Ambassador for model complaints site

A few weeks ago I got a call from a friend of mine who is running a Dutch modeling site called http://www.photoplace.nl and he told me about a new project they would be starting, the moment I heard about it I was more than interested in helping out. As many of you may know I’m shooting a lot with models, experienced models but also models just starting out. I’m very aware of the way that some people are perceiving the fashion photography industry and it’s a shame to say that indeed some of these “horror” stories are true. Although most photographers are into model photography to make beautiful work or just have fun without any form of bad intentions there are also some people out there that are in it for the wrong reasons. The problem is that those people are in fact ruining the market, but most of all ruining models emotionally and sometimes physically.

Next week a new website will go online in the Netherlands called fotoshootklachten.nl
 And I’m proud to say that they asked me to be their ambassador, and I did not need to think about that one of course, this is an issue that I hold very very dearly and am more than willing to connect my name to. The website will be filled with tips and hints for models how to prevent anything from happening, but also how to act when something has happened. It’s also good to know that the organization will be cooperating with the Dutch justice department.

In our studio there are very simple rules :
1. No lingerie or nudes/covered nudes below 18 years
The only time I will make an exception is when we have to shoot for a catalogue with children’s wear or teenage clothing.

2. first time models are asked to bring someone with them to make them feel at ease.
Most models won’t because they know our reputation but we still offer it to them, under 18+ a parent is there, otherwise no session.

3. I will always take female interns.
At first a lot of people responded a bit weird, especially guys who wanted to do an internship 🙂
The reason for this is very simple, when a model is here for her first time shoot she is nervous, and she does expect a male photographer but not a 17-19 year old boy who is there on the set, that can sometimes really bring a model out of her “game”, with a girl this is different. I always let the two talk about modeling, photography, what she can expect etc. My intern will help with the clothing, styling etc. And together with the MUA she will create a nice atmosphere of trust. When the shoot starts everything is easy going and relaxed.

4. never touch your models.
We have a female intern or MUA for this. The closest the photographer should get to the model is to meter the light.
Some people will say that they are helping their models pose and help them out with clothing for many years and never experienced any problems, well that’s ok for them. My experience is that 99% of the models will say that she doesn’t mind being touched for posing but when you really ask further they would rather not. And when there is a rather not I think you should not in the first place. Do remember that there is a huge difference between high-end fashion models and big sets/teams and the small home studios were the hobby photographers work. In a big set I also sometimes will change something in the clothes or hair, but even in our studio with the smaller setups (more time) and more inexperienced models I will not.

5. a shoot is a shoot and not a social dating event.
I know some photographers will really make a shoot very nice, they will serve champagne and after the session he/she will take the model out for diner and drop her off at the train station. And although I agree (I know the photographer) that there is not one percent of bad intentions in this case I still told him that I would never do this. Again the story changes when we are out on location with a big team, it’s rather normal to go to diner with the team and have some relax time, but serving champagne after a shoot and a nice diner? well for me that sounds a bit weird and is not related to a photoshoot.

Do remember that these are OUR rules.
If you do it differently and it works for you, great.
But do remember that for most photographers there is a rather large age difference between us and the models, I’m 40 and most models I work with are in the 16-22 age range, that’s in most cases a totally different way of living. When we as 40’s say “let’s grab a nice candlelight diner with some champagne” it’s indeed a relax time, we’re married and it’s just relaxing after a hard days work. But now imaging the model telling this in school “I had a great shoot, we did some lingerie shoots, some fashion an beauty and after the shoot the photographer took me out to diner”…… you feel where I’m going… before you know it stories start to spread and without you knowing it you are the talk of the town, without EVER doing anything wrong.

But that’s the photographers side.
For the models it can be much much worse.
I’ve heard heartbreaking stories about young girls (including some of the models I’ve worked with) that would never do nude shots and were nude before they knew it in front of the camera just because they were “talked into it” and the photographer promised that it would be great and the images would be deleted if they didn’t liked them, well the real thing is, they often aren’t deleted and end up online in his/her portfolio. And that’s just the most innocent thing that can happen (but ruin your career at your day job or modeling). I won’t go into details in this blogpost but you can image what can happen (and does happen a lot more than we know).

And that last remark is what always have worried me.
It DOES happen a lot more than we think (I’ve heard it on many occasions).
Up until now there was no real website in the Netherlands with authority that you could turn to before the fact to prepare for what can happen (and how to prevent it from happening) or after the fact. With this new website the organizers hope to give support to models that have run into problems and give loads of advise to models to be prepared for what could happen.

We work in the most beautiful job in the world, but let’s also keep an good eye out for our models and make sure that they are properly guided and informed. If we can just prevent a few serious cases, or take out a few photographers that are not worth the name photographer our work is done.

Feel free to visit the site (although it’s Dutch) and if you have information you want to share, or give tips for the website let me know I’ll hook you up.
Again I’m proud to be the ambassador for them and will do my best to support them where ever I can.