’s terrifying honestly. Artificial intelligence, metaverse, virtual reality, and this whole notion of these big corporations trying to suck us into this black hole is a no from me. If you’re reading this I hope it’s a no from you too and that you stay away from interacting with these entities regardless of how “easy” and more “convenient” and or “entertaining” they may seem right now. That’s all I’m going to say about it, I hope everyone does their own research but yeah I want nothing to do with NFT’s lol.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.yasminemerciar.com/commercial-photography
- Instagram: @yasmineimg
Image Credits
the models shown in no particular order are Hannah > hannahganttt isadora> Isaamorim Alexis and Kenzie > kenzie_stapleton / alexisstapleton01 India > Indiagants Laken and Michael > lakenromine @michaeljmiddleton Anna > annanoellll Darienbernard