Public Forums > Modelling > Short height, but appear tall?

I'm a very short person (slighlty under 5'4") but when I send my photographs to people they always mistake me for being in the 5'8 - 5'9 range. I think this is a good thing, but at the same time, I've had photographers express disappointment when they find out how short I really am. I haven't applied to any big agencies yet because I know it is unlikely for me to get booked, but is there a way I can sell the fact that I look taller than I am?

Unfortunately, having the illusion of height will usually never be good enough for agencies or most clients that actually want the height. That's great though that you are able to photograph as if you are taller but in terms of being taken seriously by big agencies, that will not really help you get far. However, what you can do is look into agencies that have petite divisions (there aren't many agencies that actually have petite divisions anymore since the demand is not there but that doesn't mean they don't exist)...maybe you will have more success if you submit to commercial/print agencies as well. Often they will be more lenient towards bending the rules than the fashion agencies. Being located in New York, you have a whole list of agencies you could possibly submit to.

You should also look up the pretty well known petite model, Isobella Jade. She has a great blog and her own podcast where she helps to bring more attention to petite modeling and she often lets others know about opportunities for shorter models.

I guess there's only so much height you can fake - its better to be upfront to being with because some of the clothes may just be too long for you.  Having said that you can be short and still look long limbed in photographs, its down to practise!