Ghana Models Awards comes around again
Preparations are far advanced for the second edition of the Ghana Models Awards (GMA) event to come off next month at the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons in Accra.
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The founder and Event Director of the award scheme, Jerry Sampson, told The Mirror that this year’s event is being dedicated to fashion designer and educator, Joyce Ababio.
“The main aim of the Ghana Models Awards is to attract government’s attention to institute policies that will protect and encourage the profession. We also want to celebrate models in Ghana, not necessarily of Ghanaian origin, but who are doing well in the modelling industry here and for that matter, can be called role models,” Sampson said.
A model is a person with a role to promote, display or advertise commercial products, notably clothing or to serve as a visual aide for people creating works of art or to pose for photography.
Different types of modelling include fashion, glamour, fitness, bikini and fine art. Models are featured in a variety of media formats including books, magazines, films, newspapers, internet and television.
The GMA founder said that some advertising agencies deliberately refuse to pay models reasonable fees for their roles in commercials.
He pointed out that in the case of the model agency turning down the amount, the advertising agencies resort to using just anyone they find in the streets.
“This negative attitudes of some advertising agencies is gradually crippling the modelling industry as model agencies are not able to pay their bills and their models resort to freelance work which brings about further exploitation.”
According to Sampson, modelling is a noble area of work but some unscrupulous people are taking advantage of the profession to scout for young Ghanaian girls for prostitution abroad.
He told The Mirror he would collaborate with agencies such as the Models Union of Ghana (MODUGAH) and Models Association of Ghana (MAG) to fight that nefarious trend.
He stated that though raising sponsorship for events related to models is often hard, he was pushing hard to ensure that next month’s event goes well.