Students become models for a day

Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a model on a professional photoshoot? Some Deakin University students had this opportunity recently and the verdict is in. It can be hard work but it can also be a lot of fun.

The goal of the photoshoots was to portray an authentic Deakin experience to be used in marketing and recruitment material for international audiences. Doing this meant hiring real students, from a variety of backgrounds and nationalities and studying on all campuses.

Sharing their pride of being a Deakin student

‘Being a proud Deakin student,’ said Stefan, an Australian studying on the Melbourne Burwood Campus, ‘this opportunity to encapsulate the Deakin spirit for potential students all over the world was a prospect I simply couldn’t pass up on.’

Ruby, from Hong Kong, signed up for the modelling job because she wanted to share her Deakin pride with others. ‘I am very much amazed by the support and resources Deakin provides to international students, making me want to let more people know how great Deakin University is.’

Scroll through the images below for some behind the scenes photos and the final product.

Students appreciated the opportunity to get behind the scenes to see what goes into a shoot. ‘All the incredible hard work behind the scenes and in front of the camera,’ marvelled Ruby, ‘the scheduling and rescheduling, each idea of the photos: the lighting, the angle, colour matching.’

Meeting other students was the best part

The highlight for all participants was the personal connection. Collaborating with Deakin staff, the photographers and other students to find the best study spaces, outdoor areas and landmarks to take photos was an enriching experience.  For Priya, who moved to Geelong from Chennai, India, to study artificial intelligence, the best part of the day was ‘getting the opportunity to meet some fun people from various backgrounds and getting to know their work and culture. It is really inspiring to learn that people have so much potential to offer to the community.’

Meeting new people is always the best…I have learned so much.
Ruby

Sunny, an engineering student from India, agreed: ‘The highlight of the day for me was to have the opportunity to connect with other Deakin students and staff who were also present at the shoot. I got to learn a lot about them and we shared our student stories with each other.’

It was not always easy

Along with the fun, there were some challenges. Working as a model for the first time was a bit tricky for Ruby. ‘The most challenging was to get a genuine laugh or smile after a while.’ However, teamwork helped: ‘We began to make funny faces and sounds to help each other laugh naturally.’

Everyone on the crew thought the students did a fantastic job.  ‘We had the chance to work with great people through this shoot,’ Steve, the photographer said of the first-time models. ‘All the students were absolute naturals in front of the camera, happy to go with the flow and get involved in countless setups. They showed us great spots across all the various campuses and braved rain and sun to get the shots we needed.’

For Sunny, this last part was the hardest: ‘The worst part of the day would be the weather. It was 28 degrees Celsius with no clouds that day which made it very hard for us to shoot outdoors. Other than this, we had a lot of laughs and giggles.’