These photos document the journey of an up-and-coming model in NYC

Jampel, who has also worked as a model in the past, wanted to capture a more intimate perspective of modelling life. “I immediately thought of films like Frances Ha, The Assistant and Personal Shopper – films about young women and working professionals living in big cities, and the loneliness and mundanity of that experience, and loved the idea of capturing a profession like modelling from that perspective,” she explains. To find their muse, Jampel approached casting from what she described as an “instinctive place”. After Minseo caught her eye at a casting she attended as a model herself, Jampel introduced her to Newton and together they decided she would be the project’s muse. “Minseo has this innate ability to be confident while also vulnerable,” explains Newton. “Those qualities are important to me and something I look for when casting projects.”

Newton – who, as the child of a model and fashion photographer, describes his time on set as akin to daycare – tapped into his mother’s experiences as a model when capturing Minseo. “My mom often felt like the photographs did not always reflect who she was as a person,” he explains. “She taught me the importance of creating space for people to bring their own experiences into shoots.” Channelling those lessons, Newton’s photos shine a light on Minseo’s inner world, highlighting the moments that usually go unnoticed but likely take up most of a model’s time – including taking the subway to and from jobs, waiting around on set and getting ready for castings. 

In the film, Minseo, who recently graduated from university with a degree in psychology, discusses taking a leap of faith and moving to New York City to pursue an uncertain career. For Jarpel, it was important to capture the small moments where someone is at a “critical juncture” in their personal life and career. “This film is as much about modelling as it is about capturing the life of a young person after graduation who is trying to figure themselves out,” Jampel explains. As someone who recently decided to quit her full-time job to dedicate all her time to filmmaking, Minseo’s journey of navigating contradictions was one she understood and related to. “I really connected with being at this crossroads,” she says, “and deciding between a more structured, familiar career path or this more unconventional, unstable, and at times incredibly frustrating career path of modelling, which feels simultaneously scary but also new, exciting and filled with possibility.” Together with the images by Newton, the mini-film studies the tenderness of these transitional periods, offering nuance that your average ‘day in the life of a model’ videos do not. 

Watch the film below and head to the gallery above to see the images.