Edward:  Welcome to Connex family Joseph Sayers!  So, let´s start our interview... How do you describe yourself. Tell us about your hometown...

Joseph:  My hometown is a very simple but beautiful place. It's a typical American suburb. I think that Lakewood is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. There's a little bit of everything. Skiing country is a short drive away, it rests right on Chautauqua Lake, there are wineries, festivals, etc. It has a small population, so everyone is atleast acquaintances no matter the age range. Maybe I'm partial to it's atmosphere since I'm from there but it is quiet yet functional.

How would I describe myself? I don't know if I could do a good job doing that. I believe that would be a better question for someone who is a close friend. I'd describe myself as a young man with an old soul. I occassionally make a poor and impulsive decision BUT I'm usually very contemplative and very goal-oriented. I'm silently creative (because I'm embarassed of my definition of "creativity") and I am  ambitious to show off that side of me but there isn't enough time in any single lifetime to complete every creative thought that I have, so instead I let the artists (like my friend, Joe Oppedisano) take care of capturing art while I do my very best to be the medium to which that same are it created.

Edward:  How did you start your modeling career? What do you think about the Modeling world? Is it a tough and competitive market?

Joseph: This question has a few parts. I refuse to neglect credit where credit is due, like Hudson Wright and Patrick Lee, nor Adam Silver who first signed me with Strengthnet Models (now Silver Models), as they were the first industry professionals that I worked with VERY early in my modeling career, but I'd have to say that my CAREER began when I made a call from Vancouver to Jason Kanner at Major Model Management in late May of 2002 and committed to be under their representation in NYC.

I would have to say the other part of that question is I began TO MODEL when I flew down to Miami in early February and shot Abercrombie with Bruce Weber. In all honestly, I had no intentions to persue modeling any further than that, but the fact that I very much enjoy proving people wrong gave me enough incentive to persue it as a career and attempt to crack the mold of the stereotypical 6-foot-tall male model.

Edward: How do you rate beauty and elegance for your life. Do you think these attributes really help a person to be well succeed in a career?

Joseph: I value beauty. I don't know if I value elegance. I know that I have bad taste for interior designing and I can barely dress myself, but I like order. I like things to be neat... which is ironic since my apartment is an absolute mess right now. I honestly don't think that having an appreciation for beauty helped me in modeling or not. I wear a t-shirt and jeans. In the summer it gets so hot that I walk around with sweat stains around my collar and under my arms. It's hot and there isn't anything that I can do about. I'm a sweater and I know it. I think that the fact that I'm comfortable with that I was given helps me the most. I can't change my height. I can't change my taste in food. Instead, I make the best of what I have and luckily I've found out that some people appreciate that about me.

Edward: As a model do you think you have already achieved your main purposes in the modeling market? If not, which modeling agencies, fashion campaigns and designers would you like to work for?

Joseph:  I feel that I've done enough to make a lot of people eat their words. I would love to be under contract with Calvin Klein or at least land one of their campaigns. Money is not the issue, I want it for the prestige.  Honestly, I'm perfectly content with how things are going. I don't mind dropping over my friends' apartments (Joe Oppedisano, Hudson Wright, etc.) and shooting a few pictures. I would like to see more of their work out there ahead of seeing myself out there. Of course the best case scenario is seeing more of their work out there... with me being featured in that very same work.

Edward:  Yo have worked for the most famous photographers and fashion campaigns in USA and abroad too....Tell us more.

Joseph: Well, I don't know what there is to tell except that I am always pinned up or clamped. The clothes never fit me, so the on site stylist improvise and use safety pins and clamps to make the clothes fit. I'd have to say that I'm usually wearing about five pounds of clothing and about five pounds of pins, clamps, and clips. This would explain why I hardly wear very much clothing in photo shoots. I'd have to say that with the metal that they use to secure the clothing on me, we'd end up bankrupting the steel/metal industry in Pittsburgh.

Photographers... I don't want to say anything bad or awkward about anyone so I'll give you a few tid bits... Tony Duran is the fastest photographer that I've ever worked with. He shoots more roles without an assistant than any photographer that I've seen with a team of assistants. Bruce Weber will hold his camera at his chin/chest level and stare at you until something (anything) happens and he absolutely has to lift it and capture it.

Steven Klein takes his time and makes sure that everything is perfect before shooting. It's a whole production but his work says it all. He usually shows up about two hours before he plans on shooting and one of his assistants is toting a cooler of bohemian style beer. I think that it relaxes everyone to throw back a brew before shooting. Joe Oppedisano is the dearest person I know. He makes you feel so comfortable. He cracks jokes and wiggles on the floor like a worm to capture the perfect angle. Obviously all that wiggling pays off because he gets the shot and stays in great shape. Watching Richard Phibbs photograph is like going to the circus. He is this... I think he's about 6'3" mountain of man and muscle. He slides and glides and angles like Neo from the Matrix. It's quite entertaining.

Edward:  What do you most like when you work with this professional? What are the main characteristics you most admire in a photographer?

Joseph:  Efficiency. I don't like to spend an entire day to capture one shot. I also appreciate a photograph that has respect for you and your own life, schedule, and  interests/needs. I don't like sitting still for very long. I hate being told to "hold it" for minutes on end. I appreciate a photographer who lets me be me and act goofy. I admire a photograph who doesn't jeopardize his artistic integrity.

Edward:  Tell us about your modeling assignments.

Joseph:  As disappointing as this sounds, there isn't much to tell. You walk around the city with your portfolio and you meet clients, art directors, designers, photographers, etc. It isn't very exciting. It's the people that you meet that are exciting. It is my understanding that you have already interviewed Joe Oppedisano, so you already know what kind of characters I run into. Bruce Weber is a character. Tony Duran is a character. Steven Klein is definitely a character. Joe Lalli, Hudson Wright, Steven Gomillion, Robert Mendolia, Karl Simone.... they're all characters. Sometimes I feel like Jerry Seinfeld but sometimes I feel like George Castanza or Cosmo Kramer. It all depends on whom I'm around and what kind of mood I'm in (and if I've swung by a pub to grab a beer or two or not).

Edward: I´m sure you might have some funny/unusual model backstages stories. Share with us some of these moments.

Joseph:   I am one of very few people that can say that he climbed a 20 foot ladder buck naked AND did a back flip off of a sky blue punch buggie five minutes later.  (Abercrombie). I've also had hundreds of gems glued to my body (RE:Fresh). OH! This is a top secret technique that I know he'll shoot me for telling but it is so true. While working with Joe Oppedisano for an editorial, he had his stylist, Greg  Vaughn, spray me down with so much Pam cooking spray (with Olive Oil), that we went through one and a half cans and the floor was so slippery that I was able to glide as if on ice skates on a cement floor.

Unusual/funny moments – Part 2!!!

Well, I did get a sun burn on my butt shooting Abercrombie. What a way to beginning modeling, huh?  Also, we were at a resort in Isla Morada and the snowbird/retirees we all crowded the shoot area (these people are at least 70 years old) to catch a glimpse of the nude men and women.

Edward:  Are you a fashion guy? What do you like to wear when you are not working and what do you like to do for fun?

Joseph:  I'm an an ANTI-fashion guy. I wear a t-shirt and jeans. T-shirts by Hanes (tagless tee's) and jeans usually by Levis. I don't like to try to draw anyone's attention. I like to be comfortable and I am comfortable in a t-shirt and jeans. I don't tamper with colors. I'm usually in black, white or navy blue. I like to watch episodes of Seinfeld for fun. I like to kickbox and sample ethnic foods for fun. I'm very open-minded and that allows me to never get bored. I can always entertain myself... unless I'm simply in the mood to be lazy and take an afternoon nap.

Edward:  What´s fame and success for you? And if you could choose 3 important things for your life and 3 amazing places around the world to have fun, which ones you´d choose and why?

Joseph:  Fame is nothing. I don't want to be famous. Three places would be Bora Bora, the Vatican, and Tokyo. Three important things? I can't pass judgement to weigh one experience over another, but a few that are important are trying chinese food for the first time, seeing John Kessler in Muscle Media... that inspired me to start working out, and the births of my nieces.

Edward:  Joe, thanks so much for sharing your story with us. Leave a final message for my Connex readers around the world and tell us your expectations for 2007.

Joseph:  I don't have expectations. I'm not a surfer but I ride the waves as they come instead of trying to create the waves... that's much too much work. I'm intend on completely my biology degree and taking my MCAT's. I also plan on completely a project that has been a year in progress so far with Joe Oppedisano. I also hope that I can make a big of enough splash to be invited back to do another interview.

Photos provided by Joseph Sayers and are all protected by copyright.

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