Last week, I reached out to Sombra who has been an active model and photographer on the site for over 2 years. She has done almost 40 sets as a photographer and well over 80 modeling sets-- For someone so busy, I was expecting someone more...well...uber focused and some what of an activist. To my surprise, Sombra is as much laid-back and down to earth as she is beautiful and smart.
N: Tell us a little about yourself! Where did you grow up?
S: Houston, Texas
N: How has your traveling affected the way you are?
S: I have a lot of stories. I don’t mind eating strange food or hanging out with people who don’t speak a common language with me. When you have the same sort of lifestyle and living environment your whole life and when everyone around you lives and thinks the same way as you, you run the risk of losing perspective and taking stupid things too seriously. I lived in Russia and China, and spent a lot of time with my family in Venezuela. Very different places, but they reveal more commonalities than meaningful differences.
N: How did you get into modeling?
S: I needed a job while I was an undergrad. I worked as a figure model for local museums and art schools. It paid better than most other random jobs, and I liked that I could get the job by just walking in, filling out my paperwork, and telling them when I was available. Sometimes I could sleep on the job, other times I got paid to learn about art, without ever having to worry about grades. Nice job. After a few years, I realized photographers pay more. Some random photographer made me a model mayhem account or one model place, and it kind of went from there. Oh. I ended up on Maxim’s website sometime back around then, I was dating a guy into their douchtastic wonder and he was supposed to buy me some blueberry cheesecake if I sent photos to Maxim. They published them but I never got my damned cheesecake, and for this they will never be forgiven.
N: When did you first hear about Zivity?
N: Did you model or do photography before you joined the site? Where? How is Zivity different?
S: I modeled before zivity, but it was just a job. There were a lot of spokes models working around here, so I’d slap on a sequin dress and go smile with the Miss Russia winners in some stupid bar. Or whatever…. It’s a job. There are a zillion paintings around made from photos of me draped in tulle or something looking classical for local artists. Zivity allowed me and the people I work with to get some feedback on the things we were already doing and have a forum and potential paycheck for trying something different.
N: How would you describe Zivity to someone who isn’t an online person?
S: Have you ever shouted at the pretty girl in the horror movie: "NO, DON'T GO IN THERE, LOOK BEHIND YOU!"
It's like that, but with less monsters, and the pretty girl actually turns around and says, "oh, hello! nice to meet you!"
N: You recently shaved your head, why?
S: I donated the hair to
Locks of Love* and I've been asking others to match my donation by sending toys and games to children's hospitals across the globe through
Child's Play Charity. My brother actually got this started - he donated a Wii to the Seattle Children's hospital in exchange for the honor of actually shaving my head.
Child's Play helps children's hospitals across the globe maintain amazon wishlists. This allows you to select a specific toy, DVD, video game, or coloring book to send *directly* to your local hospital. Hospitals get a lot of donations around christmas, but kids get sick all year round - through Child's Play you can donate $6 and know that every penny went directly towards the game or toy you picked out.
(*For those who aren't fans of LOL - Wigs for Kids would not accept my hair, sorry.)
N: Is it more than just the charity? What statement were you trying to make both personally and publically?
S: Texas is literally on fire, it's just too hot for hair. I got tired of it. Also, this way I can scare strangers by wearing a slammin little black dress and a mustache. I had this idea that it would suit me, and what a surprise, it does. I’ve already lost a job where they want a more “conventional-looking” person, but it was a stupid job anyway for a tequila company that packages their product in novelty bottles. Instead I took a job that will result in work hanging in an art gallery in Italy, and worked with a young fashion student – the sort of personal artwork I enjoy more than the glamour work I was constantly being hired for. A friend asked me if cutting my hair would damage my modeling career. My answer: “so be it.”
N: Do you actively participate in non-profits/charities? If yes, then which ones and why? If no, then which ones would you like to get in to more?
S: I do local community work with some student organizations, it mostly depends on what local needs are and how that aligns with my abilities to serve. A lot of it is boring behind-the-scenes work that helps local public school music teachers host competitions, auditions, and master classes for young musicians. UNICEF published one of my photos as part of their State of the World Children’s report a few years ago.
The idea of service to others is something that will always be an important part of my life, but it just depends what’s going on. I used to coach elementary and middle-school-aged soccer teams, I volunteered at the zoo in Houston maintaining the landscape in the zoo and Hermann park, as well as all animal handling and maintenance issues for the large mammals. That was one of my favorite jobs – I helped train giraffes, give white rhinos baths, & medicate zebras, in addition to cleaning, feeding and observing Mexican wolves and a variety of hoofed animals, including pygmy hippos. I’m sure I’ll find more random things to do in the future.
N: How you feel about female sexuality on the internet?
S: I try to be optimistic, considering that it wasn’t long ago when women were not considered to have a sexual nature. I’m no expert on contemporary women’s sexual issues, but it seems like most things are generally filtered through the idea of the male gaze. It’s exciting that there are avenues for women to get valid information and support and have a platform for expression. It’s a brave new world, but the internet is only as good as the dirtiest asshole commenting. I have high hopes for developing some sort of mind zapping ray, which I plan to use to brainwash the world to just, you know, stop being assholes. At that point, the state of female sexuality on the internet would probably be grand. Also, we would each have our own unicorn.
N: What would you like to see more of on the site?
S: Australian photographer Cat O’Nine Tails; and the photographer behind me in my place -
http://meinmyplace.com/ - is that too specific? Someone, please, get them on zivity.
Keep on the lookout for more Zivity: Exposed and find out more about cool people. :)
