Paulina Shafir’s family immigrated to the United States from Russia twenty years ago, and four months later, Paulina was born. She is a first generation US citizen and an LA native. One of the firsts of her family to go to college, Paulina has two associate’s degrees – one in behavioral sciences and the other in math and science. She is also pursuing a B.S. in geography. If Paulina looks familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen her face in Vogue Italia.
Do you relate being a geography major to your experience living in two different cultures: Russian and American?
Yes, absolutely! I don’t have an attachment to one place. I feel like every place has something that I can be attached to. I think my personality, and how I’ve been raised, will allow me to freely live around the world. If I can go out and actually study people, there are endless things I can learn. I’m never going to stop learning. I want to travel more than anything in my life.
What does Santa Barbara have that Los Angeles doesn’t?
Santa Barbara has less tension and more of a spontaneous environment that allows me to think clearly and build my self-esteem before I move back to LA, because LA can break a person. I think it’s important that before settling some place, people should travel to other places to discover things about themselves. When I’m here I can see things clearly and when I go back to LA I see myself better than I did before. But Santa Barbara gives me a less intimidating vibe, which is something that I need before going to one of the most highly competitive places in the world
You spoke about being raised by a single mother, and growing up in modest and humble conditions. How much do those experiences contrast with the superficiality associated with modeling?
Up until I was 13 or 14, modeling was not something that I would ever consider. I would constantly compare myself to girls who looked more groomed and who were better dressed than me. I didn’t get the chance to buy makeup or the chance to buy nice clothes. I was never the girl who had anything that was trendy. My parents didn’t have style. I couldn’t afford style. Whatever I am now, I think, is all of my experiences put together. I would have done modeling a long time ago, but I never thought I was beautiful. I felt like an ugly girl in a pretty girl’s world. Growing up, I thought beauty was something you have to manipulate, by putting stuff on, buying stuff, putting on makeup, et cetera. But now my understanding of beauty is that it is something natural. I’ve come now to embrace that natural beauty.
How did you get your start in modeling?
I started modeling when I was in acting school. I went to a musical theater prominent school and I wasn’t a singer or a dancer so I spent most of my time in the film studio. The photographers there would ask me to be in their projects, so I built a portfolio accidentally. Other photographers would find me on Tumblr and Facebook and they would ask me to be in their photo projects, too. So then I got into Model Mayhem, a website where models and photographers can collaborate, and that’s when things really took off. I started doing shoots for clothing companies, music videos, paid work. But I didn’t take advantage of all of the opportunities handed to me. And it was because I was nervous. Photography is all about communicating with the lens of the camera; it’s about telling a story. When photographers look at me for one of their projects I don’t want them to say, “okay, here’s a mannequin coming,” but that here is someone with a story.
What is the most interesting photo shoot you’ve had?
It was for Dress Vintage, a vintage store. It was shot in east LA, at the Linda Vista Mental Institution, an abandoned mental institution. We had a shoot on gurneys, and on old spring mattresses, like mattresses without the cover, just the springs. I remember I found old health cards from doctors about patients who were in there, and also photos of patients. I found one of a girl who was 18 who had anorexia, and I took it with me. I think it was kind of an eye opener to see that there are people who go to institutions for disorders that this industry [modeling industry] seems to promote. But the photo shoot was really successful. The photos ended up in Vogue Italia.
So, you’re pretty Instagram famous. How many followers do you have?
I have 1,550 followers. I guess it’s a lot, but to be honest, I don’t even know how I got them. I don’t know how they find me! Everything I have in modeling and acting is not because I went for it, I’m just lucky. And it kind of makes me sad, you know? Because there are people who go out there and try really hard for this. But I do school, and I put everything into my classes and studies, because you never know exactly what they’re looking for. Putting what you’re born with on a pedestal like that can be really detrimental. It’s good to have a separation between beauty and other goals in your life, because beauty can be fleeting.
Do you have any long-term goals for modeling?
I just want to work with great people, and ride this wave until the sea is calm, you know? I hope I can get far, but I don’t throw all my eggs in one basket. I enjoy it more because of that, because then I have nothing to lose, only things to gain. So I’m going to do this until I stop gaining. I hope I go far.
Tell us about your most recent photo shoot.
It was a wedding shoot in Santa Barbara. It was for the 2014 collection, for their entire catalogue. It was cool. I worked with cool people and I got to model wedding dresses, which is awesome because I never thought I’d see myself in a wedding dress before I actually got married. But that’s why I like modeling because it’s like playing dress up, it’s about having fun and taking life a little less serious than what it is.
What advice can you give to women who aspire to work in the modeling industry?
I want people to understand that modeling is appealing because it validates your beauty, but it’s not the life. It’s not fun standing for hours and to have people not even look at you, really look at you, or have a conversation with you. It was always strangers looking at small aspects like how a strand of hair looks on my forehead or how they can block my legs to make them look better. The first step for an aspiring model is to embrace what they have naturally; beauty is something that a lot of models mistakenly think that they have to manipulate. Losing weight will surly make you look thinner, dying your hair will make you look different, but the way you look into the lens of the camera will tell the people who look at the photo what you’re really thinking. And if you can’t honestly look at yourself in the mirror, your real self, then modeling is just a fabrication of something you can’t see in yourself, something made up. An insecure model is an oxymoron, because generally those are the people that we’re insecure about.