For many of us, Indonesia is associated with meditation, knowledge and self-discovery. This country has become a real Mecca for inspiration. For models, Indonesia is also an opportunity to create a good portfolio and show off their acting skills at numerous castings.
We learn about the features of Indonesian modelling from Sofia Guseva, who recently returned from Jakarta.
A visa to Indonesia is quite expensive – about 100 thousand rubles, hence there is a strict clause in the contract: if a model refuses to travel after obtaining a visa, she must reimburse the agency for its cost. The visa is a working visa and it takes about a month to prepare. It is not recommended to fly without a visa or with any another visa, as migration service employees may be present at the screenings.
Flights to Indonesia are complicated, with several transfers, but once you set foot on this path and get such an expensive visa, no connections will seem as long!
Apartments in Indonesia are good, sometimes even very good. Ground floor villas with a swimming pool or rooms in skyscrapers with gyms. We got along with our apartment neighbours with no problem. Sometimes there were misunderstandings with the models from Brazil due to different temperaments, but overall, the atmosphere in the apartment was friendly.
Transport in Indonesia: in our agency we paid for travel from our own pocket money; in other agencies our travel was reimbursed at the end of the week. On the one hand, models from these agencies had more disadvantages. However, on the other hand there was more money left over for personal expenses. We travelled on bikes or took a taxi if the casting was large scale.
Castings in Indonesia are rare – 1-2 times a week. Bookers usually send clients composites, and in the evening they would remind us of what the work would be for the following day, what brand, what to take with us, and the cost.
Work in Indonesia can be varied: shooting in hijabs, for which they pay well, but such photos cannot be placed in a book, catalogues, image shoots, beauty editors, TVS. It is difficult to make money, but it is possible, especially if you actively manage your Instagram.
In our free time, the models and I visited the zoo, parks like Disneyland, or just walked around shopping centres as there are not many places to walk on the streets in Jakarta – there are a lot of highways. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the trip: Jakarta is a colourful city, which on the one hand resembles skyscrapers and bustling life, and on the other – poor neighbourhoods and a leisurely atmosphere. It’s safe, comfortable here and I want to come back again.
Text by K. Mironova
Photo provided by S. Guseva
