[6-30] "Models"

In late 2018, I discovered Model Mayhem (MM), a networking website for models, photographers, make-up and hair artists. I always knew it was there, and it was alive before I started college (2008). By 2018, I doubted anybody was still on. The user interface appeared as rickety as MySpace in 2005, just before Facebook changed the world. Moreover, the idea of the website felt weird and shady, persistently connoting the possibility of assault between older photographers and younger women.

Yet, to my surprise, were was activity on MM. It competes side-to-side with Instagram, where the majority of images produced through MM are posted and seen.

For ~2 years (2018-2020), I was used it. I fleshed my profile and wrote catchy messages. Rejection was common. I tried various strategies to elicit work. I ended up paying five models for their name (this was before I had a name), and for most part I negotiated compensation in other ways. My hit/miss rate improved. At some point, like mid-2019, I began to get more offers than was possible to carry through; I believe most amateur photographers will not reach this stage, and that some amount of skill and style as a photographer, as well as trust from within the MM community, is needed to participate.

As an interesting point of reference, I searched models based on location, and they appeared in the order they last logged in (i.e. a proxy for being active). The ones who logged in every day were more likely to respond (of course, not always). Those who had not logged in for months, or years, might respond, but it was likely they were no longer actively seeking an exchange of services the website had intended to foster.

My records indicate I photographed:

• 2018 (38 models)

• 2019 (83)

• 2020 (19)

• 2021 (5)

Due to covid-19, scheduling of shoots was put on hold.

The modeling sessions were sometimes long (>2 hours). The model and I would either met in public (e.g. Jack London square, in Oakland, or the Scripps Institute center in La Jolla), or in my photography studio (North Berkeley). With indoor photography, the model could bring multiple changes of clothes, as well as ways to modulate appearances like make-up or wigs. A few of models were grouped together sequentially, in what I may call a special event, or a "test shoot", where many multiple people could show up in half-hour increments.

By 2021, I participate in a few more "complex" shoots, which felt more like actual magazine assignments. For the most part, the model was experienced enough to find other people to help.

In March this year, a model I met and photographed found (or hired?) a Bay Area make-up artist and a hair specialist. They came over, set up, and the process took around 4-5 hours to complete. I participated less during the shoot compared to those 3 who came (I was also the editor/retoucher for the images). They went with three looks, with increasing intensity, and I simply managed the photography. I also discovered, during this shoot, that Cheeseboard makes half-baked pizzas that can be heated up for in less than 15 minutes.

When asked recently by a colleague why I haven't gone back to photographing models, I have a few reasons. My interest has not waned, but there are aspects of my photography and business that require more attention.

I believe these experiences helped build my skill as a photographer, for two reasons:

(1) The sheer repetition made me comfortable with beautiful people

(2) I began to see what people, particularly the models, are looking for in pictures.

For this I am deeply grateful. I cannot imagine where I would be without having this much practice. Between 2015-2016, I spent many months chasing friends, their friends, coworkers, family members, members of the community, etc. to practice. It is not easy asking people to allow themselves to be photographed by an amateur. But some would indulge me in my interest. At some point, I ran out of people.

In 2017, I spent energy and time doing public photography, namely by working with strangers in mass transit; these were people I did not know prior to meeting them in person. For a variety of reasons, that stopped by early 2018.

During COVID-19, I developed an interest in law and legal education, and I took the LSAT. I look back now and wonder, before questioning my style of photography, if there are good ways to improve the model-photographer relationship.

This area appears fraught with dangers. Among the common complaints for models: “I was not given the images that were promised by the photographer.”

To understanding these dynamics requires experience. We cannot simply just know what both parties want out of the exchange; one has to dabble in it to see the problems emerge.

As such, it requires knowing what people want avoided; if these occur, then we have a wrongdoing, personal animosity, unhappiness, and possible a legal situation between two parties. This is especially important to see and predict. Also, as a personal tangent, this way of thinking [about modeling and photography] seems to reflect the overarching nature of law and policy, as a whole: to negotiate the rules about how exchanges may occur, due to what people want and don't want, and unintended consequences that arise during such exchanges.

I discovered, maybe with the same chagrin of discovering one's favorite writer or musician is already quite popular, that modeling in photography is not unique to me, and as a photographer, my experiences are really not that unique. One of my first Airbnb guests, to my complete surprise, was a popular Instagram photographer who was doing essentially the same thing (i.e. photographing models), but he had more success, and he some of the models he worked with were mini Instagram celebrities in this area.

The use of models (in photography) has a long history, one that precedes photography; it is a history of beauty. In the contemporary sense, with the rise of social media (and newer incarnations with sizzlingly new applications, like FansOnly), the pace has only accelerated in strange directions. The dynamics of these exchanges reflect the underlying culture and priorities of the people of that era. And perhaps such desires (as to be photographed, or to photograph others, or to demand payment for image rights, or payment to be seen, etc.) reveal intimate facts about human nature that may transcend periods of time and eras.

This is perhaps the subject of a much longer inquiry. Some of the questions that interest me:

• Why do photographers use models? I mentioned earlier, but how do they benefit?

• How do the models benefit?

• What are some legal implications if wrongdoing occurs? Is there a need for contracts?

• How are images shared after a shoot?

• Is there a business model (i.e. profit motive) at play?

• Is there a status model (i.e. popularity and social influence) at play?

• What extent of retouching should be included, and what aspects of retouching faces are unethical? (Should, for instance, a model pursue legal action if he or she sees images of themselves greatly distorted?)

• What relationship defines the photographer and model? (i.e. Model release is the standard contract, but even I am confused; how is this written, and what is it supposed to convey?)

When I started, I did not see such implications. Let’s zoom out; more questions:

• Is modeling even healthy (for the individuals being photographed)?

• Is a culture of modeling healthy?

• What happens when mental health coincides with modeling?

• What is a culture of models/modeling? Namely, how does beauty function in a liberal democracy marked by profound technological transformation?

• What is the practical difference between male and female (and non-binary) models?

• What are the unique challenges for models with non-binary gender?

• etc.