A Photographer Once Told Iskra Lawrence He Was "Not Comfortable" With Her Unretouched Body
Iskra Lawrence is one of the hottest models of 2016, but unlike the Photoshopped glamazons you see in high-fashion ads, she prefers her photos 100 percent unretouched. Seventeen.com chatted with Iskra about Zac Efron's abs, her Aerie Real campaign, and why you should never tell a girl to smile.
Have you ever finished a shoot and found out they Photoshopped you without your permission?I remember I took an editorial and I was so excited. I got the pictures back and I looked in the magazine, and I was like, "Oh my gosh!" My arms were half their size and I had a thigh gap magically and all these crazy things. My family went out and tried to find my pictures in the magazines, but no one could recognize me.
I tested with a photographer about a year ago and loved the pictures at the shoot. He sent me the pictures two weeks after and he retouched the hell out of them. I said to him, "I don't feel like I can use these. Can you send me the raw files?" and he was like, "No, I'm not comfortable with that, and I was kinda of like, "Oh OK, so you don't think I'm good enough unretouched?"
How has going unretouched for Aerie's campaign effected your confidence?It's been incredible. After so many years of being rejected and having my body scrutinized...for Aerie to come along and basically say, "we accept you, we don't care about your size." To see those pictures on a Times Square billboard and they were completely unretouched, I just was like, "Wow. I finally feel good enough!" It was just such a moment for me, that's why it really makes me emotional and really means so much to me because for so long I struggled with myself.
Can you tell me about your first modeling gig? What was that like?I was 13 and there was a gorgeous model and she was like three years older. I was like, "Wow, look at her. She made it." It was really aspirational for me. I remember just being so stiff on set. It takes a long, long time to get comfortable in front of the camera, especially at that age. I remember just trying to think breathe, don't smile, cause I remember when I started modeling, [agents] said I smile too much and I have to be moodier.
You got told to smile less? That's sort of funny because I feel like guys are always telling girls to smile more. Do you have any thoughts on that?English workmen – you know, builders – would sometimes shout, "cheer up, love," or "crack a smile," and I'm like, OK, how dare you try to tell me to smile! Is it for you benefit? I should look smiley and therefore, attractive to you? Like it's such a weird concept to me. Some people have a resting bitch face. If I'm tired I could be making faces and I don't even know I'm doing. There's nothing wrong with having a bad day. Let yourself feel those emotions because every emotion is validated.
Have you ever anything totally crazy happen on a shoot?I remember doing a commercial one time where I stepped on a shard of glass and I was hobbling around in swimwear. It was raining and in the commercial, when I saw it, I didn't look like I had a messed up foot. It was all fine. I was actually super ill on the last Aerie campaign [with] a chest infection and so I was having to keep napping between shots. I felt awful, but everyone who spoke to me was like, "No, no, rest up. We'll get you all the cough syrup you need, whatever you need." We powered through.
Who's your celeb crush?Well, I was always Team Edward. I know that he might not even be relevant anymore. Oh my goodness – Zac Efron has great abs. That's wonderful. That's appreciated. I can tell he works hard at that. (laughs) Zac Efron's abs are pretty special. [Jesse Williams] – the guy who really stood up for Black Lives Matter – he's got great eyes. Yeah I'm gonna go for him cause it's not just physical appreciation. I was like, "thank you for using your platform to talk about something that's so important and using your voice." I was really impressed by that.
If you had to do a 100-layer challenge, what would it be?100 layers of cheeseburgers [in] my belly.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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