The problem with Terry Richardson and Dov Charney

Photographers: Faby and Carlo. Model: myself

The papers in the past few days have  reported that Dov Charney, founder and CEO of American Apparel has been ousted because of the string of sexual abuse he seems to have committed. We are talking about rape, in a few cases, and various other instances of non-consensual sex. Charney notoriously had a very pseudo-libertarian attitude to sex, inviting - meaning expecting - employees to masturbate in front of him, walking around at work in his underwear, giving gifts of vibrators to female employees he fancied and allegedly even conducting an interview while being given oral sex by a secretary - here I can't help wondering why the interviewer did not leave? I call his attitude  pseudo-libertarian because all this is, definitely, sexual abuse.
American Apparel has been a very successful brand. I admit to owning an American Apparel top, which was actually a favourite of mine for months, it fitted me to perfection, still does. I was also very pleased to see 62 year old Jackie O'Shaughnessy model for the brand and for once not being cast as a granny, but as a sexy older woman. I am younger  than O'Shaughnessy but I do face the problem of having to present myself 'like a nan' at castings for commercial work and, needless to say, I do not seem to be doing it well, but here I am digressing.
Charney has been a very capable CEO but the bottom line is that he is an abuser and therefore measures should be taken to prevent him from striking again.  However, it also has to be recognised that sexual abusers can be very capable people. So how do we deal with it?

Self portrait at the park on expired film

This is even more apparent in the case of photographer Terry Richardson. He was very recently profiled by the New York Magazine and the gist of the article was that he was a troubled artist. Model Alliance made it clear that this is not the point. So did The Guardian.  The point is that being a sexual abuser - which Richardson certainly is, judging from the number of accusations from models that have worked with him - does not imply that the abuser is a talentless person. Nor does it mean that sexual abusers cannot be charming, and that they may behave differently depending on who they are with. So the point made by the magazine that Kate Moss was not abused nor was Miley Cyrus when they worked with Richardson is not a point at all. Richardson would not be so stupid as to do it with famous and powerful people, though it has to be noted that as he went along he became less careful about covering his tracks. His line of defence, reported by the New York Magazine, is that he always respected boundaries, it was just an exploration of sexuality for artistic purpose and among like minded people. Well, his entourage may have been into it, but the models were not. Young girls, a bit naive, told by their agency that they were working with a very good photographer that would make or break their career. That can be intimidating. I think that bookers are often callous, caring very little about the girls and on occasion, they can be, frankly, inept. It is what I would call a structural  problem of the modelling business which needs an overhaul, greater transparency and which needs to offer greater agency (no pun intended) to models.

'Death approaching'. Photographed on film by Piotr Karpinski. Model: myself

On the whole I found the piece in the New York Magazine quite offensive in its attempt to present Richardson in the best possible light. He is an abuser. Whether his photography is great or not is a matter of taste but his behaviour has gone too far and he has to be held accountable.
I have had personal experience of working with a photographer who is currently being taken to court by a brave British model on charges of sexual misconduct. He is not famous but has worked with some reputable agencies and knows his craft. My experience with him was positive, he did not try anything objectionable. I am too old and too savvy to be cast as prey. We did the shoot, I was disappointed that he would not reimburse me of travel  (which he had agreed to do) but nothing apart from shooting happened when we worked together. His conversation at times strayed into rather personal areas, with him attempting to find out more about me as a sexual being, but I cut each question short and he soon realised it would be better to keep the whole shoot extremely professional as I was getting rather irritated. However other models, much younger and more vulnerable than me, were definitely molested and in hindsight I can see how he would perhaps trap them into talking too much, perhaps have a drink together and then make them do things they had not intended doing.
 The point with the likes of Terry Richardson and Dov Charney is that their outrageous sexual behaviour does not imply a general impairment of their faculties. Sexual abusers can be very competent people, good at business, good at their job, whatever that may be. The point is that they do something that is unacceptable, as they coerce their victims to perform sexual acts they do not feel comfortable with. Even when the coercion does not involve physical violence, it is still coercion.
Richardson should be properly investigated and prosecuted and the fashion industry should stop endorsing him as a photographer.
Ultimately, I do hope that models will begin to feel that they do matter and that when they speak out they will be heard.

Disclaimer: please note that neither Faby and Carlo nor Piotr Karpinski whose photos appear in this post have anything to do with the British photographer I have mentioned, who for legal reasons, cannot be named.