Gisteren ontving ik van de moeder van Merlin haar stukje voor een artikel in La Belle Magazine in mijn mailbox en zoals afgesproken met de moeder van Merlin, zou ik daar mijn stukje aan toevoegen en “aan elkaar lijmen”.

Helaas door alle drukte rondom mijn gewone baan, was ik er nog niet aan toegekomen om er even goed voor te gaan zitten.

Dat is nu wel gelukt en daarnet heb ik het voorstel voor het artikel opgestuurd naar de editor van La Belle – Kidz & Teen Fashion Magazine.

We mochten tussen de 500 en 1.000 woorden gebruiken voor het stukje zoals de editor eerder aangaf, maar dat zijn er toch wel een paar meer geworden:

“My name is Merlin Sen, I am 16 years old, live in the Netherlands and am still studying high school.
My journey to become a model and make it my professional profession started about 4 years ago.
When my parents allowed me to use a mobile phone as a little girl, I created an Instagram account and then started looking for a good photographer.
This is how I came across Mr. Tjeerd Doosje @studiotjeerd (https://www.studiotjeerd.nl) on social media and I asked my parents if they wanted to contact him and make an appointment for my first photo shoot.
It was very exciting and I was very shy, but Mr. Tjeerd guided me well and professionally, which resulted in a beautiful series of first portrait photos that also won many international prizes. I am so grateful and proud of our collaboration.
So far I have entered photo competitions all over the world and my photos have been featured in galleries including Milan, Barcelona, Paris, Turin and other countries, thanks to Studio Tjeerd.
We have been published together in many fashion and beauty magazines and also in art magazines with beautiful photos by @studiotjeerd.
Through galleries and Mr. Tjeerd I have also been seen a few times on billboards on Times Square in New York.
Our photos can currently be seen through Mr. Tjeerd in Dubai during World Art Dubai 2024 and for a whole year in a photo gallery in Paris.
I am so proud of our collaboration with Mr. Tjeerd Doosje.
We have achieved so much together and we will continue.
Our collaboration is based on trust in each other and discipline, thanks to @studiotjeerd I have learned a lot. I am so grateful that we have done so much and achieved so much together.
What’s nice to know is that we also share a birthday on the same date, April 8, which is also so special.
Thank you for allowing us to be published in your beautiful magazine.
With lots of love, Merlin Sen from the Netherlands

I am Tjeerd Doosje and the regular photographer of Merlin Sen, an emerging and promising model from the Netherlands.
I am the owner of Studio Tjeerd based in the Netherlands.
Our collaboration started in October 2020 after Merlin approached me via Instagram.
After the first photo shoot there turned out to be a good connection between us and I tried to bring Merlin to international attention through my channels.
It is a privilege to be able to guide her in her journey from an insecure young girl, through puberty, to the beautiful, young adult woman she will become, where her trademark is her special blue eyes in combination with her naturally brown hair: one of the seven beauties.
There is a nice link to her multicultural background with parents of Polish and Turkish descent.
It is not without reason that she (regularly) uses the Turkish eye in posts, also known as the “blue eye” or “eye of Horus”: an amulet of Turkish origin that has been used for centuries as a symbol of protection and good luck.
Merlin as a model is easy-going to work with, one of the requirements if you want to get far in the modeling world.
She picks up things quickly and knows how to captivate the viewer in our photos, literally and figuratively, with her blue eyes, body language and expression.
I hope to be able to work with her for a long time and to make a small contribution to her further development into a top model.
My goal is to work with her to continually create new and surprising images, such as those that appear in this magazine, and that highlight her versatility; that these images literally catch the eye in the endless series of photos that are displayed on a feed every day and hold the viewer’s attention just a little longer than average.

You never take photos alone, but they are always the product of a collaboration in which the sum of the parts is more than the individual parts and in that respect I would also like to mention the extremely important role that her mother in particular plays in supporting Merlin.
The effort, time, boundless energy and effort that parents invest is also one of the requirements to get far in the modeling world and is too often underestimated or taken for granted. Merlin’s mother in particular provides this support with heart and soul and is, in our collaboration, invaluable.

Our CV has now become a comprehensive one within the relatively short time of more than four years.
The list below is only a small part of what we have achieved together with our photos and collaboration and is far from complete.
International prices:
Ambassador or Art 2021, Italy
Leonardo da Vinci Prize, Florence, Italy, 2022
2x gold, 2x silver at Muse Photography Awards 2022, New York, USA
Top 60 Masters Award 2022, New York, USA
Leonardo da Vinci Prize, Milan, Italy, 2023
Nomination Premi Internacional d’Art de Barcelona (PIAB) Awards 2023, Barcelona, Spain
2x silver, 4x honorable mention, New York Photography Awards 2022, New York USA
3x silver at Muse Photography Awards 2023, New York, USA
Nomination Premi Internacional d’Art de Barcelona (PIAB) Awards 2023, Barcelona, Spain
Leaders – Protagonists of Art at Washington, Washington DC, USA
3x silver, 1x honorable mention, New York Photography Awards 2023, New York USA
5x silver at Muse Photography Awards 2024, New York, USA
2x Mention of Excellence, Legacy Photography Awards, 2024
3x finalist at ArtaVita (2021)
On the ViewBug website:
Creative Winter Award (2021), Aperture Award (2023), Spring 2023 Award (2023), Picture Perfect Award (2023), Flawless Summer Award (2023), Summer Views Award (2023), Winter 2023 Award (2023), Editor’s Choice Award (2024).
Finalist in “Monochrome Marvels”, “Summer Runway”, “Photography Awards 2023”, honorable mention “City Vibes”, featured 5x

Exhibitions in galleries in Milan, New York, Berlin, Barcelona, Paris.

Publications in several art books including: The First Berliner Artbook, Aristonish Contemporary Art Magazine, Art Bestseller! 2021, World Wide Art Magazine, Art Collector’s Choice Book – Volume II – Middle East, Observica Contemporary Art Magazine (Winter 2021 Edition), Photography in the Visual Culture 2021 and also in several beauty and fashion magazines.

Merlin has everything to become a great international model, with her focus and goal on New York, where she will eventually work as a (catwalk) model for major fashion brands.

Follow Merlin on Instagram @xxmerlin_senx to follow her adventures to the top, because this will be a great, internationally known model: mark my words!

Finally, I would like to thank you very much for allowing us to publish photos in your fantastic magazine.
That is a great honor for us!

Nu afwachten of de e-mail met het artikel goed aan komt en ook of we niet te ver over het maximum aantal woorden gegaan zijn.
Dat heb ik dan ook in de e-mail geschreven aan de editor:

“Dear La Belle team,

I hereby send you, also on behalf of Merlin and her mother, the “short” story (see attachment) for your magazine.
Merlin’s mother and I have also collaborated in what we want to tell the readers of your magazine.

I am aware that our story exceeds the limit of 1,000 words.
Feel free to shorten the text to fit.

Have a great day!

Tjeerd”

Op de website van het tijdschrift staat te lezen waar het tijdschrift voor staat:
“La Belle is an international print and digital kids & teen fashion magazine for the trendsetting and style-savvy child; we are a fashion guide for parents, kids fashion buyers, and retailers. 

Our quarterly kids & teen fashion magazine features the latest in kids’ fashion, talent, art & literature, and fashion events. 

We take pride in collaborating with the most creative and artistic photographers, designers and models to provide you with fashion as its best! “

Inmiddels is er al een indrukwekkend aantal publicaties in modellen-, fashion- en beautytijdschriften geweest met foto’s van Merlin:
CanKids Magazine (januari 2021)
The Face Wild Child Magazine (augustus 2021)
The Style Researcher Magazine (september 2021)
Fashion Magazine NYC inclusief cover (december 2021)
Beautica Magazine (maart 2022)
The Style Researcher Magazine inclusief cover (maart 2022)
Wild Child Magazine inclusief cover (juli 2022)
Beautica Magazine issue #3 (augustus 2022)
ICON Fashion Magazine (augustus 2022)
L’Amour Magazine inclusief front- en backcover (november 2022)
The Style Researcher Magazine inclusief cover (december 2022)
Wild Child Magazine inclusief cover (december 2022)
Beautica Magazine Issue #3 inclusief front- en backcover (januari 2023)
Beautica Magazine Issue #2 inclusief front- en backcover (juni 2023)
La Modèle Magazine Issue #3 Volume 61 inclusief frontcover (september 2023)
All Eyes Magazine inclusief front- en backcover (november 2023)
Mirror Magazine inclusief front- en backcover (februari 2024)

Aan die lijst kan dan misschien (en nu ook ècht) een publicatie in La Belle Magazine worden toegevoegd.

Eerdere berichten over de mogelijke publicatie in La Belle Magazine zijn via deze link terug te lezen.