I had a pleasant weekend with my friends Martin and Barbara and loads of other guests at their cottage near Battle (so named after the historic battle of Hastings). They normally live in Spain where Martin runs art workshops in Rojales - since he retired he took up painting, his lost love, more or less full time and now he either paints or takes photographs. I was in Spain working for him last October. The party was to celebrate Martin's and Barbara's fortieth wedding anniversary and it was pretty well attended.I got quickly drunk on tinto verano punch - never realised how strong it was - so I had to go and sleep at some point, I just could not manage it. I felt very ashamed of myself afterwards.
Martin and I did a photoshoot on Friday afternoon in Fairlight Glen which has now become my favourite spot for location work - it's amazing how different it is everytime. Martin knows the place very well and we worked on the figure in the landscape concept.
Martin used to run a model agency in the days before model agencies were deregulated. He showed me some of the old books and with great pride he pointed to the pictures of a couple of girls whom he discovered and then passed on to top agencies such as Elite and Storm. The girls became supermodels in no time, He often took photos for the models portfolios himself. This laid back, totally unpretentious, very honest and upfront man, knows a thing or two about the model agencies world, including its ugly side - the scams, the agencies which simply rip off the girls and never get them any work, the photographers who have no clue about photographing fashion, and pretty horrendous stories about dodgy child modelling and paedophile rings. One has to bear in mind that a child is anyone under sixteen. It is shocking to realise that there are parents out there who are quite happy to have their children photographed in sexually explicit poses and supply such photos to interested parties for a fee.
I am not interested in joining any agency, I found a good one a while back, I am aware that as an older model I have a very touch and go modelling life.I also had the experience of being ripped off when I first began. But occasionally people send me emails asking where they should go to if they want to model and they usually mean fashion modelling. Thanks to Martin I now know that the first port of call is the Alba register which lists the top agencies and also names and shames the ones involved in scams.
Then inevitably we talked about fashion modelling requirements. This is a very fraught, difficult issue. I have always been pro Dove campaign and maintained that everyone could be a fashion model, regardless of their body shape, age, size and ethnicity. And yet I have seen that some agencies have on their books girls that are unsuitable for the catwalk. Where do you draw the line? These girls will not find it easy to get good modelling jobs. Why raise their hopes unnecessarily? Attitudes can change and inclusivity is highly desirable. But at the same time model agents have a responsibility towards their models. If they cannot find them work within a year of their joining the agency they should let them off their books. Perhaps fashion modelling is not for them. Perhaps there may be other, less glamorous, types of modelling the girls can do.
This is a confusing and confused issue but let's face it at the end of the day being a model agent is a business and yes, whereas it is highly desirable that every look should be represented one has to contend with the industry requirements.
Art modelling is more loosely defined and at the same time less protected than other types of modelling. An agent will negotiate an excellent contract for you , the fashion model, provided he /she knows that you are going to bring in some decent profit. This is never going to happen for art models, who are left to their own devices and do not have a tough negotiator on their side.
The modelling business is cut throat. It is hard to earn a living as a model and most of us have something else to rely upon. I can only think of another business that is equally cut throat and that is dance. Can anyone be a dancer? Can anyone be a model? does training have to do with it? Does a certain look have to do with it? I'd be happy to hear from readers.
(All photos modelled by AlexB. )
Photographer: Pascal Renoux
Photographer: Michael Culhane
Martin used to run a model agency in the days before model agencies were deregulated. He showed me some of the old books and with great pride he pointed to the pictures of a couple of girls whom he discovered and then passed on to top agencies such as Elite and Storm. The girls became supermodels in no time, He often took photos for the models portfolios himself. This laid back, totally unpretentious, very honest and upfront man, knows a thing or two about the model agencies world, including its ugly side - the scams, the agencies which simply rip off the girls and never get them any work, the photographers who have no clue about photographing fashion, and pretty horrendous stories about dodgy child modelling and paedophile rings. One has to bear in mind that a child is anyone under sixteen. It is shocking to realise that there are parents out there who are quite happy to have their children photographed in sexually explicit poses and supply such photos to interested parties for a fee.
Photographer: Marcello Pozzetti
Photographer: Vernon Trent
Art modelling is more loosely defined and at the same time less protected than other types of modelling. An agent will negotiate an excellent contract for you , the fashion model, provided he /she knows that you are going to bring in some decent profit. This is never going to happen for art models, who are left to their own devices and do not have a tough negotiator on their side.
Photographer: Jan Murphy
(All photos modelled by AlexB. )
may i drawn your photo?
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