He started off as a regular 17-year-old, posting snippets of his day onto his Instagram account.
But it was Charles Levi’s selfies, ‘taken out of pure boredom’ and shared over the social media site that landed him a hot-shot modeling contract with Chadwick modeling agency and launched his career.
‘I would never have thought my mechanism of social networking with friends would become the tool that got me signed to my agency,’ Charles told the Daily Mail Australia.
‘But I guess things are changing as technology evolves. In contrast to other big models like Kate Moss who got found at an airport, you can really put yourself out there with social media nowadays.’
The year 11 student at St Philip’s Christian College Waratah said he was approached by a local Newcastle photographer, Michelle Lobb, who asked him to participate in a shoot after spying his selfies on Instagram.
Gaining some confidence from the positive experience, he approached Sydney photographer Richard Sawyer over social media to ask for a photography opportunity.
Clearly impressed with his subject, Mr Sawyer, who also works as an editor for Dandy Magazine, wrote ‘Young Leo is that you?’ in the photo’s caption on his personal Instagram account.
‘It was great to finally meet Richard because I had been really loving his photographic work for ages, and I went to his Sydney home and we had a portrait shoot and it was a really fun time, heaps chilled,’ Charles said.
After sharing the results of the shoot on his Instagram page, the Newcastle teenager received close to 100 likes before it was spotted by Jaime McHugh from the Chadwick Modeling agency.
‘Hey Charles, you’ve got a great look, send me an email at… if you’re interested in modelling!’ Mr McHugh wrote in a comment of the photo.
‘I was stoked and so surprised that I was going to be signed to the agency,’ Charles said.
‘It felt kind of surreal when I got signed, because you wouldn’t expect to get signed on your first trip to the agency.
‘I’m finding it kind of strange being in the limelight really, it’s pretty awesome and everything – it’s a great experience and great way to meet new creative people.’
Since being signed, Charles has taken part in four photo shoots including one for the international men’s fashion magazine F**king Young.
But finishing his schooling remains his priority, with the young man even requesting for his next shoots to be scheduled in his holidays so they don’t interfere with his work.
‘My plan for the future is to hopefully get into a university down in Sydney so I can study there, or perhaps even taking a gap year to have a go at modelling and to see where it goes,’ Charles said.
Source: Daily Mail