Dutch modeling agencies: do they exist?

When I lived in Portland, Maine, I hired a model from the Butterworth Agency. The purpose of the shoot was to get as many head shots as possible, from every angle and with a variety of facial expressions, to be used as reference for my work as a comic book artist. The shoot went well and I got about 800 shots that I carefully sorted into some albums that I could use to quickly work out drawings of faces and heads from a variety of angles. The whole process of hiring the model, doing the shoot, and paying the bill was essentially effortless.

In Los Angeles, I had a similar experience when I hired a model to be scanned with a Cyberware 3D head scanner. It cost $500 for the model (who was new) and $500 for an hour of scan time. She came in, had some powder applied to her face to enhance the scan quality, and was done within about ten minutes. Again, no problem.

Now though, I live in Holland and am taking a lot of photographs. I have discovered that I like fashion photography and want to develop my portfolio of fashion-themed shoots. To do this, I started with some friends, who kindly agreed to pose for me (they were professional models). However, not wanting to impose on them, the next time I tried working with some models through Dutch agencies. I sent queries to several agencies in Amsterdam, A Models, Wilhelmina Models, and some others. None responded to my emails. I then called A Models and was told that they wouldn't even tell me the rates for hiring models unless I had a prominent client.

After being rebuffed by the few agencies I had tried to contact, I next tried Model Mayhem. On this subject it should be mentioned that fashion photographer Melissa Rodwell recommends not using Model Mayhem because the site is loaded with amateurs that will not be much use in getting professional quality results. Her advice made sense, but I didn't feel like I had anywhere else to go. I arranged for four models and a makeup artist. Two of the models were unprepared and the other two didn't appear, thus blowing the idea for the shoot. The MUA and her boyfriend gamely tried to substitute, but it did not work out (though I very much appreciated their effort). Another problem is that although it appears that some perfectly respectable models can be found on the site, I started getting email invitations to be friends with people who clearly were not models, at least not in a respectable sense of the word. If anything highlighted the unprofessional nature of the site, it was these emails. So, no more Model Mayhem. The idea sounds good, but in practice it doesn't work--for exactly the reasons given by Rodwell.

Again I tried contacting some Dutch agencies and again my queries went unanswered. So, I decided to see if agencies outside of the Netherlands don't mind hiring their talent to people working on their portfolio. I got in touch with the Fame Management Agency in Bangkok. Just like the agencies in Los Angeles and Portland, it was very easy to deal with them. I hired three models (two of which had been featured in Elle), a stylist, 2 MUAs, a hair stylist, producer, catering, and a driver with van for four shooting days in and around Bangkok. While I was there, I arranged two other shoots with athletes. For lighting, I rented from a local studio. Everything went perfectly and I got the shots I wanted. It probably cost double what it would have cost in the Netherlands thanks to travel and lodging costs, but again, maybe the agencies don't need the work.

After getting back home, I thought I'd try the Dutch agencies again. Maybe they wanted to see actual fashion shots in my portfolio before letting me hire any models. This time I contacted about ten agencies. Again, none of them answered. After waiting about a month, I had made some comps for a shoot I wanted to do. I hoped that seeing examples of my work and examples of what I intended to do would do the trick.

This time, an agency responded! I was so pleased--at first. The comps were interesting, they said, but they couldn't help me out at this time. Why? At this point I called one of the agencies to find out what was going on. The booking manager I spoke to apologized for not answering my email, asked that I resend it right away and he would answer it. A month later, he sent an email apologizing for the late response and then told me 'we have no models available'. I had asked for rate cards, but he didn't respond to that, just like all the other agencies. I asked again, but no response. Also, it isn't clear if he meant 'we no longer have any models to hire', 'our models are busy', 'we don't have models appropriate for your shoot', or 'we don't have models for you'. Again, I was mystified, but until I learn the secret password, doubt I'll find out the answer. Until then, I'll assume that the agencies don't hire models for portfolio shoots (which they could just say instead of being so mysterious).

The problem with this attitude--if that is what is going on--is that with this level of customer service, I don't know if I'd be interested in working with any of these agencies when I do have a client. For now, I've given up on doing a fashion shoot in Holland and will be doing my next shoot in Scotland instead. Again, the cost of the shoot is probably similar to what it would cost to do a fashion shoot here (or more), but it won't be happening where it is most convenient to me because some people don't like to answer questions from potential clients.