The Profile: Jasmine Curtis-Smith

Jasmine Curtis-Smith: At 1 am, this is how she looks like for a shoot...
An outtake. This photo by yours truly.

On her sure way up the ranks to super stardom, Jasmine Curtis-Smith stops for SALT to look at her life now: the award that changed her life, her love for the industry, her music and her interest in-of all genres, horror and mostly the woman behind her and her successes. An exclusive SALT profile. By Gerard Gotladera

Family First

Jasmine Curtis-Smith, did not have a magic moment. Contrary to popular belief and reportage, not all stars who make it big take root in that magic moment. You often read how actors are usually sparked by performances of famous actors and actresses, playing so terribly well on screen or on stage, that they too feel it's their own path to take. Quite the romantic touch, if you ask me, to any success story. But when my friend, award-winning actress, columnist, celebrity endorser and million-followed social media darling, confesses that there was "none whatsoever" of a magic moment for her, I was floored.

"It was the thought of helping my mama...Whenever I am given a role or project, she's always the primary inspiration to do well and give my best. The rest comes second. Along with that, I  owe it to myself to actually commit to something and be really good at it."

This is Jasmine Curtis-Smith in a quote. Despite her youth, beauty and stature, she plays the daughter role best. Decisions are strongly guided and grounded in family and this is one wonderful trait of the beauty. When asked why she chose the entertainment industry, her mother, the famous Tita Carmen, and her sister, needless of any introductions, the Anne Curtis, naturally spring out among the flurry of words she shares upon choosing show business.

"It just happened. I've always been exposed to this industry because of my older sister but I used to actually repel the idea of being an actress...because I badly wanted to be incredibly different from her. But one day an offer came along and I'd just started to enjoy acting in school, so I thought why say no when I can also help my mama financially."

Through Jules'---It's definitely short: A Salt Exclusive

Long overdue, and I tell you, it's been baking in my inbox for over a month now but I'm still proud to bring you the sweet, (really) short interview I got with up-and-coming model/photographer/blogger Julian "Jules" Schratter...Uhuh, that's him of throughjuleslens.

A self-portrait. Julian "Jules" Schratter

He's been making a handsome name for himself not just in modeling, but by chronicling the great-looking crowd of both fashion and his circle of friends and families. A visit to his blog would make you want to have fun, care so little about tomorrow and just enjoy being young and free (not to mention smoke more...Sorry, but it's true)

Read on about why kids make him feel young again, what he's bound to tell Garrett Neff  (he didn't promise, but hey, I tried) and the famous celebrity he'd dream of shooting chugging down a beer...For a short and simple interview, it's actually more interesting.


Gerard: What is it about photography that you like?
Julian: All of it

G: Your blog is really attractive because for me, it feels like it's incredibly telling of who you are. In percentage, how much of you do you put into your blog?
J: Depends on the moment...If I'm sitting down at the computer, it's 100% of me...If I'm doing something else then that's my 100%

G: You write well, and music's obviously part of your interests? Ever written a song before? If ever how would your songs be like?
J: Some of those lyrics I post are mine... That's what it would be like

G: Your five favorite photos and why you like them.
J: IMPOSSIBLE!

G: If there was one female model you'd take a photo of over and over again, who would it be and why?
J: I haven't shot enough female models to know my favorite. But there are a few on my list. :)

G: You like kids too, I could tell. What is it about them that you find very captivating?
J:  There emotions are so raw and true to who they are...When I'm hanging out with kids, I am a kid again. Simple as that.

One of his famous subjects left (super cute) and the photographer/blogger/super cool personality Jules Schratter

G: In a photo, the funnest night you've had.

G: How could you tell the Davenport twins from each other? (Most of his entries show you one---or both, of the Davenport boys, and sometimes I couldn't tell which one is Brian and/or Travis)
J: They are very much alike, but much more different.

Not really sure if this is Brian or Travis Davenport. Jules could tell

G: Garrett Neff is my favorite model (just saying) and if it's possible, could you tell him?
J: I'll let him know.

G: Your "drinking", "smoking" and "tattoo" shots are the best. Who would be your dream "drinking", "smoking" and "tattoo" subjects? (Ones you haven't taken photos of yet)
J: Drinking- Charlie Sheen, Smoking- Lil Wayne, Bob Marley, Tattoo- all of Brooklyn

More great photos (personal favorites) from Jules' blog.

Ever saw the sky this blue?

Be careful Chico, you don't want to bite that...Francisco Lachowski

What you dancing to Ryan Kennedy? 

A little princess

One of Jules' most beautiful subjects. Her hair, good God, is just perfect

Arthur, does it ever happen to you that you never look good? Amazing.

Terron Wood and his confusing...ummm....pose

Admit it, a lot of Sean O'pry's best photos are by him

Check out those wheels. Awesome colors.

Hands down, my favorite photo of him. BEAUTIFUL

Please follow him on Tumblr and also on Blogspot, I promise you you'll be hooked!

To Jules, thanks a lot...And I'm grateful you squeezed in some time to answer my questions, I'm really happy and humbled.

Surely, he'll go far, far, far places. I'm seeing an exhibit real soon and it won't be long before he takes up all those ads (if not shooting them). Such a cool guy.

(And he even apologizes for the short answers. I'm like, YOU SERIOUS?! this is all I need and more. :)))) )

ALL PHOTOS YOU SEE HERE ARE OWNED AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY JULIAN "JULES" SCHRATTER...Links are provided for sources.

P.S. Jules, if you're reading this, I'm still hoping on that Garrett Neff greet. I'm watching you. ;)


- Gerard

Printed Matters

In the dry afternoons of summer, what we're planning to do is to walk around, talk about whatever's worth talking about and while we're at it, take to the streets printed shirts that are as easy, cool and light as any ideal summer look ought to be. 

Welcome to a Salt exclusive shoot, featuring SM Boys' Teens Wear Department's affordable and neat summer offerings for basically everyone. Photographed by super photographer/friend Lesley Choa, one of my best friends, Tj Estrada and I have gone 'round to test the afternoon in SMBTW's printed matters.

on Tj left: Undefeated shirt,
on me right: Mickey Mouse Spray painted shirt

You might not see it, but Tj's Undefeated shirt is the perfect counterpoint to my Mickey Mouse shirt. On Tj's is a photo of a man, wearing blinders and on his head Mickey's ears, the photo rendered dark and a little moody. Hence the story of him being the bad Mickey (what with all his dark, sober colors) and I being the good Mickey (thanks to so much perked up hues).

Tj: Team Manila Klasik shirt
Me: the Daily Grind shirt

Summer's one of the best reasons to wear some shorts and to pair these basic shorts with, we chose shirts that'll draw attention, like my Daily Grind "Gai Jin" shirt and Tj's Team Manila Klasik "Salisalita sakalye ngManila TeamManila Klasik".

Me: "Teenage Stray" James Dean shirt
Tj: Charlie Chaplin shirt both by Undefeated

My idea was to give tribute to Old Hollywood icons, my idol James Dean and the ultra talented, legendary Mr. Charlie Chaplin. Tj's idea was to shoot this inspired by those models off duty and how they look like on JakandJil photos. The first one, I say is a success. The second one, is quite alright... And yes, we smoke and I drank way too much Coke for my own good. But that was the inspiration. (Tj pointed out that I should've had Coke Zero or Light but the regular one popped best on photos).

Me: "Bossing Para!" shirt by Team Manila Klasik
Tj: "A Mouthful O' Knowledge" shirt by Daily Grind

I badly wanted to play tennis that afternoon but I couldn't find a tennis ball (hahaha) and we only had one racket. As you might've guessed it, yes, the styling's intention was to sort of match things up but at the same time made sure it had contrasts. This last look both had statements on them and speech bubbles. Seeing them on their hangers didn't really make much sense other than those two similarities, but it turns out they looked so great together on photos. The colors, especially.

Visit SM Boys' Teens Wear Department's Facebook page for more information on their collections, status-as-advice posts AND most of all a chance to win 5,000 pesos weekly from SM as prize from their contest. What contest? First off, like their Facebook page. Second, check out the details on the page itself for SM's lookbook contest and search for the application. Once the dirty work's done, go ahead and get your own talented photographer or if you are one, take a photo of your self sporting at least (2) of SMBTW's pieces purchased during the promo period. Got it? Then, once you're done, upload it on SMBTW's Facebook page and make sure to gather all your friends to have them vote for your photo. If you're photo is that good and you manage to beat everyone else with the number of votes/likes you get, then you're definitely going shopping in SM and you could forget about your wallet.

Go be creative and celebrate your own style!

Thanks to Lesley Choa, Tj Estrada and SM Boy's Teens Department for the amazing clothes you've got on your shelves. Keep them coming SM. You've found new customers in us.

PEACE!

- Gerard

How's it looking (so far)

Doing the "model-off-duty" photos.
"Teenage Stray"/James Dean shirt left, Tj Estrada in Charlie Chaplin shirt all by SM Boys' Teens Wear Department
Photo by Lesley Choa

The shoot is done.

Our Salt exclusive, mini-project took place yesterday, under a pretty dizzying after lunch sun. Photographer, friend and all-round whitest girl in the world, Lesley Choa took some real great photos, most of which I never expected to look so brilliant. I was too preoccupied with sweating and making sure that we got our shots than looking at the pictures.

So, when I got them just minutes ago on my e-mail I was pretty pleased with the outcome. It was fun shopping around SM yesterday, looking for great shirts that Tj could wear along with what I've already bought. And even Tj was amazed at just how much you could find at SM Boys' Teens Wear Department. 

The photos will be up tomorrow night and all the final photos will be there. As you know, it's a shirt story and you're going to see lots of sunglasses as well since it is summer. If you haven't heard and if you haven't liked SM Boys' Teens Wear Department's Facebook page, SM is holding a contest. 

For all teenage boys out there the contest is all about you wearing at least 2 items purchased during the promotion period (which is on now) from the SM Boys' Teens Wear Department. Whatever style you swear by, it's perfectly fine. Applications will be sent soon, I believe so you could have your photos uploaded on their Facebook page and when it's that good, voters could put you on top of the entire contest. If you're the highest, you definitely win a prize (trust me, I'd want to win that prize). And the prize is no joke. It's some serious prize they're offering, so better do good. I'll be posting more details by tomorrow, so you could start your own shoot. 

As for Tj and I, well, we're pretty satisfied with what we've got, shopping from SM Boys' Teens Wear Deparment. Those shirts we bought will be on heavy rotation I tell you, during these scorching days of summer. And the photos are proof that you'd want to pile up on them for sure.

Here are more news: ROGUE has finally granted me headline space. Though I haven't got my name on it, my Chuck Taylor piece (thank you LA) made it the headlines and that's been on my wishlist for a long time, so thank you ROGUE. PLEASE grab yourselves a copy, not just cause I wrote for this issue, but because it'll blow your sucks off. It's an AMAZING cover, I promise you. Probably their best.

GOODIES magazine, the online magazine that got me as a columnist (thank you Kelvin) finally published my review of Patrik Ervell's aerial collection. Check out what GOODIES has got for you from hot ladies to music news to people worth reading about. GOODIES is all about every man's interest, trust me, it's a cool new avenue for what's great now. 

And before I bid goodnight, here are more of the outtakes from our shoot yesterday. ALL PHOTO credit goes to Lesley "Le Sizzle" Choa. Thank you Lesley, thank you Tj and thank you to SM Boys' Teens Wear Department for all the great clothing options you NOW offer everyone.

The Bad Mickey Good Mickey look.
Tj in an Undefeated shirt, TOPMAN button down, Me in a Mickey Mouse Disney shirt and H&M Button down
T-shirts from SM Boys' Teens Wear Deparment
Take note of my face. ahahahah

The sportiest we could do:
Bossing Para! shirt by Team Manila Klassik and Mouth Full O' Knowledge shirt by the Daily Grind
from SM Boys' Teens Wear Deparment
I look damn pregnant here. Tsk. hahaha...

P.S. I just might be pregnant. :))

- Gerard

Salt Highly Recommends

Bench jeans, Bass desert boots & James Dean (finally) shirt from Undefeated for SM Boy's Teen's Department

TOPMAN jeans, (finally) Jack Purcells & SM Boys Teen's "Bossing Para!" shirt by Team Manila Klassik

I had the craziest dream, involving two people I have odd feelings about and the moment I wake up, the first thing that came to my mind was to get things done. 

I'm obviously suffering from bad dreams cause I've been doing nothing (imagine, just days off of college and I'm acting up). My resolution to this is to hunt for a job. That one, I've done so far. Then to finally dive deep into Kerouac's On The Road...Well, I bought the deluxe edition which has like about 200 pages of introduction and I'm only on what, page 45? Then finally to get myself tons and tons of great-looking shirts for the summer. 

As we all know, Manila is all about t-shirt weather and this is a HUGE challenge for me since everything that I'm used to wearing would cause me a heat stroke. While I'm not yet into the whole working force, I told myself I need to get stocked on nice, young-ish summer basics. I've always told my closest friends that I'm not a t-shirt person. Something about it makes me feel naked. So my best resolution is to buy shirts with great prints on them. 

Months ago, I've seen amazing shirts from this high-street label we're all quite familiar with. Knowing my money habits, I couldn't afford myself five of those shirts that I loved. Even my mom says no to them. And in an attempt to ease the summer-clothes hunger pains, I checked out what the Filipino shopper calls home: SM department store. The amazing thing about SM is that it's cheap. Sure, we've got that settled ages ago. You want something cheap, you go to SM, cause they've got it all, right? But what makes it even more exciting is that, something about SM has changed. I used to doubt going to SM for anything cause I never found anything nice---in my opinion. Now that I'm older, much more concerned with money and is awfully more knowledgeable at---well, "nice" things, I find myself thanking the big wigs behind SM for revamping and changing it up at their place.

Gone were the days when SM offered unappetizing things. Today, you check out what the kids at SM could wear, you'll see so much great pieces. Up at the Men's department, the brands they now carry are chicer, more tasteful and the price range still the same. For the t-shirt hunting, the first place I went to was SM Boys Teen's Department. And it was the BEST place to go to. 

Hours ago, I found myself carrying around five shirts to wear and a pair of really cheap, girl scout green shorts, all of that I bought for the price of a SINGLE PRINTED TEE on that high street label I've been talking about. No offense to them, but I still love their brand. But imagine that. IMAGINE THAT. My mom's so proud of me, she wanted to kiss me on the cheek but thought of otherwise. You may think what SM Boys Teen's Department has is all bull, but I tell you, models up in the States and in Europe would go crazy down here to wear these shirts for their super cool, off-duty looks. They're THAT cool, I decided to call in two of the coolest people in the world for a semi-spontaneous photoshoot: Tj Estrada and Lesley Choa. Tj and I have been itching for a shoot together, though we're not models, this is our way of having (vain) fun. Lesley Choa, of course is a Salt and Institution of Style regular, just like Aaron Articulo. And since I've talked to Lesley first (and that's cause I also worked with her first for our defunct VINO organization) this Wednesday, we're having that shoot done. The story will be about summer looks and what we could do with printed shirts. Tj's going shopping too. 

Up there's a preview of what things will look like. The Dean shirt and the "Bossing Para!" shirt are two of my favorites. There is so much more to love that I love from SM's Boys Teen's Department. And I'm just saying, while you're at it, get your shirts there and check out what they have in store for you IF you want to win something real nice down at their Facebook (CLICK) page (make sure you LIKE their page first, then check it out). I promise you, you'll want your photoshoot too and more of SM's great stuff.

As for Tj and I and Lesley, well, we're up to something good this Wednesday...

Stay tuned for the whole shoot (SALT exclusive lookbook shoot hahaha) on Friday folks.

- Gerard

Sean & Garrett

Garrett: Mmmmmm.... Sean: I still hate balloons
Photo by Jules Schratter

It's supposed to be Great-Looking Friday today, but instead I opted to post a black and white photo of two of the most brilliant faces in the male modeling world by Jules Schratter. To your left---that is if you haven't been to this blog before, is Garrett Neff and to your right is Sean O'pry.

I'd want to know what they're talking about. Why Garrett's worried or bothered by something and why Sean's teeth are so white. Ever wondered what models talk about? Back in the days I believed models were seen as good-looking airheads, but thanks to technology (YouTube and those other platforms) it seems that models of today are not only well-traveled, but are also quite witty and having wit takes a certain sense of timing and know how and brains. Airheads can't do that. 

One day, really, I'd sit down with these two and shower them with questions, but looking at their ways on video, I just might end up talking with them instead of interviewing them about all these unimaginable things. Jules, I'm waiting for that one last question and then it's a GO for our Salt exclusive. The man's extra kind, you should know that, and his photos are always such a pleasure to look at.

To Garrett, Sean and Jules, God bless your souls sterling men.

And to myself, well, I'm off to do one of my last few requirements for school. Just a short update, I've been given a new assignment by someone... So I've got three projects in store for me in the very, very near future: One I'm going to on Monday, two is promised to happen next week and the third one, I'm not so sure yet of its date, but I got the e-mail.
So...Wish me luck you guys and have a great weekend ahead of you. Japan, I'm still praying...



- Gerard

The Hair

This morning I finally read Jules Schratter's reply to my e-mail and guess what?

I'm doing a story on him...(If you're wondering why and how and just a little confused, read this)

I promise him now that it'll be a cool, really casual yet sensible story/interview since, well, that's how he is and that's just how he likes it (which is allllllll gggggrrrrrreeeeaaaaaatttttttt for me).

Anyway, on the weekend I'd be studying his blog and do some bit of research on him just so I could throw in good questions. If you haven't followed his blog yet, be ashamed. I kid. Go check out Jules' blog and start getting inspiration.

In the meantime, while I'm all chill and excited (hahaha), here's a video of how dudes up in fashion week do hair. It's amazing. I've been obsessing about great hair since God knows when and I'm still jealous that models have awesome hair. This is how you do great hair. The ladies have those voluminous, wavy locks that are just super sexy. Guys, on the other hand have this kind of hair, that old school, soft side part that I have been trying for ages and only came by before my stylist forgot about what-the-customer-wants. I had it see, a day or two ago and then...well, the best thing about hair is that it grows back.

Thanks Jules and as promised, this weekend...Will write to you soon.

To my Salt-y readers, wait for this story to appear here on my blog...

It's a first (for Salt) and I'm all smiles my jaw just snapped. 

-Gerard