World Premiere Interview: David Rosenberg Supermodel from South Africa

Interview by Christopher Uvenio

"I used to surf for the school team, and my mate owned a surf store – one afternoon went to the store to get my board fixed (dent repaired) and he said that he rented out surfboards to a shoot and got paid..."
"I recently shot a test with an up and coming photographer Hareth Tayem aussie born, and we shot for about 2 hrs and completely hit it off!"

"The best is shooting on location – that is by far the most fun, you get to see corners of the globe that you wouldn’t generally see..."
 
- The South African model, David Rosenberg, shares his story with us by the very beginning. David is a successful model who enjoys being in front of the camera, he loves the beach and shares his life between London and Cape Town. Recently he was in Italy where he walked for Guess during the fashion week.

Hello David, I’m flattered you accepted to be interviewed for my online mag, to start this interview off, please give me some background information Hi! My name is David Rosenberg, I was born in Cape Town, South Africa, went to school in Cape Town, and tried the varsity thing for 1 year and to be honest evening classes and a marketing position is not me, I’m an outdoors kind of guy so I continued to model full time in Europe and States. Lucky enough my mother used to be a model to back in the late 60’s in London so she understood when I told her I’m quitting studying for the University of Life :-)Father on the other hand has been super supportive he was born in Cape Town but from German descent. So that makes me a semi mixture between German/British/south African.I have an apartment in London with my girlfriend (dj/music producer) which I use as a base and then travel from here. I use London for 9 months and Cape Town for summer 3 months.

-What do you remember about your school days, did you have many friends and what was your favourite subject?School for me was an 8 am till 3 pm hurry up and go! :-) It was fun but as they say school is school - I had a nice bunch of mates which I am still friendly with to this day, my best mate (Luke) is still my closest friend! And I must admit in school from the age of 12 – 15 I was on the chubby side :-) I guess it was as they say 'puppy fat' I then grew to 6 foots 2 inches. Favourite subject, oooo tough one I'd say Business Economics and Maths.

-How did you start your career as a model? Who convinced you to become a model?I used to surf for the school team, and my mate owned a surf store – one afternoon went to the store to get my board fixed (dent repaired) and he said that he rented out surfboards to a shoot and got paid, I thought to myself I can rent myself and the board out stand at the back or surf on a wave and I'd get some extra cash on the side! Went to the sports modelling agency and signed up at 16 and from there it started – went from the sports agency left them to Boss Models South Africa who sent me at 18 to Paris/Milan/London for the shows in Jan and that what happened in a nut shell :-)

-Tell me about your first test shoot,  did you feel comfortable in front of the camera?My first test shoot, WoW ages ago – mmmm.... I rememeber nervous and not actually knowing what, how, it all works.... fish outta water to be honest I was working with models that had done shoots before so for me the newbie I had to learn fast, but on that note the team was great and a felt comfortable very quickly and started to enjoy myself!

- Your recent modeling assignments? I recently shot a test with an up and coming photographer Hareth Tayem aussie born, and we shot for about 2 hrs and completely hit it off! We shot I think some of my best stuff, point being is that if you connect with the photographer and feel comfortable you will produce the best images by far! You can explore different emotions and capture not “typical” posey/modeling looks but natural and strong, which fragrance campaign seek.
-What kind of assignments, as a model, do you prefer? I enjoy being in front of the camera no matter the job, but studio work is always a killer so it can be campaign/catalogue or editorial if it’s in studio I’m going to be bored and go mad inside, but I go to that happy spot in my mind and fantasies about what I can do with the money earnt which passes the time.

TV commercials are super fun I must admit as they have the best food spread you can think of, a lot of eating and waiting around for your scene. The best is shooting on location – that is by far the most fun, you get to see corners of the globe that you wouldn’t generally see. I had a 10 day production in India, walking with elephants – swimming in a pool on top of an old Indian fort transferred into a 5star hotel. Amazing.      

How would you describe your way to have fun, what do you like to do in your free time?In the spare time I enjoy the BEACH!! I’m a complete beach bum but London doesn’t have the weather for the beach so gym is a big factor and I enjoy it, the release of endorphins afterwards is amazing. Going to the aquarium is a must for me as well! I have a salt water tank in my room a 600 litre tank, and watching a tank relaxes you completely – so going to aquariums when travelling sort of recharges my batteries to say, I do a hell of a lot of travelling so to have an hour or two sometimes to think of nothing is super!

Long boarding through the parks with mates on a summer’s day. Back in SA I am a rescue swimmer for the National Sea Rescue Institute which is the similar to the RNLI (UK) or the US coast guard, so that back home takes up a lot of time, being on-call 24/7 for the duty week as well as training sessions, been doing it for 7 years now and absolutely love it!  So in my free time I hang out at the base and relax.

-What is your favourite kind of movies and the last film you watched?Last movie I watched 'Adjustment Bureau' which was great, but to be honest I do enjoy a good series instead of a movie, but POPCORN, COUCH and DVD’s are amazing! Sunday night movie night – next movie on the cards is 'Safe house',  Denzel Washington....looks good + first 10 minutes were shot in Cape Town :-)


-What kind of music do you like best? Who are your favourite singers?I’m a fan of all music, the old school to the latest pop beats, but it all depends on the mood I’m in. Gym training would be something like dubstep mixed with a little rock and commercial house, but as the girlfriend is a dj I’m constantly listening to her music, she’s making indie Electro/ Nu disco which I'm her no.1 fan – but love the tunes.

-Thanks again David, for taking the time to reply to my questions, it was a gift to me and my readers!