Interview: Nataša Arsić-Velo, model

Models appear powerful

I graduated at the university I wanted, and I was also pronounced the most beautiful girl in the world. I consider my personal success the fact that after all I remained - normal! I haven't changed, I still have good value systems (which are now very much disturbed) - I have a healthy family with whom I am close, real friends and I can still, regardless of my glamorous life of a model, enjoy some small pleasures


By MARKO ANDREJIĆ (marko.andrejic@wavemagazine.net)
from Belgrade, SERBIA
Translation: MILENA OTAŠEVIĆ
FOTO cover page: SLAVKO PETROVIĆ


I think almost every other girl dreams of becoming a model. First of all, I like professions which are related to public affairs and public performance and I like to be photographed. I also love to travel and modeling enabled me to earn money while doing that. I believe it is a nice profession for female population and it really appears somewhat powerful! - this is how Nataša Arsić-Velo explains her reasons for being a model in an interview with WAVE magazine. This nice and charming girl graduated in journalism at Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences but currently the runway has the priority over media. She participated in several Beauty Pageants and won prestigious awards. She says the beauties are always greeted with a lot of respect.

- It is a royal treatment and the feeling is great. I am very proud of that because it is something I provided myself, with my name and surname and only because of my qualities, effort and work - Nataša emphasizes.

She finished the first modeling course when she was still in elementary school and the beginning of her career she connects to her hometown Svilajnac and her highschool when she started doing fashion shows. After that, upon coming to Belgrade for her studies, she continued doing modeling with shorter breaks due to university obligations. Her priorities interchanged till she graduated and now she is completely dedicated only to modeling.

When was your first professional engagement?

I have earned my first money when I did a fashion show in Svilajnac and I remember all to well that I bought some clothes from that fee. I was 16 then.

Where did you work so far? Which agencies and designers did you work with?

When I came to Belgrade I was in Miss Yu company and Vesna Jugović. Then I was hired by all better Belgrade agencies and I also worked abroad - Milano, Paris, Istanbul, Greece, India as far as modeling is concerned. Apart from that, I participated in five World Beauty Pageants and I have three titles from those Pageants. Those were: Miss International Tourism 2005 in Bulgaria, Best Model of the World 2006 in Istanbul, Miss Tourism of the Planet - in Athens in 2007 where I won a title of the most beautiful girl in the world; then Miss Tourism of the Millenium in Ethiopia the same year where I won the title of Miss Fashion for the best posture and walking on the runway and for the best styled girl in the preparation period; and Miss Bikini on Malta with the title of Miss Friendship for a most friendly person.

What types of photo shoots did you do? Is there enough work for models?

I've done a lot of catalogues - jewelry, elegant dresses, lingerie, swimming costumes, jackets, then magazine editorials, commercials, a little bit of everything... There are jobs for models although in Serbia a lot less than abroad because clients invest a lot less in marketing and thus there are less castings due to the financial situation. Abroad it is normal to have castings every day depending on the season and the country. Belgrade doesn't offer that. Secondly, modeling isn't that well paid in Serbia as it is abroad and it is all less professional. I love my country the best but this is the reality when we talk about business.

As far as work is concerned I am more of a western type and there are some things which bother me here very much. For example, I am bothered with the fact that people are irresponsible, unpunctual, imprecise and do not hold their promises. Here something is always postponed. As far as payment is concerned you often come across compensations and solutions like "we'll solve that easily" or "we'll work something out" and that really doesn't happen abroad.

What are the figures we are talking about when it comes to modeling contracts?

Super models get millions but there are 10 of them in the world. It all depends from job to job. For example, for a photoshoot I do for a day or two for a catalogue or a commercial I receive a figure which is great compared to average paycheck, not only in Serbia but also abroad and if we take in consideration I earn that in a day. On the other hand, we always think it could be higher but I have to say that I make a living from modeling and that is the only thing I do and I am satisfied.

Normally, the investments in this job are very big. Personally I am satisfied with my life and income from the modeling but what most people might not notice is that I always have to be ready. There are beauticians, hair dressers, and private trainers, not to mention diets, good clothes, and quality make-up. And when you begin a job, you have to invest a lot. I understand that the girls don't have means but if they decide to take such a step it is inevitable. For example - investing in photos, good photos include a good photograph. Those are some constant investments which you have in any other job as well and if you want to do that professionally. Apart from that we have to pay attention to what we eat, stay fit and a girl needs to be satisfied with herself because those are all things one can spot on her face.

How hard is your professional life and how much pleasure is there?

There is work and there is pleasure. It can be very tiring and it happens that I literally go from one plane to another like I sometimes had to do in India while I stayed and worked there in last five months. It also happens that due to sunrise on one location I have to get up at 3am and that is the most normal thing in this business. The shooting itself can last longer than expected, sometimes even for 10 hours. Still, I have never regretted choosing this job and there is definitely more pleasure than strain. There are travels that enrich you, broaden your perspectives and world views so that you start to think differently and feel differently. I like it the most when I go somewhere and then return home to Serbia.

Is there a dark side of modeling? How real and how exaggerated are the problems of drug abuse and prostitution?

There is vanity in every line of work, and especially in a profession like this which is public and where the emphasis is placed on looks and only after that on other qualities. As in every other line of work there is back stabbing and malice. I try to stay above all that and it is really not in my nature to be mean and everybody around me knows that. I am focused on myself as long as no one is endangering me personally.

As far as drugs are concerned, there are drugs everywhere and there is as much of it in the modeling as in other places. What is the difference between cocaine used by models and any other drug used by some other people unknown to the public? Maybe only in the price. Drugs are drugs and there are no hard and light drugs. I've never used anything and I consider that one of my personal successes.

Apart from modeling you have managed to obtain a degree from Faculty of Political Sciences where it says you graduated in journalism. How did you choose journalism?

Same as modeling. I am definitely fascinated by travelling and public life and work, cameras, so it was somehow a natural order of events. I wasn't confused when I was about to decide on my major. I made the decision easily and I am mostly interested in TV journalism.

You are currently mostly the person being interviewed and not the journalist. How do you manage as someone answering questions?

I have worked for about a year as a journalist in Ilustrovana Politika magazine. Now when I am a guest and being interviewed it is interesting to me because I already know what it is supposed to look like. I absolutely know what will be interesting to the public and how to make a text and which photo should accompany it, why is something printable and something else not. Journalists find it easy to set up an interview with me. If I had to compare it I think it is a tiny bit more interesting to me to be a guest, the person being interviewed, because I am one of the rare people who don't have an already prepared story, I am honest and don't have a text that I have previously memorized to repeat. I am eloquent and that also helps. I always prepare thoroughly for my interviews and that is most important.

Are you planning on being a journalist once you finish your modeling career?

I have plenty of options when I finish modeling starting with TV journalism to opening a modeling agency. I just know I would like to own something myself if I decide to do any type of business. A lot of models open fashion agencies once they finish their career or they get a job as agents because they already know the job. There are those who become journalists or anchors and there are also those, although I must admit a minority, who graduate.

Are you bothered by constant media attention and tabloid writings?

That is a part of this job. I believe that anyone who does public work and says he or she is bothered by that kind of attention is a liar. If they didn't enjoy it and didn't find it interesting they wouldn't do public work but something completely different. It can feel good but there are also moments when you are not in the mood for it. I think no one is spared and that it is something that follows every public person.

Do you also have time and space for private life?

Yes I do. If I didn't have private life and something to fulfill me I think everything else would be worthless. There is no job that can go without private life. I have friends from the world of modeling, as well as from other branches, but I definitely stayed loyal to friendships from childhood, and from completely other spheres. I am one of the rare ones who has made her Facebook profile just 10 days ago and mostly for two reasons: firstly, because of work because they often try to contact me and I am not able to sent them photographs right away or take them a CD so now they can see my professional photos on FB. Secondly, in order to keep in touch with friends who are abroad and there is also one more good side - I found a lot of my friends with whom I used to hang out at faculty, in school. Still, I prefer live contact and nothing can compare to it.

What do you consider your biggest professional and personal success?

I graduated at the faculty I wanted and as far as modeling is concerned the first thing that comes to my mind is always the Miss Tourism of the Planet in Athens. That is a very popular world beauty pageant which lasts for more than 20 years in Europe and I won a title for the most beautiful girl in the world. I consider my personal success the fact that I remained - normal! I haven't changed, I still have good value systems (which are now very much disturbed) - I have a healthy family with whom I am close, real friends and I can still, regardless of my glamorous life of a model, enjoy some small pleasures.

What are the small things you like to do far from the public eyes?

When I am in Belgrade it is spending time with my family and friends, shopping... I like to relax at the end of the day with a book. I don't have a boyfriend right now but it is stupid to say - I don't have time for a boyfriend! That simply happens or doesn't and it has nothing to do with time but everything with my life style and frequent absences from Serbia. It is difficult to explain to people who are not from this profession how come one shoot can last for 10 hours and what I do there. How to explain to a boyfriend that now I have to leave for a month or even five months I just spent in India? So, it is no longer a problem of time but it is difficult to maintain a relationship. The trick is to find someone who has enough tolerance and who is sure of himself and understands the entire story for it to work.

You said you would never take photos without clothes. What could make you change your mind?

Never say never. I am a person of principles and I am stubborn (my zodiac sign is Aries) and I still obey some of my childhood principles. I can adjust because only an unintelligent person doesn't adjust to the situation, circumstances and events, but I still obey some basic principles and attitudes. Accordingly, I have nothing against girls who take photos without clothes but I simply don't have a need for that. I consider that a part of my private life.



(Published: 10.03.2010.)