Model Portfolios in Medellín: Books, Model Tests, and Polas
If you want to model in Medellín, you’ll hear three words thrown around: polas, model test, and book. People use them like everybody already knows what they mean. Most people don’t. So let me clear it up, because they are three different products for three different jobs.
Let me start with the fun one. Polas is short for polaroids. And yes, “pola” also means beer around here, so if a friend invites you for a pola after your shoot, that’s a separate thing entirely. Try not to mix them up before the camera comes out.
Polas are the plain shots — usually fifty or more in about an hour. Almost no makeup, no fancy styling, little or no retouching. Simple poses, simple background. The whole point is to show an agency your real face, your real body, your height and your proportions with nothing hiding behind it. Agencies want the truth, not a fantasy. If you’re signing with an agency, or trying to, this is usually what they ask for first. It’s not glamorous and it’s not supposed to be.
A model test is the next step up. It’s a smaller set of images, but now they’re styled and retouched. Think of it as a taste of what you look like when someone actually art-directs you — a little wardrobe, a little polish. It sits in the middle: more finished than polas, less than a full book.
A model book — the “book de modelaje” — is the top of the ladder. This is the polished showcase. Makeup, a few wardrobe changes, real posing direction, full retouching. It’s the piece you hand around to show what you can do and how many different looks you can pull off. It’s also the biggest job of the three, and it costs the most.
Speaking of cost, here’s rough orientation for a premium Medellín studio: polas land around 1,200,000 COP, a model test around 1,500,000, and a full book around 3,000,000. High-volume studios crank out books much cheaper, from roughly 295,000 to 770,000. Prices move around, so treat these as ballpark, not gospel.
Now, where do I fit in? I’ll be straight with you. I don’t shoot bulk agency polas. That’s a volume game, and other studios do it well. What I do is my Fashion / Creative session — 350 USD, ninety minutes, two fully retouched images, one person. It’s editorial. Magazine-style. The kind of shot that makes someone stop scrolling.
So if you need fifty honest snapshots for an agency intake, go get polas somewhere built for that. But if you want one or two striking, creative images — a standout piece for your portfolio, a portrait that actually looks like art — that’s my end of the pool. I could give a shit about chasing trends. I care about making one great picture with someone who’s into the process.
Not sure which of the three you need? Tell me what it’s for and I’ll point you the right way, even if the right way isn’t me. And when you want that standout image, let’s book a session.