Creative duo Oli Kellet and Alex Holder have been creating some of the most fascinating ad campaigns in the U.K. for nearly a decade. After working with hand models for years, they decided it was finally time to put a face to those fingers.
Oli writes, "When you work in creating print and TV ads, you work with hand models quite a lot. You actually don't realize how often you see 'model' hands every day. So we thought it would be fascinating to take headshots of those hand models and set about contacting an agent who represented them, thats when it all came together."
Delphine Jean-Gilles
"People used to say, 'Look at those hands — you should play the piano.' I didn't know hand modeling was a thing until I saw a commercial and thought, I could do that."
Vincent Oliver
"My friends think it's the funniest thing ever. I'm introduced as 'the hand model' and they really love it."
Adnan Rashed
"I've always been an actor and I branched out into hand modeling. I'm Palestinian, but they use me for anyone who needs to look Spanish or Middle Eastern."
Nina Taylor
"I call myself a hand specialist, but I got the label 'supermodel' because after a while I got every single casting. My hands were insured for a seven-figure sum."
Federico Hewson
"Castings are weird. At least with acting auditions, you know whether you did a good job. When you don't get the job, you think, Was it my pinkie?"
Stuart Gee
"I say to people, don't play with kittens, don't smoke roll-ups, don't change bicycle chains. Just look after your hands and moisturize."
Annabel Capper
"One shoot I did was outside in the rain. I got so cold that my hands were going blue, and the photographer snapped at me, 'Can you do something about that?'"
Andrew Bennett
"I've certainly modified the way I work around the house. I used to work on my own car, for instance, but I don't do that any more. If I know I've got a job coming up in the next few days, I'll leave chores like working in the garden until afterwards."
Renato De Fazio
"Hand modeling is quite nice, because it's anonymous, so you can work with competing products. You could do Apple one day and Samsung the next, and no one would care."
Laura Lorente
