As a photographer, Jon Eland from the UK's But I Like It always loves to photograph models new to the industry, but it's not often that he's the one who finds a guy who has that right spark, the charm and a potential to excite others. With model Bryan O'Neil, Jon is quite animated about his latest 'find'!
'It was an unusual one for me - most of my models are spotted online or we get in touch through the model industry networking sites. In Bryan's case. a friend came to me and said 'you just have to shoot my work colleague - he'll be perfect for you.' I took a deep breath and, expecting some run-of-the-mill gym-goer. When I first saw a sample mobile shot I started to get intrigued - here was a guy who had a visual personality to match his well honed physique.
The deep breath was understandable. Besides obviously having an incredible body, Bryan has such beautiful blue eyes and a warm, welcoming face. The contrast and combination is captured beautifully by Jon's camera. Bryan and Jon have shot together a number of times now and these images come from those shoots.
For those wanting to know a little more about Bryan beyond the pictures, lets start with the obvious. Bryan does like to train, having done this seriously for the last 5 years. He's now in a position where he can bulk up (or down) as required and his dedication sees him getting up at 5:00a.m six days a week to maintain his physique. Previously he could also be found on Rugby and American Football fields.
'But he's not just a 'jock' type - he's a real romantic, liking nothing more than to surprise a partner with personal gifts or by making their favourite meal. His modelling's taken a temporary back seat as he's had a run of good news recently - passing his driving test (a big thing in the UK), finding a new job and (most exciting) becoming a father for the first time.'
'After the first shoot I suggested Bryan could go places if he could drop a little weight and get more defined. He simply went away and did it - no questions asked. He naturally knew how to pose and is great fun to work with as well as having a fantastic personality that carries through to the images.'
