Agency 7 is run by art student Zoey Sclare, and is one of Contact's valued partner agencies. She began scouting models while searching for subjects on her own uni projects when fellow students began asking her for help with scouting for theirs. This grew overnight from an experimental Instagram account into a full-on operation and eventual collab with Contact.

Zoey still studies, and runs Agency 7 alongside her photography degree in what she calls a "happy accident" that has seen her models book Burberry and beyond. Agency 7 shows that if you have a passion for scouting and model management, and a good perception of what creatives and clients are looking for, you can form something special. At Contact, we collaborate with all kinds of agents - from large, well-established agencies, to inspiring independent MAs - so we caught up with Zoey to ask her about how exactly Agency 7 came into being.

I like to call Agency 7 a happy accident. I moved course in the beginning of my second year at university, mid-January last year. I was really unhappy on my previous course and decided to make the switch to Fashion Photography. I realised quickly after starting my course that models for projects were being recycled and overused, as well as there being a general lack of enthusiasm around scouting. My peers would often come to me to use the models I was casting or ask me to scout people for their projects. That’s when I had the idea to create a platform to facilitate something that was already happening. I started Agency 7 with the concept of it being a free agency for students, young creatives and independent businesses. The idea was that the students could use amazing new faces for free, and for the models to then use their new professional portfolio to get picked up by a bigger agency. I simply set up an Instagram account which blew up straight away, and within three days I had over 30,000 interactions with the account. I also had other surrounding universities up North using Agency 7 for their projects, and had a variety of brands reaching out to me. The response was very overwhelming but more so exciting.

In my eyes being a student is what has helped me to become successful. I’m constantly in a hub surrounded by new and cool faces to scout. Whenever I go to university or out to socialise, I see someone who I think would make a great model which makes scouting a very attainable aspect for me. I think it also makes me slightly more approachable and less intimidating when I scout. In terms of hindrance, being 20 years old and a student puts doubt in some people’s minds as to whether what I’m doing is legitimate. Sometimes it makes people not take me and what I’m doing seriously which is a shame.

I’ve definitely tightened up on my casting and honed in on the look I want Agency 7 to have since I first started it. I choose people that stand out when they walk down the street because they bring something different to the table with how they look and present themselves. I’m not concerned with height and weight because I don’t believe it should be a restraint as to whether someone should be able to model or not. If you have an interesting look or face, that is enough to make me want to scout you.

Since a very young age, I’ve always enjoyed people watching and have found how everyone is so different fascinating, which could have been an early contribution to how I got into scouting. However, I properly became engaged with it when I started studying photography. I was always encouraged to scout people who would push my photography rather than scout someone that would be convenient. This attitude stuck with me. I was also exposed to casting by photographers such as Sam Rock and magazines who would come to my school to scout for projects and seeing their selections fascinated me. When I got to university, I really explored street casting, and I would purposefully go out to scout people at pubs as well as hang around the student union for specific looks I wanted for my projects.

The biggest challenges for me have been other agencies poaching my models without telling me, as well as trying to find a way to finance the time and energy I was putting into the agency.  A variety in casting options in regard to gender fluidity, different races/ethnicities and “imperfections” have been a massive improvement for the modelling industry and we are seeing a new wave of models that break the mould of what we used to see in every magazine spread. We no longer look for clones of the same ideal, currently the more individual you are the better. Along with a new wave of models there’s a new age of agencies whose approach are nurturing and supportive, concerning their relationships with their models, which is also refreshing to see.

I get excited to open up a whole new world for people. Being a model and working with creatives is such a surreal environment which not everyone gets to experience. I get excited to help bring someone’s vision to life and to have a hand in the outcome of whatever jobs my model’s book.

The way I look at casting is that I will only scout someone who I would want to photograph myself. I like to cast people who have stimulating features that draw you in, as that’s what I believe makes the difference between a great photograph and a gripping one. I look for strong and prominent features. I’m also more drawn to casting people who are doing something with their lives and making their own movements. Most of my models come from a creative background, which I think gives them a better understanding of what a client might want, as well as helping them with their work in terms of increasing their exposure and facilitates networking.