"There's no such thing as being too thin, as long as you don't pass out

True colours of Anorexia: "there's no such thing as being too thin, as long as you don't pass out.” 

By Timotej Letonja, January 2014 

With each day further there is more and more information and knowledge about anorexia, which is one of the most common eating disorders. Every human being seeks for perfection, but does perfection even exsist? There are plenty of reasons why we should be perfect. For example not being good enough, being unhappy with how you look. Also athletes seek for perfection, gymnasts especially, because if they weigh less, they are able to do more, jump higher etc. So is this disease actually curable and do people who are struggling with it have a chance to ever get completely better? Years ago it was written about manorexia, a growing trend of eating disorders that predominantly only affected women, which were now seeping into the XY chromosome world. Men like Dennis Quaid, an admitted manorexic, admitted to binge eating. In 1990, men made up 10% of the population with an eating disorder. Now they make up 25%.

Vogue's decision to ban images of women who ”appear to have an eating disorder” is a move that should be celebrated, writes Tyra Banks. The supermodel encourages models, girls and mothers everywhere to spring into action. The editors of Vogue's 19 international editions all over the world have pledged to ban models from their pages who ”appear to have an eating disorder” to create healthy backstage working conditions, as well as several other revolutionary initiatives. When I started modeling, I used to see models who seemed unhealthy backstage at fashion shows. They appeared to be abusing their bodies to maintain a certain weight. These girls were booked over and over again for countless fashion shows and photo shoots. Now, real progress is finally on the horizon. Vogue is stepping up, doing the right thing and protecting the models, both male and female. People get upset with you if you're a very thin model. What many don't know is that a certain sample size has been set by the industry and you're doing everything in your power to keep working. At times I feel there's an unspoken rule that says, “There's no such thing as being too thin, as long as you don't pass out.” Isabelle Caro, a French model and actress, who became the international face of anorexia when she allowed her ravaged body to be photographed nude for an Italian advertising campaign to raise awareness about the disease, died on November 17 2010. She was 28.

Though her anorexia was almost certainly a factor in her death, it's exact role was not clear, and her weight at her death was not known. But Ms Caro weighed only about 60 pounds when she posed, reclining and staring balefully over her right shoulder, for an advertising campaign for the Italian fashion label Nolita in 2007. She was 5 feet 4 inches tall and had battled anorexia since the age of 13. The image, displayed on billboards and in newspapers as Fashion Week got under way that year in Milan, was shocking. Ms Caro's face was emaciated, her arms and legs mere sticks, her teeth seemingly too large for her mouth. 

Manorexia is on the rise: Experts blame pressure from male models as more men than ever suffer from eating disorders (One in five eating disorder sufferers is male, number of victims admitted to hospital up 66 per cent in past decade. Experts blame obsession with the 'perfect' body shape). The pressure to look like a male model is driving more men to develop dangerous eating disorders, experts warned today. Medical experts blame the surge on an obsession with looking good by having bulging biceps and a six-pack stomach.

published in: Heartbeat, January-February 2014

Obnašanje modela

OBNAŠANJE MODELA 

avtor: Timotej Letonja, Januar 2014

Vedno sem živel po besedah, ki mi jih je enkrat dejal en pameten gospod: "Človeško telo je najboljša umetnost."

Lani, na neko nedeljsko jutro, me je prešinila misel, da bi moral biti del modne industrije. Temeljito sem o tem razmislil, kaj bi bile prednosti in slabosti tega. Sploh nisem vedel kje začeti, ampak ni me bilo strah poizkusiti, saj je življenje toliko razburljivo, kot si ga sami naredimo. Če samo sediš doma, se dejansko nič ne zgodi, življenje gre mimo tebe, zato je pomembno probati nove stvari, predvsem stvari, ki te veselijo. 

Tako sem si rekel: »Timi, lahko narediš to! Zakaj ne bi probal in videl kam te lahko to pripelje? To si želim, ker me osrečuje, ker rad to delam, še posebej rad izražam svoja čustva pred objektivom, rad spoznavam nove ljudi in tudi…«.

Odločil sem se probati, saj nisem imel česa izgubiti in če ne bi probal, bi se vedno »Kaj če?« o modi berem na spletu in v revijah, zanima me kdo so najboljši fotografi, designerji, agencije in modeli. Tako sem naletel na svojega vzornika, Jon-a Kortajarena. Že od nekdaj sem si želel vedeti vse o modi, predstavljal sem si sliko kje bi rad bil: pri kateri agenciji, v katerem mestu, s kom bi rad delal.

Moram reči, da začetek moje poti v svetu mode ni bil lahek. Zahteval je veliko samopobude in verovanja vase in v moje sanje. Naredil sem  manjšo raziskavo o najboljših slovenskih fotografih. Ko sem to naredil sem si dal delati nekaj testnih fotografij in kmalu zatem je sledila pogodba z agencijo.

Ne, začetek ni bil lahek in niti poceni. Nič na svetu ni poceni, ampak, če je vredno poizkusiti, denar in karkoli druga ni tako pomembno. Potrebno je samo verjeti vase, če ne, te bo zlahka potolklo. Moja pot kot model se je začela s tem, da sem posnel nekaj profesionalnih fotografi za moj portfelj, kar mi je zelo pomagalo, da sem podpisal pogodbo z eno najboljših slovenskih agencij, MODEL GROUP, katere lastnica je Maja Raspopovič, nekoč uspešna manekenka in danes uspešna podjetnica. Seveda ni bilo tako lahko kot se sliši. Pred tem sem probal dobiti pogodbo tudi z drugimi agencijami v Slovenii. Pri prvi so me zavrnili, ampak zatem se je sreča obrnila meni v prid in tako sem podpisal pogodbo. To mi je dalo gorečo željo in energijo za ta posel, dobil pa sem s tem tudi potrditev, da sem na pravi poti.

Na nek način sem pričakoval, da se bo vse skupaj zgodilo kar čez noč. Mislil sem, da bom imel agencije po celem svetu v letu ali dveh. Če sem iskren, sem bil zaradi tega zelo razočaran in počutil sem se izgubljeno. Pogodbo z agencijo sem tako prekinil. Ampak, če imaš rad to kar delaš, se vedno najde način, da svoje sanje uresničuješ.

Čeprav nimam več agencije v Sloveniji, še vedno delam kot model. V tem času sem delal in še vedno delam za priznano slovensko oblikovalko, Majo Ferme.  Z delom za njo in z njo sem pridobil veliko izkušenj in to me je pripeljalo tudi do dela na Modnem tednu v Ljubljani to jesen. Moram reči, da je bila to ena najboljših izkušenj, kar sem jih v modnem svetu doživel: polna adrenalina, zadovoljstva in sreče…ko sem hodil po modni pisti sem se počutil ponosnega samega nase, ampak bolj kot karkoli sem bil srečen in to je tisto, kar šteje. Julija letos sem bil v Milanu, kjer je modni trg veliko večji kot v Sloveniji. Mesto je samo po sebi veličastno, s svojim posebnim duhom modne prestolnice, popolnoma drugačno od Ljubljane. Spoznal sem nekaj super ljudi in si spletel nekaj življenjskih kontaktov. Delal sem z enim izmed najboljših novih fotografov v tej industriji, Szilveszterjem Makó, prav tako pa tudi za odličnega oblikovalca, Toma Rebla. Trenutno sem v kontaktu z nekaterimi agencijami, vse kar moram narediti je podpisati pogodbo, tako da mi zaželite srečo.

Pred kratkih sem začel delati kot vodja blagovne znamke Revolver heart, znamka z zelo aktualnimi in svežimi oblačili, ki bi jih želel promovirati po celem svetu in pomagati, da Revolver heart postane trend. Ta izkušnja mi omogoča vpogled v modno industrio z druge perspektive. Včasih sem se sekiral, da nisem dovolj dober in se spraševal zakaj niso izbrali mene za določene kampanje. Zdaj pa vem, da se ne gre za to, da nisi dovolj dober, ampak samo za to ali določena oseba paše v koncept in ali je prava za to zgodbo.

Kljub temu, da sem star šele 18 let, sem si pridobil že veliko izkušenj za svoja leta, kar je super, če vprašate mene. Vse te izkušnje so me naredile močnejšega kot osebo in mi pomagale izoblikovati debelo kožo. Na koncu dneva je najbolj pomembna energija in osebnost. Vesel sem, da sem obkrožen z ljudmi, ki me podpirajo, verjamejo vame in me vodijo na pravo pot, in to je to kar je v življenju pomembno. Pred seboj imam še celo življenje. Vsak mora biti to kar je in vedno ostati zvest samemu sebi.

Kakorkoli, moda je moja strast. Četudi mi ne bi uspelo kot modelu, sem prepričan, da bom nekoč živel v New Yorku ali v Londonu. Mogoče bom imel celo svoje podjetje in bom delal na področju marketinga v svetu mode. Nikoli ne veš.

Naj članek zaključim z meni enim najljubših citatov: »Moda ni nekaj kar obstaja samo v oblekah. Moda je na nebu, na ulicah, ima opravka z idejami, načinom našega življenja in dogajanjem okoli nas.«

objavljeno v reviji Dijaški spekter, Januar 2014

ph: Szilveszter Makó

For every two minutes of glamour, there are eight hours of hard work.

Shooting the new collection of MAJA FERME fashion

author: Timotej Letonja, 2013

The day started early, at 5:30 AM, we already met in our Showroom in Ljubljana, where the day began with a morning coffee and shortly after that hair and make up...We changed the location to The National Museum and Museum of Natural History where the shoot took place.
It was a long day, but thanks to great team the photos of MAJA FERME NEW COLLECTION are magnificent. 

Maja Ferme 2013 ad campaign
photographer: Tibor Golob
make-up artist: Emper Atrizz
models: Barbara Sorcic & Timi Letonja

The perks of being a wallflower

author: Timotej Letonja, December 2012

All of my previous selves still survive somewhere inside of me, and my previous adolescent would have loved “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” The movie has received glowing reviews, and some snarky ones that seem to have been written by previous adults. The film is about an alienated high-school freshman who sees himself as a chronic outsider, and then is befriended by a group of older kids who embrace their non-conformist status.

The Book:
“Charlie” is the alias of the adolescent narrator of the novel, who is about to begin his first year of high school. The novel is presented through letters that Charlie writes to an anonymous friend, whom he hears girls at school talk about fondly. Charlie begins his freshman year apprehensive due to the death of his only good friend Michael, who committed suicide several months before. He does not feel that he can lean on his parents or older siblings for support because they never tru- ly understand him. He also explains that the only relative that he ever felt close to was his Aunt Helen, but she was killed in a car accident on his seventh birthday. Charlie soon makes friends with two seniors, Sam, and her step-brother Patrick. Throughout the story, Sam, Patrick, and Charlie’s English teacher Bill introduce him to many new experiences and the letters he writes show his growth. Bill gives Charlie many books to read, which influence the way he thinks greatly.
The Movie:
The movie confirms one of my convictions: If you are too popular in high school, you may become so fond of the feeling that you never find out who you really are. The film is based on Stephen Chbosky’s best-selling young-adult novel, which was published in 1999 and is now on many shelves next to The Catcher in the Rye. It offers the rare pleasure of an author directing his own book, and doing it well. No one who loves the book will complain about the movie, and especially not about its near-ideal casting.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a 2012 American film adaptation of the 1999 novel of the same title. The film stars Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller and was directed by the novel’s author, Stephen Chbosky. It was filmed the previous year.
My opinion: 
Well this book made a big impression on me, and I can say that it is definitely my favorite book, and coming from me that is big because I am not really into books but I must say it is a book to read. I can completely relate to a few thinks and situations in the book. Like I said before it is a really good one, I already got my friends, professors and my family to read it and they actually all really like it. I can only say it is a must read! The book made a huge impact on me and that is because a lot of things are basically every teenager's reality and we begin high school with so many expectations. We all are unique and we must never forget that! It is hard to relate with other youngsters, for me it was not, but basically HIGH school changed my life, it changed me and who I am in a good way, and reading this book made me realize that we are all alike and special at the same time. It made me accept the people that are different even though I believe we are all special in our own way and that we have to accept each other, whether we like it or not! 

Other opinions (critics):
Perks seems like the work of a much more experienced director, maintaining fidelity to the source mate- rial without sacrificing any cinematic qualities, triggering genuine sentimentality and nostalgia through interaction between sound and image.
Regardless of the viewer’s proximity to his or her own high school experience, “Perks” seems to get it right, precisely because it’s not about a specific time or place.
If you want to read more about both the book and the movie, check it on my webpage. 


Published in: Heartbeat magazine, 
http://www.pgmb.si/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Heartbeat_13_01_2013-4.pdf

Študij v tujini

Študij v tujini
avtor: Timotej Letonja, Januar 2014

Oxford je mesto z okoli 135.000 prebivalci v Angliji, znano po Oxfordski univerzi, najstarejši univerzi v angleško govorečem svetu. Gre za tipično britansko oziroma angleško mesto, polno zgodovinskih stavb, muzejev, čajnic in univerz. Najbolj znani sta seveda Oxfordska univerza in mestna knjižnica. Mesto je skozi leto polno študentov iz celega sveta, saj kot že omenjeno gre za univerzitetni kraj, ki ga obiskujejo turisti in študenti iz Azije, Evrope, ZDA, Avstralije in v bistvu iz vseh krajev sveta, saj se tukaj nahaja 6. najboljša univerza na svetu, ki ponuja mnogo raznovrstnih študijskih programov. Ker gre za britansko mesto je logično in samoumevno, da je vse drago, ampak se zaradi same atmosfere in vzdušja, ki ga ne znam primerjati s katerimkoli drugim krajem kjerkoli po svetu. Ko sem leta 2010 prišel v Oxford, sem se počutil kot da sem doma. 

Na tečaju sem bil 14 dni. V tem času sem spoznal mnogo ljudi, s katerimi sem se pogovarjal v angleškem jeziku in to mi je pomagalo pri komunikaciji v tujem jeziku, hkrati pa sem spoznal mnogo različnih kultur in njihovih običajev. Mesto je prav tako polno majhnih kavarn, butikov ipd. 

Tečaj poteka tako, da najprej, ko prideš tja izpolniš test splošnega znanja na podlagi katerega te uvrstijo v skupino s osebami, ki so na enakem nivoju znanja angleškega jezika, zato, da ti lahko profesorji pomagajo pri izboljšanju znanja. Pouk poteka na mnogo različnih načinov, kateri so zelo zanimivi, od debate, do pisanja esejev, sodelovanja s sošolci. Na koncu tečaja, ki lahko traja od dveh do več tednov, dobiš diplomo, ki ti lahko pomaga pri pridobitvi štipendije ali pri vpisu na študij. Kot že omenjeno spoznaš ljudi iz celega sveta, s katerimi lahko ustvariš dolgotrajne prijateljske vezi. Jaz sem na primer spoznal sovrstnico iz Portugalske, s katero se pogovarjava konstantno, šel sem tudi k njej na Portugalsko, ona pa je lani prišla k meni v Slovenijo. Prav tako mi veliko pomenijo izkušnje izmenjav, ki so nam jih omogočili na Prvi gimnaziji v Mariboru, na kateri obiskujem evropski oddelek. Omogočili so nam državno izmenjavo z dijaki iz Idrije, ter mednarodno izmenjavo z dijaki iz Češke. 

Leta 2011 sem obiskal prijatelje v Chicagu, ki jih poznam že dobrih 9 let. Spoznali smo se na morju, v Baški na otoku Krku, pri njih sem bil 2 tedna. Vse te izkušnje so si zelo podobne a hkrati zelo različne, saj so bile nekatere doživete na individualen pristop, druge pa na stopnji skupin, kjer se je govorilo več jezikov. Hkrati je razlika v tipu angleškega jezika, npr. v Angliji smo se pogovarjali in učili britansko angleščino, v ZDA pa smo pri komuniciranju uporabljali ameriško angleščino. Vse te izkušnje v življenju veliko štejejo, saj hkrati potuješ, spoznavaš nove kulture, nove ljudi in se izobražuješ. Vse to zajeto skupaj pa nam odpira vrata v svet in to je tisto kar zares šteje za posameznika in njegovo življenje. O tem bi lahko govoril v neskončnost, česar pa žal ne morem, zato bom zaključil z kratkim quotom, ki nam ga je izrekel professor v Oxfordu: »The more I study the more I know, the more I know the more I forget, the more I forget the less I know.«

Prva stvar, ki jo je treba vedeti, je da traja preden se navadiš na življenje v tuji državi, ker najprej pogrešaš družino in prijatelje. Hkrati pa je čisto drugačen način življenja od kulture, hrane, urnika.  Ko pa se socializiraš in komuniciraš z drugimi, se sprostiš in postaneš bolj samozavesten, poleg tega pa izboljšaš svoje jezikovne sposobnosti in besedni zaklad. Ko se sprostiš pa začneš prav uživati in to je tisto kar te vodi naprej v komuniciranje z drugimi. Zabavno je spoznavati nov kraj, novo kulturo, se ukvarjati s športnimi aktivnostmi in se udeleževati izletov, ki jih šola omogoča. S tem odneseš domov prav prijetna občutja in nepozabne spomine.

published on: EF - education first webpage

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