MAprofile: MarkLife.

Look Back… And Dare!

MAprofile — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 15:57:00 +0000

New Year’s Eve is finally upon us and having been so busy and unable to blog the last couple of months I thought I’d take the opportunity to take a brief look back over the last 12 months of what I’ve achieved and re-vist my own personal highlights.

First and foremost I think my greatest personal achievement and accomplishment of which I’m most proud this year was the Charity Calendar I developed, project managed, cast, graphic designed and modelled for on behalf of ‘Save The Children UK‘ in just one month! It was an almighty task of which I could not of accomplished without the kind support of everyone involved. I was truly overwhelmed and endeared by the many photographers, models, make-up artists, hair stylists, printers and assistants that came together to make it such an overwhelming success. Some campaigns never even get off the ground as they proceed to fade without a trace after being launched. I am proud to say not only did we achieve what we set out to do from the start within a very tight deadline of just 30 days from concept to completion, we delivered a quality product that got featured in the press, sold as far afield as the USA and Brazil, Been entered into ‘Best Calendar Design’ and ‘Best Charity Calendar’ categories by The UK Calendar Distrbutor ’8 Days a Week’ and has so far raised over £1,000 for this worthwhile cause! I am continuing to sell the last few remaining copies in order to raise proceeds further before donating them to ‘Save the Children UK‘ in the New Year.

If you would like to help, you can still purchase a copy for yourself or friends by donating to pledge@MAprofile.com via the ‘Send Money’ option on PayPal.

Prices: £15 (UK Delivered) / $30 (US Delivered) / ROW £18 Delivered.

Thank you to all who have purchased a copy so far and a big THANK YOU to the following for all their help and creative contributions; Debbie and Steve Underhill of TipTop Photography, Paul Silver, Birmingham Fotography, Clare Louise, Nick Reynolds, Adam Davies of DeadGoodUndies, Safeer Ahmed, John Chapman, Chris Sinnett, Simon Montrose Taylor, Heather Stringer, Anita – Exstasy Queen – Model, Aria Davis, Terri Hope, Anita Coleman, Tetiana Darling, Tanya Mihailovic, Jackie Wood, Pascale Recher, Adele Coxon, Make-up by Danni, Chayya Udani, Gaynor Morse of ‘Secondskin’, Tamara Joseph, Doctor Agamemmnon When, 8 Days A Week Print and last but certainly not least the invaluable Rajeeta Rani for helping to co-ordinate it all.

My next highlight of 2012 without question was my life changing trip to the USA shortly after the calendar completed. It’s unfair for me to even compare these 2 experiences as they could not be any more different if they tried and both have an equal place in my heart for very different reasons. This trip simply came about by way of a messaged recieved via ‘Star Now’ on the 1st August from awesome US musician Jane Train! I was contacted and asked if I would like to play the ‘love interest’ in her music video when she came over to the UK? Of course I would and after finding we already had a friend in common – Ginger Wildheart – and bonding further over months of Skype calls it seemed to make more sense for me to just go to the US and film the video with her in LA whilst pursuing other career opportunities I had there too. Simply put I fell in love with the positivity and vibe of the people there and met a wealth of true friends and industry contacts in addition to getting representation by a New York acting agency and shooting for a Pennsylvania editorial. After 3 weeks there I simply did not want to leave and now plan on leaving the UK and relocating to LA next summer to pursue my acting career if all goes to plan.

The next accomplishments for which I’m most proud are a combination of my acting achievements so far which include me completing my Intensive Course at Birmingham School of Acting, featuring in the commercial for ‘Billy Boy UK’ and The Loyalties ‘Til The Death…’ music video (out next year), a featured role in Sean Forj’s Indie film ‘17 Spleens‘, an upcoming role in 2013′s ‘Thorned Hands’, plus working on Hollywood movies ‘The Councillor’ with Ridley Scott and Penelope Cruz and ‘Fast 6′ with the very friendly Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez who I was fortunate enough to talk at length with and gain some valuable advice from. I hope one day our paths cross again when I have made my name and can thank them very much and so they can see first hand the positive effect their time for me made.

On from that I again got to model at this years ‘Elton John Wig Party’ as a Terminator Barbie (above) which was a privilege indeed and also feature as a Bodypaint model on ITV ‘This Morning’ with Phillip and Holly courtesy of my awesome friend and body featured artist Sarah Attwell (video above). In addition to this I have also been fortunate to work with an array of incredible photographers throughout the year on some amazing modelling shoots of which I have gained some incredible additions to my portfolio. A particular dream come true was working with the lovely and always inspiring John Farrar who as a rule doesn’t generally shoot males. A privilidge indeed. I have also again worked with the award winning Clare Louise and Paul Silver amongst many new faces who have all produced some of my favourite images this year…

So that brings my look back at personal highlights of 2012 to a close and leaves me very excited and full of big dreams and plans for 2013. I have many amazing projects already in the pipeline which I am anxious to share with you and see where they will take me personally. I hope you all have a great New Year and will see you on the other side where I hope you’ll continue to follow my exciting and unpredictable journey…

Please Pledge a Pre-order…

MAprofile — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 11:25:00 +0000

Monday 1st October I launched my 2013 Calendar project in aid of ‘Save the Children UK‘ inviting photographers, make-up artists, hair stylists and models to volunteer time and funds to help make a difference to children come Christmas and the New Year. I’ve been overwhelmed by the response from those wishing to get involved and make such a valuable and positive difference for such a worthwhile cause.

Using my talents as both a model and Graphic Designer, I will be designing and producing a calendar of 12 new images featuring myself and 6 female models. With help from 12 different photographers, each page will have its own unique style and look which will adorn your walls during the year of 2013. Also involved in the project are Make-Up Artists Pascale Recher, Adele Coxon and Amber Ghalib and on hair duty Baddesley International. This is of course all possible courtesy of the kindly donated studio time from Tip-Top Photography studio, Birmingham.

The shoots will be taking place throughout the course of October, with design and production of the calendar happening in November, ready for despatch to customers in December in time for 2013.

So please PLEDGE TODAY via PayPal to pledge@MAprofile.com and help make this project as big a success as possible.

_________________________________________________________________________

Prices;

Calendar delivered to UK – £15

Calendar delivered to USA – $30

Calendar delivered to ROW – £18

Where your money goes;

Production £5…
Postage, Packing & PayPal Fees… £5 /$10 / £8…
‘Save the Children UK’ Charity £5…

_________________________________________________________________________

Please click the banner below to pledge your support and pre-order a calendar… You will receive a confirmation email of your order which you shall then recieve during December.

This cannot happen without your support so please PLEDGE NOW :)

Granny Bashing…

MAprofile — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 16:39:00 +0000

It’s been a couple of months since I last had chance to put fingers to keyboard and update my blog in which time I have been very busy with a variety of projects. All of which I aim to share with you very shortly, so look out for some further updates very soon! First of all though, I felt it fitting to share the recent launch of my first commercial with you. This all started back in June when I was aproached and auditioned for a role in the new Billy Boy UK viral. Upon brief I spent the weekend learning a german accent that I was told my character may need. This was a challenge I willingly undertook and I’m pleased to say mastered with fairly satisfying results. I attended the audition where I was briefed further on what was required of me… There were to be 3 possible endings, 2 of which I performed for the casting Director before leaving. One of which was the surreal moment of singing of ‘Nelly The Elephant’ in a German accent (Well I had practiced my tongue! LOL) half naked! I left the audition feeling a little uncertain of just how (well/bad) that had actually gone. As usual, friends and family called to ask me how I did and I answered honestly. “I don’t have a clue!” – LOL. I felt the team clearly had an eye for what they were after and in my eyes dependant on the look they required any one of the candidates were suitable in their own unique way, but felt assured I had given my best regardless.

About a week later I was on holiday when I received the news I had got the part and was overjoyed despite wondering just what had clinched it for me. Was my singing really that good?! LOL.? Cut to July and the filming of the commercial at a secret location in London. I turned up bright and early and met a wonderful team of cast and crew including actor Rory Nolan of Sky 1′s ‘Trollied’ and legendary music video director Dan Sully. We started with the filming of the exterior shots which included my main scene (which I’m thankful to say didn’t end up being a ‘Nelly The Elephan’t moment – Sorry Peeps!) and worked our way through a series of set ups throughout the day capturing every angle and manner required to achieve the final advert you will see. I thoroughly enjoyed being on set as both an actor and creative as it allowed me to part of the complete process with a supremely talented team of artists. Special Thanks to Dan Sully for fully encouraging input from everyone to create the overall vision and approaches used.

I could not wish to of worked with a nicer set of people or had a better experience on the day. I walked away proud and fulfilled that I had played my role as required, learnt a wealth of valuable information and made some wonderful new friends in the process. Thank you to everyone on the production for making this possible.

Please enjoy the fruits of our labour via this link

How you been? It’s been a while…

MAprofile — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 11:38:00 +0000

It’s been a while since I last blogged due to being so busy with castings, auditions, modelling shoots and acting work this past few months which has included working on CBBC Fit with David Walliams, filming for The Loyalties music video which should be on your tellybox soon and a featured role in a commercial for ‘Billy Billy Boy condoms’ with Rory Nolan (of Trollied fame) which should bring you much pleasure soon! LOL

So I thought it time to take a moment between all the madness of planning my next shoot and upcoming audition for Thor 2 to share a few of my favourite images with you from recent shoots I have done this last few months.

First of all I had the pleasure of working with the wonderful Clare Louise and Iain Burton Legge again on a project for Hasselblad which took us very much back to nature on a beautiful property with a herd of Bison none-the-less. I got to work with the wonderful Miriam Sounni for the first time (and certainly not the last) and Laura Polson some 6 months since we fronted the Elton John Wig Party together and produced some particularly beautiful images which you can see below.

Next it was back to wiltshire for a location shoot with the wonderful Binkography whilst we still had some of the British Summertime left. The images were very natural and back to basics which I loved… The first of which a ‘Test Shot’ I immideately came to hold dear as a favourite. I always enjoy working with Madame Bink as she has such a wonderful eye and talent for all she does.

Following that was a shoot with good friend and photographer Kumar Chan to produce some fashion based shots given my look has evolved so much since I last put some clothes on. I went with a very open mind and produced a series of images very different to normal and which I was very pleased with. A couple of my favourites certainly give a nod to the look and style of James Bond, which you can see below. You can view the full set of images over on my Facebook ‘Like’ Page.

Newcastle was my next stop to work with the lovely Emily Cromarty where we produced a selection of both location and studio images with a very soft and natural look, different to my usual results which I very much like and feel suited me. You can see a full selection over at the album on my ‘Like’ page.

Finally, I did my 3rd and most recent shoot with Adam Davies of Dead Good Undies, which saw me model some 60 pairs of underwear for various brands. There were certainly some interesting ranges on show! LOL

So that pretty much brings you unto speed with my last few months activity… I hope you enjoy the images and will be back soon with full reports of my recent ‘Tarzan’ shoot and upcoming ‘Comic Book’ shoot which I am very excited about! Til then… Lets hope for more sunshine!

Bink’d!

MAprofile — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:58:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I visited Binkography in Wiltshire for a studio shoot that was not only insightful but a very rewarding experience that stretched me as a model and expanded on my portfolio.

The concept of the shoot was to capture some classic black and white images of the masculine form in a very natural manner. No team of make up artists/stylists/digital artwork. Just me and a photographer in a studio. I walked away with some shots I am very proud of and which I feel show both my rugged male form but also give a window into my softer side which Bink captured a perfect balance of. Some times as a model you get used to playing a certain role, so it’s good to break out of that and keep work fresh and exciting.

I have since revisited Binky to make the most of the beautiful weather we’ve been having. Excited to share them with you but for now here are the results from our first shoot together, let me know which is your favourite so I can update my portfolios:

It ain’t cricket…

MAprofile — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 19:32:00 +0000

Friday 23rd March saw me return to Tip Top Studio’s, where I had my first ever modelling shoot a couple of years back. This time for charity, to volunteer my services for ‘Sport Relief’. The room was filled with modelling friends new and old who I’d met since first starting out myself, so I knew I was in for a particularly special night regardless. Numerous photographers paid to shoot the models, with all proceeds going to Charity, which meant not only was money raised for a great cause but a range of wonderful images each with their own distinct styles produced.

Given it was Sport Relief I opted to choose sporting outfits for my shoots though the theme was left open to peoples personal preference. Given a lot of the females were pairing up, myself and Luke decided to partner up for a boxing shoot and do womething a little bit different! The results of which I was blown away by. For my second outfit I decided a spot of cricket was in order which was quite a different look for me but one I look forward to seeing the results of soon.

Photograph by Karl Stevens

Photograph by Steve Underhill

I will add more photo’s as they filter through… So check back soon. I just want to say a big THANK YOU to Debbie and Steve Underhill for the invite and for hosting such a productive and fun night for such a worthwhile cause. Can’t wait for the next one!

Anger, Tears and Headshots…

MAprofile — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:11:00 +0000

Sunday the 12th March, saw my 3rd shoot in 3 days. This one however was of more of a personal nature than the 2 previous. This one was to capture my head-shots for ‘Spotlight‘ and present a range of emotions for my acting work. My photographer of choice for this project was Paul Silver… A friend I have worked with numerous times and who knew I would not only feel completely comfortable baring my soul with but a photographer I knew who would also capture it at it’s most beautiful. so first things first… Those damn head-shots!

I did a variation of ‘hair up’ and hair down shots in order to give myself a range of options when marketing myself. The standard mean n moody expressionless shots were pretty quick to capture. The subtle smile shots however proved a different matter entirely… With Paul eventually shooting me several times with his £4 Nerf gun! Y’know what… Worked a treat! LOL! D Below are some of the results.

Next up was the section I expected to be hardest… The grief shot! Not so… Seems I could detach and get into character quite quickly and Paul captured a series of shots that although painful to look at are stunning to behold for a true snapshot of human pain. I am personally very proud of these and am pleased to say I switched back to normal instantly.

I say instantly… Though I went a little further than that. Pulling of a series of happy shots which were quite the contrast and following through to explore further emotions such as anger, curiosity, lust and determination amongst others.

Click here to see all the photos from the shoot

Aside of being a thoroughly enjoyable shoot which is always the case when working with Paul it was also one of the most difficult and intense projects I have undertaken, given the drain on myself emotionally. I don’t go easy when getting in character that’s for sure. But it is without question one of my most favourite collections of photo’s I’ve ever produced, which not only tested me as a model but stretched me as an actor and left me with no doubt that there is far far more within me to explore. I truly look forward to sharing my innermost self through both modelling and acting as I continue forward in my career.

Thank you again to the legend that is Paul Silver who I highly recommend you commission for work. His results speak for themselves and always enable me to be captured at my best

If you go down to the woods today…

MAprofile — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:52:00 +0000

Saturday 10th March found me back in Winchester some 18 months after first visiting to shoot with the awesome Gary Holmes. First time round we got some beautiful images so I was very much looking forward to working with him again in his chosen woodland location as before. During the shoot I certainly had a few vivid moments of de-ja-vu it has to be said with flashbacks from this beautiful and fitting location!

We had a list of desired shots to work through and started with shooting stunning scenic underwear shots for the delightful Adam Davies of ‘Dead Good Undies‘. We worked our way through a few pieces of select underwear and captured a few beautiful shots to do the brands justice.

Next up I had a couple of ideas I wanted to explore… The first being ‘Chameleon’, where I was not to be the focus of the picture, but simply an element that was part of a beautifully captured scene. My intention was to appear very secondary in the image… That I was there and my presence important but simply because I complemented the landscpe and not to dominate it. I feel we captured some fantastic results.

Secondly… ‘Action’, Instead of just posing I wanted to capture movement… Something natural and beautiful again set against the intensity of this magical location. This I feel was the most difficult of the three to perfect but I think we got some interesting results that have certainly set me thinking for a future shoot.

As ever Gary was wonderful and pleasant to work with and though 18 months had passed it felt like we’d shot together just the day previous. Always a good sign of a natural and strong working relationship. I’m looking forward to shooting with Gary again in May with new locations and ideas to indulge…

And now for something completely different…

MAprofile — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 05:41:00 +0000

Friday 9th March… The highly prominent day in my calendar this year! The day I had put lots of planning and forethought into! The day I got to work with a photographer who’s work I’ve admired since first starting out in the industry. The day I found myself in a photography studio in Brighton! YES… This was the day I finally got to work with the legendary John Farrar and I was excited at the prospect! Added to that and the fact John only really shoots female models, I was also highly privileged to be working with him on this project – Thank you John

The shoot came about when I approached him in January about a potential shoot… I was delighted when John said though he didn’t really shoot males he would be happy to if we came up with some worthwhile ideas. So we set about throwing a few concepts together and finding a make-up artist/body-painter to collaborate with on the project. After much jiggery-a-do and a long story short… Enter the talented and inspirational Adam- Thomas Bane.

I threw some concepts and themes at Adam and we decided on one that was pretty conclusive, would do the project justice on the day and lent itself to a variety of interpretations after Adam had thrown his own unique input and ideas to mix. With a shopping list that consisted of a suit, ties, paint, clockwork cogs and drawing pins… This was not to be your average shoot! – Though one I finally managed to keep my clothes on for may I note! LOL Added to that… Much banter, dry humour and laughs between the 3 of us made an 11hr day with 3 concepts shot actually end far too quickly and leave us with many more ideas to explore next time.

So please enjoy and digest the fruits of our labour so far…. (More tasty photo’s will be added as processed)

Thank you to both John and Adam for their time and talents on a project that stands firm in the memory. I look forward to working with you both again very soon… It was a complete pleasure and enjoyable experience with lots of fun and final images I know we will all treasure for years to come

A shave and nod to a bygone era…

MAprofile — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 21:56:00 +0000

Sunday 26th February saw the arrival of a shoot I had been looking forward to since it’s bizarre conception one night in January. Oddly on reflection…. I was clean shaving my beard one night and did what I’m sure many of us have at one point in our life. Shaved a moustache to see how it looked and have a bit of a laugh at myself. Surprisingly it didn’t look too bad but did change my look completely and I thought… It would be well cool to do a shoot that made me look so different to normal. It then came to me… I’d always wanted to do Film Noir type images and that look would suit it perfectly. Having been fortunate to work with many photographers during my career I immediately called Paul Silver as I knew his style would suit my concept and vision perfectly. He immediately said YES he’d love to do it and a date was set. Then I called Hair and Make-up extraordinaire Jean Rhema who with over 40 years in the industry I knew would be the only person up to this task of creating exquisite hairstyles and period make-up. Next I confirmed a female model whom I thought would fit the role perfectly and then set about to find suitable costumes and… Errr… Location – LOL! – Thanks Paul you certainly delivered on the location! Kudos!

The initial inspiration! LOL

The venue confirmed was the wonderful ‘Big Strawberry’ veggie cafe in Hanley who taking gestures to a whole other level, opened especially for us and even provided catering! – BIG THANKS to the wonderful Charli for her kindness and hospitality. Then 2 days prior to the shoot, disaster hit… The female model had to withdraw from the project due to personal circumstances and I found myself without a leading lady! DISASTER! 2 days out, everything in place after weeks of planning and suddenly it looked like the project was going to fall apart as quickly as it was conceived. After a momentary pause in time whilst the news digested I remained calm and racked my brains. I needed a model… But not just any model. I know many fabulous models but not with the particular look I was after for this…. Especially one who might not only be available at such short notice but would also be able to find a suitable wardrobe and accessories too. I went through my phone and saw a name that made me stop and think… I just wonder. So I contacted her and she was interested… BUT was not free that day, which I’d had to expect. But Wait… There’s more… She said I may be in luck and indeed I was! The charismatic, beautiful and perfect girl for this shoot ‘Victoria Roelake‘, casually said… It’s ok I can change my plans and have lots of suitable attire for it… Are there any accessories you’d like me to bring too? I was stunned and blown away by her attitude, commitment and compassion to this project so late in the day. WOW! Now that is what you call a model! Suddenly it was all back on and I couldn’t be more excited again.

The 26th came and myself, Victoria and Jean met at Paul’s house where we had drinks, I shaved, we packed equipment and headed off to out chosen location. It was perfect… Very retro with lots of interesting elements both inside and out for us to indulge. Not to mention the highlight of the day… A recently vacated room that had a New York Skyline. OMG… How perfect! You know when some things just feel meant… This shoot was feeling just that. Against all odds everything was suddenly perfect! The venue… The team… The costumes… The female lead and the host! We set about getting ready with hair make-up and costumes whilst Paul set up equipment. Then suddenly we realised something was missing… A soundtrack! Something to swing the shoot along in the right manner and get us all going. Then again as if fate would have it… I remembered a CD I’d bought on a whim just a week previous that I’d not even listened to… Hugh Laurie’s ‘Let Them Talk’. It was perfect! – And highly recommend too! LOL

My vision for this shoot was to not imitate the era but pay homage to it, a nod to it if you will. I certainly didn’t want a bunch of stock type looking images either that were clearly contemporary. I wanted something believable… As though the shots had been lifted from a film of it’s time or it’s promo. Not obviously posed… Just candid with a natural charm and integrity. It was also important to me that each photo said something different… Set a different mood… A different tone… A different look… Even a different genre. I wanted a mixture of styles and tones from that period… Romantic, gangster, comedy, tender, sensual, the list goes on. Thank you to the efforts of all involved and particularly the amazing Paul Silver, we got them and MORE! MUCH MORE! We shot for 2 hours and got a wealth of beautiful imagery that I am personally very proud of and am delighted to share with you. Please take a look at the selected images below and be sure to click the link and visit the gallery of this shoot which is being continually updated as fast as poor Paul can process them.

Click here to see more…

Thank you again to everyone who made this day such a success and a very fond memory, in particular Victoria Roelake without whom it would not of happened at all… You are a natural star and true friend. Thank you x