Iman moved to New York City after being offered a modeling gig. It all began when she was in Kenya and was approached by photographer Peter Beard, who asked if she was ever photographed. “I said, ‘Of course I’ve been photographed.’ And he said, ‘By whom?’ And I said, ‘My parents.’ He said, ‘No, no, no, I’m talking professional.’ And all I could think of was my brother’s Playboy and I said, ‘I’m not that girl,'” she told TODAY. Eventually, they struck an agreement, and he took photos of her for $8,000, which helped her pay for tuition at her local university. After Beard used her photo in an exhibition, he invited her to come to New York, where she jumpstarted her modeling career in 1975, per W Magazine.