We’re proud to announce another BY Catalog milestone achievement. This one goes out to Lance, who has reached the 1,500 mark in the BY Catalog. One of the original 6 models from 2001, he is only surpassed in number of catalog shots by Courtney (currently at 1,563 shots).
It’s been a wonderful six years with Lance, and we will miss him, as he has recently aged out of the BeautifulYouth project. As I said, Lance was one of our original six models (with Jake, Cory, Courtney, Mandy, and Yvette). Finding Lance was almost by mistake. I was actively seeking Cory to be a part of the project, and found him at Lance’s house- the two were friends. After a few test shots, it was apparent that Lance was destined to be a part of the BeautifulYouth project.
In real life, Lance is quite unassuming, and does not stand out from a crowd. Train a camera on him, however, and the view you get is quite stunning. I have, on more than one occasion, called Lance the most photogenic person I have ever met.
Lance is also unique in that he was one of the only BY models that did not want to actively pursue modelling or acting. As a result of exposure on BY, Lance landed a role as a ‘street kid’ on the brochure of a California Youth Runaway Help Center. He only accepted the part because I was the photographer. Not long after that, Lance was offered the lead role in a short independent film by a Palestinian filmmaker. Lance turned it down because it was to shoot in Israel, and would take him away from school and his beloved soccer for too long. There were even no regrets a year later, when the film opened at the Cannes Film Festival.
It has always been a pleasure working with Lance, and I can only hope that I have such good relations with all my future models, and that they will be as gentle and kind a soul as Lance. The BeautifulYouth Project wishes Lance well as he heads off to college.