Watch How Fast Chinese Models Work to Strike Over 100 Poses in a Minute

Watching these videos is like taking a master class on how to pose like a model.

In television and movies, modeling photo shoots are often portrayed at a leisurely pace. The subject might strike many poses over the course of a minute, but there's no real sense of urgency to them. That's not the case for fashion models in China, where such time would be seen as a luxury. In reality, they've got to make over a hundred outfit changes in a single day, so posing fast is a necessity. And as behind-the-scenes videos demonstrate, these female model poses are done at an effortless-yet-lightning speed.

A video posted by Shanghai Expat gives us a fascinating glimpse into the world of speed modeling. The outfits the woman is sporting will appear on Taobao, which is China’s version of Amazon. To show them off, she’s seen continuously moving—changing positions and grabbing accessories—as the photographer constantly clicks the shutter. It’s impressive that she’s able to display such variety in a short amount of time; all told, she (and others) average two poses per second. In this 15-second clip, that’s 30 distinct movements!

Modeling for Taobao is no easy feat. According to Chinadaily, some of these models make more than 700 poses over the course of 150 outfits, all within the span of a work day. They have one minute to change their clothes and a 10-minute lunch break. The intensity, however, is worth it—top models can earn up to 元10,000 (or around $1,500) per day.

To photograph over a hundred outfits a day, models for the Chinese company Taobao continually pose as the camera flashes. It averages out to two poses per second!

h/t: [PetaPixel]

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Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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