A signed fashion model, a college student, a student reporter; these are just some of the roles I currently take on.
Songwriter, singer, actress; these are some of the roles Diana Silvers takes on.
As someone who deeply enjoys artistic expression, I had the privilege of attending a virtual press conference with Silvers, learning about her experiences, sentiments, and journey through the creative field. In pursuit of reporting while connecting to my love for artistry, attending this press conference was intentional.
“Creativity begets more creativity,” Silvers beautifully said.
When I pose during photoshoots, I share with viewers my emotions and strive to make them feel or understand what I’m feeling. Everything feels like me, when I pose with an angry expression or a joyful one, I’m simply showing different facets of myself. Photoshoots give me the space to freely express who I am and provide a space for me to “vent,” just in a unique way. It was relatable to hear Silvers sharing the same sentiment. When she performs on stage, she said, “It feels like 100% authentically me.”
With modeling, the goal is to sell the viewer and make them want to buy the product or service you’re advertising. Whenever I’m wearing a specific design, I convey how wearing that garment makes me feel. Sometimes I feel empowered, other times, I simply feel beautiful. With emotional expression, I try to get viewers to envision how wearing what I’m wearing would make them also feel the same emotions. For Silvers, she measures song success in a similar way, hoping listeners picture themselves and relate to her music.
“If one person sees themselves in any of these songs, then it’s successful,” she said.
It felt almost nostalgic listening to Silvers reflect on her first live performance at Newport Folk Festival. “I was scared I was going to forget words to not just my song, but I covered ‘California’ by Joni Mitchell and that’s a very hard song to cover … once I started, it felt like something else just took over,” she said. She added that if you let go of any expectations, that experience can transform into something “amazing,” emphasizing the importance of having fun. Her words reminded me of the first photoshoot I took immediately after graduating from John Casablancas — a modeling and acting school previously located in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. The photoshoot was to build my portfolio and, simply, showcase me. I, too, was scared, but for a different reason. I didn’t want my photos to turn out bland; I wanted them to be an accurate representation of who I am: spontaneous, unique, outgoing.
In the first 10 minutes, worry consumed me to the point that my poses looked unnatural and awkward. As the photographer spoke with me, occasionally cracking jokes and reminding me to be myself, my experience turned into an enjoyable and memorable one. I experimented with different poses that reflected my emotions and my creativity. Letting go of expectations and simply having fun allowed for my first experience to be a great one.
As the press conference continued, the more I discovered how relatable Silvers’s journey is with my lived experiences. Her song, “June,” was described as “emotionally unguarded,” automatically making it relatable and sincere. Silvers shared the importance of vulnerability in her songwriting process.
“It’s everything. It’s the time when I’m just really honest because I’m not concerned with how it’s going to be perceived,” she said.
She uses songwriting and singing to better understand herself.
As someone who can never explain or verbally share how I’m feeling, modeling gives me that avenue to make sense of my emotions and personality. It’s my way of being vulnerable.
I truly appreciated listening to the almost philosophical way Silvers spoke about her experiences. She’s also a photographer, and when asked about how she uses her “photographer’s eye” to capture the emotional atmosphere for music videos for her songs, she said, “When I hear music, I see images.”
“I have a color and feeling, and how does that color translate into an image? And then how does that image translate into a story?” she elaborated on her creative process.
As an aspiring journalist, attending my first ever press conference was meaningful and transformative. Hearing all the questions asked broadened my horizon of the variety of inquires that exist, satisfying different perspectives. After all, asking the right questions is a reporter’s asset.
Why I wanted to pursue journalism was a matter of fact-finding. I value honesty, transparency, and truth. Uncovering new information, meticulously verifying it, and sharing that information with others is ever so important to me, especially as we all navigate an age where misinformation and disinformation consume the media we digest. This is the objective truth.
As a model, I stive to find truth as well, revealing to myself who I truly am. This, however, is subjective truth. Yet it was reassuring to listen to Silvers’ same value on truth.
“The driving force of making art is speaking the truth … in the pursuit of truth,” she said.
Overall, the press conference was educational, relatable, and inspirational.
Like Silvers cleverly remarked, “What you breathe in, is what you breathe out.” The only way we can accomplish our goals is to be intentional with what we do. My goals are, first, to personally continue to model, and second, to become a great reporter who asks a variety of questions and always delivers important, reliable, and verified updates.
I personally say “yes” to every opportunity that aligns with my goals. I “breathed in” all the questions asked at the press conference — including Silvers’ insightful responses — and am currently “breathing out” an introspective article on the experience.