Modelling not lucrative in Ghana — Chantelle Dapaah

The Ghanaian modelling industry may not be as vibrant as it was some years ago, but it still attracts some attention.

With the explosion of social media, new faces are being discovered all the time.

Having more young men and women taking an interest in the profession, one would think that it is now a lucrative field to enter into but professional model, Chantelle Dapaah, says that is not the case at all. 

“Being in the industry since 2007, I can say modelling does not pay in Ghana. People like to take advantage of models thinking they are doing you a favour. When these models also see the opportunity to be on billboards or magazines, they are in a hurry to take it, so these companies do not see the need to pay them well,” she told Graphic Showbiz in an interview.

For Chantelle Dapaah, the disparity between modelling in Ghana and modelling on the international stage is so big. 

She stated, “Outside Ghana, things are totally different; people respect you, your work and they understand the industry so they pay you what you deserve. Your worth is what you are given.”

Explaining, Miss Dapaah said models outside the country are paid per walk they do as compared to Ghana where they are paid per show.

“If you modelled 50 times, you get 50 times that but in Ghana, you are paid per show so even if you modelled 60 times, you will be paid the same as someone who walked 10 times because it is payment per show,” she added.

Miss Dapaah added there is a misconception that Ghanaian models are expensive “so they would rather go in for those who charge little to nothing, so models do not make money.” 

Asked what could be done to turn things around and give models what they deserved, Chantelle Dapaah said, “it is all about branding, you need to brand yourself well so that when the person is coming for you, they know they are coming for someone worth big money.

“Most of the models today do not know how to brand themselves and their social media pages so anything goes. Even when they are not supposed to take pictures, they take them. There are people with good brand positioning who are doing good and earning money.

“If you ask me, there are a few names who I can say have taken this thing seriously and are doing well, talk of the likes of Victoria Michaels, myself and others.” 

Chantelle Dapaah also dismissed assertions that models are prostitutes saying, “modelling is a decent job just like other jobs that are decent. It is just unfortunate that just because a model’s relationship didn’t work and she moves on with another person doesn’t make her a prostitute.”
  
She advised aspiring models to gain in-depth knowledge about what they were getting into.

“Education is key, a lot of people think modelling is just about posing and taking pictures but there is more to it. 

“There are contracts and clauses you have to sign and you should be able to read and understand. Again, you need to take courses on modelling to know about the industry,” she added.