Models, actors not held back

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The owner of a Mossel Bay model and acting agency, Frieda van der Walt, has been creative and made the most of opportunities during the lockdown.

Van der Walt, who owns Gemini Model and Talent Agency, has kept the models and actors on her books busy and motivated. She is still sourcing opportunities for them.

With acting, many auditions are done in the form of monologues, which she forwards from her actors to various TV and film producers who require them. Even during the lockdown, she found her actors valuable slots.

Van der Walt also organised an online beauty competition to find a Mrs Mother Earth and Miss Autumn during the lockdown. The winners received a free modelling contract with Van der Walt.

The entrants had to WhatsApp photographs of themselves to Van der Walt.

Lyla Muller won Mrs Mother Earth 2020 and Melindi Jordaan, Miss Autumn 2020.

Beauty contest
Van der Walt is currently running a Miss Lockdown beauty contest. Once again, the entrants had to WhatsApp photographs of themselves to her.

Also, she has been getting her models to practise various poses and send the photographs of themselves in these poses to her. Once the lockdown is over, the models will have honed their skills and be ready to take on the world again.

Van der Walt, who is a multi-faceted photographer, says: "I'm frustrated, not being able to photograph people, which is what I love.

"I had a few requests to do children's first-year birthday 'smash cake' parties, but I had to say 'no' because of the lockdown.

"I am practising my Photoshop skills and taking photos on my macro white background, which I did not have time to do before. I am photographing flowers and my grandson's Superhero characters on the macro background.

"Besides that, I have taken heaps of pictures of the moon and sunsets. Fortunately I have the sea and the veld in front of my house, with many small antelope, so I am taking many nature photographs," says Van der Walt, who lives in Dana Bay.

She says she also tutors a few photography students throughout South Africa online.

What she misses most during the lockdown are her model photography sessions and buying props for her shoots from the Crazy Store.

Lyla Muller, Mrs Mother Earth.