For this episode of Finding My User Manual, I sat down with Jessica Yupele, a London-based art model, self-portrait photographer, and burlesque dancer. Known for her striking statuesque presence, Jessica brings a rare combination of strength and softness to every frame. Her work has seen her collaborate with renowned photographers including Nadia Lee Cohen and Julia Fullerton-Batten, and more recently she made her debut performance at the inaugural Black Burlesque Festival in London in 2024.

What struck me most about our conversation was how curiosity has been the thread running through Jessica’s entire life. From birth to now, she’s never stopped wanting to try everything.

Here’s what she shared.

This Model Comes Fully Equipped With Childlike Wonder

When asked what would be on page one of her user manual, Jessica Yupele paused. She started questioning whether she could say it better before she’d even said it. But when it landed, it landed: “This model comes fully equipped with childlike wonder”.

Although she was born almost two months premature, her mum remembers that even though she was small, her eyes were wide open, and looking at everything. Wanting to see everything. She was screaming, healthy, and promptly kicked out of the special care babies unit because she was ready to go.

Often Alone, Not Often Lonely

As a child, Jessica Yupele spent a lot of time by herself. She was in her head a lot, creating fantasy worlds, making her dolls sit in a row and giving them lessons, but she was never bored and never lonely.

That comfort with solitude has been a recurring theme her whole life, and it’s what calms her. She prefers to be on her own most of the time, as it’s how she recharges and collects her thoughts.

“Often alone, not often lonely” is how she puts it.

I’ve Never Known What I Can’t Do

Jessica says “I just never thought there was something too weird to do or too weird to explore or out of my reach”. She remembers doing ballet at eight or nine years old and always being tall and big boned. She never knew she couldn’t do it until a teacher told her mum she was too tall, too big, “and I had to stop doing ballet lessons”.

Even at nine, something in her pushed back against that, and she’s never let her body stop her from doing things. Including posing on an iceberg.

‘Kiss Me Deadly’ And Beyond

If we talk about big breaks, ‘Kiss Me Deadly’ gave Jessica Yupele one of hers. She worked with Catherine for years, building a friendship and travelling to Paris together multiple times, and that led to working with Gilles Baquet, which opened her eyes to alternative modelling.

“I’ve always just been so curious about the world around me and wanting to try everything, taste everything, be everything.” If she sees work that inspires her, she writes to the photographer and tries to work with them. She’s never thought anything was out of reach.

The Australia Turning Point

In 2023, Jessica Yupele moved to Australia to try modelling there. She got signed to a big agency, packed up her life, and made the move. She so believed it was going to work out and that this was her big break, but it didn’t work out.

She didn’t book a single job; there was no movement, and nothing happened. “It was a real kick in the teeth”, she said.

It forced her to assess where she was in her life, and where she was in her career. That reassessment steered her towards more artistic modelling, destination photography, and ultimately, her self-portrait work.

Documenting My Gains

Jessica Yupele does at least monthly self-portrait shoots, sometimes more. She’s editing pictures of herself constantly, seeing the changes, revisiting old work.

“I’m so proud of every picture I’ve taken. So even though I could see the body changes, I still love every picture. I still love every iteration.”

For her, it’s about showing herself what she’s capable of, getting into weird positions, using her body to convey something through her work. She’s been actively working on yoga and the gym so she can “pose weirder in pictures”.

Just Make The Clothes Bigger

We talked about the fashion industry’s obsession with measurements and sample sizes. Jessica has shot a self-portrait story where she wrapped measuring tapes around herself and tried to pull them to the measurements the industry demands, but she couldn’t. “I could never get my chest to a 32 or 31. I could never get my waist to a 23.”

Her response to all of it is beautifully simple: “Just make the clothes bigger. Why does a human being have to starve themselves to fit into a piece of clothing that you can just make a bit bigger?”

Too Mature For The American Market

At 31, Jessica went to New York. An agency loved her, but told her she was “too mature” for the American market. She wrote back and called them hypocrites, which she got in trouble for, but she doesn’t care.

The Self-Portrait Project

Jessica Yupele is currently working on a solo exhibition featuring her self-portrait project, exploring the lessons the modelling industry has taught her: stories about being told she “wouldn’t book work with her natural hair”, being told she was “too mature”, and the absurdity of measurements.

The biggest job she ever booked, a billboard on Tottenham Court Road, came from a casting experience she didn’t expect. She’d spent years wearing wigs to castings because she’d been told she wouldn’t book work with her natural hair. But that day, she couldn’t be bothered with the wig, so she went with her afro out, and she booked it.

Listen to the full episode:

Connect with Jessica Yupele:

Instagram:@sayhellojess_

Youtube: @sayhellojess

Website: sayhellojess.com