Nigel Barker at 21 Club

I’m a huge fan of America’s Next Top Model, so when my friend Melodie surprised me with a Christmas gift to hear ANTM judge, Fashion photographer, and author Nigel Barker speak at the 21 Club Breakfast – I was ecstatic! Nigel promoted his new book “Beauty Equation” and talked about the meaning of beauty. As a judge on a modeling show, he received questions daily from people asking him if they were beautiful or model-worthy. Even his young son asked him “What is beautiful?”. He wisely answered “Your mother is beautiful”, but realized he needed a more concrete answer and started writing down his thoughts.

Nigel talked about a young 14 year old girl who he felt had true beauty and confidence. He was photographing Nicole who had cancer. She had bad scarring down her arm, yet she angled the scarred side toward Nigel. He asked her if she wanted to turn her good side to the camera and she said “I want to be photographed this way. This is me. This is my life”. Of course, in reality, appearances do matter. But, allure, humor, compassion also play a part. Nigel said all the models on ANTM are pretty. But do they have that magnetism or bring excitement to the table? “People judge books by the cover, but make sure that the book is worth reading!” said Nigel.

Mr. Barker showed his compassionate side by also talking about UN Foundation organization Girl Up that lets American girls raise money to assist adolescent girls from third world countries. I think Nigel has a great message that could help a lot of people with their self confidence and look forward to reading the book!