I am sure we all know what a ‘selfie’ is now and have probably seen many on facebook / twitter / instagram and other social networking sites. For those of you that don’t know (have you been hiding under a rock for the last year?) a ‘selfie’ is a photograph one has taken of oneself, typically using a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social networking site. I think it is pretty safe to say that most people have taken a ‘selfie’ at one time or another – in fact many members of the team here at Models Direct are guilty of that…

However, did you know that your selfie could win you a modelling job?! Models Direct were delighted to hear about Rufus Wilkinson, a teenager from Brighton, who was spotted by Next Model Management and beat thousands of other entrants in their competition with his instagram selfie.

Rufus uploaded his selfie to instagram and was then picked to be the face of the Sundown festival in Norwich, which is sponsored by the modelling agency. Rufus said his entry was a spur of the moment decision after browsing Instagram on his phone: “Without thinking too much about it I used the competition hashtag on one of my photos just to see if anything would happen.

The 18-year-old said: “I was on my way back from London when I received the call from Next, which was a shock.

“I was pretty overwhelmed, especially after hearing all the cool things to do at the festival. It feels pretty surreal but I’m really happy.”

Rufus is hoping this will be the first stepping stone in becoming a successful teenage model, he said: “Ideally I would love to model for some of the luxury fashion houses like Burberry and I love the high street, too. Topman would be amazing.”

Ross Young, head of new faces at Next Models, said: “Rufus really caught our eye because of his amazing selfie.

“He has a truly unique face and the kind of good looks that you cannot fake with a filter, even on Instagram.”

Next also picked a female winner from her instagram selfie – 18-year-old Hannah from Surrey.

So how do you get the perfect selfie? Rufus’ advice is to not take yourself too seriously and have some fun!