BECOME FASHION PHOTOGRAPHER

(Sorry I've been missing like 4 days. Stuff happens. I'll just upload individual photos for the days I've missed . . .)

So today I had to do a show-around round school with a future governor. He's involved in race horses or something. He was old-fashioned posh, as in his son goes to Shrewsbury boys school, but it's not a boys school anymore as they introduced girls last year. He asked if there were any tensions between girls & boys at our school, which I thought was utterly absurd, so I answered no, & he said the reason that he asked was because of the tensions now that girls were allowed to go to his sons school. He also asked me if I didn't go to this school, which school in this area would I go to. I didn't want to offend him, seeing as I knew where his son went to school, but I couldn't think of a polite way to say that the rest of the private schools in this area are horrible. They expect you to conform to a certain type & are very old-fashioned in their views & ugh. He asked me about how I felt about this school & I didn't want to sound cheesy or cliche, but I didn't know else to express how thankful I am that I went to this school, and the opportunities it's given me which I wouldn't get at most schools. The whole talk with him just made me think over how much I love this place. Which was kinda sad.

I came home afterwards & just collapsed on a bed. My back pain was so intense that I just wanted to lie there and cry. I couldn't walk, sit, or lie down without feeling agonizing pain. It's just been steadily getting worse & building & I just didn't know what to do. Having to stand up for that guide probably didn't help.

My Mom called me at lunch time to see how I was & I was biting back the tears, so she said she'd book me an appointment with the osteopath. I haven't been in like 2 years.

I lay around until she came home and then we drove over to Shrewsbury. I slept in the car. I've been sleeping constantly so there was no reason for me to sleep again in the car. I think it was just easier than having to deal with the pain.

At the orthopedic's she was 10 minutes late seeing to me because the patient in front of me wouldn't stop talking. I wanted to kick the door down. I couldn't sit because of the pain, & standing there was just awful. So I wanted to kick and scream & hurt someone. I'm such a charming girl.

Then, even though I hadn't had to strip down last time I went, she told me to strip down to my underwear. I was so not wearing the right underwear, & I hadn't shaved my legs so they were slightly prickly & I was even more annoyed. But she clicked me in places I never knew I could click.

I don't know the names of parts in my back, so basically there's the hip area, the hip to lower back area, lower back, middle, middle to upper, upper, shoulders. She said that there was a place in the middle to upper back area which just would not move. It refuses to budge and it probably hasn't been able to move for a very, very long time. This in turn is causing a reaction in pelvic area which is unable to move. My Mom made lots of jokes about that. I lack core stability, and due to the excess weight of my chest it's just exacerbated this, and caused tightening in my shoulders, & in the upper area of my back. She poked this one area of my upper back which I hadn't even realised was sore, but as soon as she touched it I felt how tender it was. Ugh. She said to leave an ice pack on my back for a bit because it was going to hurt in the morning. She also said that I was surprisingly flexible!

After leaving there my Mom went for her acupuncture and I hung around in the car. When she got back she started calling a driving teacher for me. I told her not to book a lesson & she asked why & I said because I didn't know when my back was better (though another reason is that I haven't decided if I want to go to Edinburgh or have driving lessons instead). So she just got his details, & then, suddenly, she fucking went & booked me a lesson. Even though I asked her not to. I flipped off the handle. Seriously. Maybe, if you have no idea how frustrating it is for people to constantly make decisions for you and disregard what you say even though you have had conversations about it & they've agreed, then maybe you'll think I overreacted. She's basically made the decision for me about going to Edinburgh, & ignored me when I asked her not to book any lessons. She started being really bitchy to me then, saying I was a stupid cow who should be going to Edinburgh. She just wants me to go because she likes to push me places. She loves travel, so even going to Scotland is 'exciting' to her. It makes me so angry. Then I said that if I were going to Edinburgh there's no point in booking driving lessons because I'm basically away for 2 months & would have no chance of passing before I go to uni, so it would be a waste of money. So then she scream

A nice shot this and my favourite Lothian bus at the moment. Alexander Royale fleet number 281 on service 19 standing on the Queensferry Road with the eloquently tree-lined Learmonth Terrace, designed by John Chesser for Colonel Learmonth in 1873, in the background.

See the finely dressed lady here promoting pensions by Scottish Widows. This appeared only late in 2008 and I thought it was a bit odd to use an Alexander Royale for the promotion with the bus itself due to be removed only a few months later. Surely it was chosen because the colour design (background, lettering and especially the dress) match perfectly with Lothian's madder red and white livery? But who is she? I caught up with Lindsay Strachan, Scottish Widows' Brand Consultant who gave this release:
'The ad came about as Lothian Buses have appointed Scottish Widows as their group pensions provider which then opened up opportunities for cost effective ad placement for us. The ad was placed on a vehicle selected by LB, so lucky as it may have been that the colours worked. I'm afraid I can't claim that it was a conscious decision. There are no plans to continue the
advertising further than the agreed January/February campaign and therefore it won't be transferred to another bus'. /

And from the Scottish Widows magazine here's the bit you've all been waiting for....the girl of course!
Hayley Hunt is the new face of Scottish Widows and she paid a special visit to a Lothian Bus depot last autumn. Prior to the visit Hayley did a photo shoot on Edinburgh Castle Esplanade with a Lothian bus.

I would like to thank Paul Pope, who works with SW, for researching this information.

HAYLEY HUNT: How I started out....
I was born and brought up in the pictureseque Cotswolds area of southern England. When I was 16, I was spotted in the crowd by the Boss modelling agency at the BBC Clothes Show in Birmingham. I remember the Clothes Show was pretty big at the time and I went up with my mum and her friends. I was approached by one of the scouts and he asked me if I'd like to do some modelling. I was very excited. I'd lived in the country all of my life and hadn't even considered anything like modelling.

Combining my part-time work with studies I landed my first major job at 17, when I won a contract to model Virgin sportswear and lingerie. After completing three A-levels in English Literature, Graphic Design and Fine Art in Oxford, I then moved up to London and signed with the world-famous Storm Agency, who handle Kate Moss, Eva Herzigova, Cindy Crawford and Lily Cole.

What I've been working on
Since then, my career has primarily focused on television advertising campaigns, including Kenco coffee and House of Fraser, and music videos, including appearing on a horse in Daniel Bedingfield's hit song 'Never Gonna Leave Your Side'.

It was brilliant fun. The agency was asked for someone who could ride a horse. I love horse-riding. We went out to Spain and I got the chance to pick a beautiful horse. Then I was asked to ride around this massive bull ring while Daniel sung.

Another great assignment was a trip to Prague, where I made an advert for hair product company Schwarzkopf. I had to dye my hair red. But luckily it was just vegetable oil. We spent five days shooting in Prague, which was amazing. For me, one of the best bits of the job is the travel and meeting people. The advert was shown all over Europe, but unfortunately not in the UK.

I've also appeared in a number of fashion spreads in several glossy magazines and national newspapers included Tatler, Elle, Cosmopolitan and the Daily Telegraph. I've done fashion work for Debenhams and Marks & Spencer.

I've also done some in-house catwalk shows for design houses such as Ralph Lauren, Escada, Louis Vuitton and Versace. And taken part in charity work.

Working with David Bailey
I've also worked with David Bailey on the Scottish Widows' shoot. I was quite apprehensive at first. But he was very cool and friendly. It was a nice shoot with great people. You learn something from each photographer and Bailey was able to show me how I should try and create the Scottish Widows look.

I am now signed up as the new face of Scottish Widows.
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