The innocent yellow measuring tape

A new Instagram message: “Hey! I am a sixteen year old girl. I am 1,78 tall and I am going to sign with an agency. The only problem is that my hips are 94 centimeters, I have to lose 4 centimeters. Did you also have to lose weight for modeling? Do you have tips for […]

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‘Clothes are something you stand for’

“I do not want to be part of the fast fashion industry”, says the 23-year old designer Danya Weevers. Danya just arrived from London Fashion Week – with success – and is already back in the spotlights of the Sustainable Fashion Week in the Netherlands. Danya welcomes me in her atelier. It is a small […]

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No designer heels in Oxford Street

“Am I getting lotion?!”, two glistering, blue eyes look at me. A man from around 50 years old sits on a piece of carton in front of a store. “Oh, I am going to smell good!”, a cry of laughter escapes between the two teeth he has left. The man looks dirty and his clothes […]

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Couture in water

In a beautiful, white dress I am sitting in an old, wonky, wooden boat. I am on the forefront of the boat with my legs hanging over the railing. The paint on the railing is flaking off and with my nails I peel it 0ff. My feet move along the rhythm of the little waves which […]

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Me for Vein Magazine

I have to be honest I was not really in the mood for a testshoot. I wanted to spend my last day in Madrid with my roomie Chantelle. It was in the end of April when I did this test with photographer and filmmaker Alberto Saguar and make-up artist Lulu Pérez. It turned out so well […]

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‘Perfect beauty bores me’

A big smile and two open arms welcome me: “Jacolijn!”, a high, excited voice fills the cafe. The voice comes from the 41-year old photographer Maria José Castillo Pérez (yes, what a name). “I am so happy to see you!” The last time I saw Maria was in October. It was a warm day and we […]

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The other side

When friends pushed me to become a model my first reaction was: “I would rather stand behind the camera than in front of it.” Which was basically the truth. Ever since I was a little child I have loved photography. As 8-year old girl I used to take photos with my tiny, red, analogue camera. […]

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Retouched reality

A purple eye and bruises in my face. With raised eyebrows I see a photo of myself dropping by on Instagram. It looks like I had a huge fight. Apparently, the photographer photoshopped my face. Are there any limits in the use of photoshop? And what right do models have in this? Models always have […]

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Model talk – part two

In part two of Model talk Judith, Britt, Eline and me answered questions like; “What is your favourite city to travel to?”, “What is it like to travel on your own?”, and “What is an option?” This was still on the same friday in Britt’s appartment in Amsterdam. Like I said before, one video became two […]

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Model talk – part one

“Are you always staying in hotels?” “What is a showroom?” A lot of questions like these are being asked by my friends and family. My friends Judith, Britt and vlogger Eline (they are models too) noticed that as well. So, Eline came with the idea to make a ‘short’ video (which became two video’s). We […]

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