Leslie was one of the young models to visit me in the hospital, thank god for cell phones. She is a very interesting young woman, eighteen when I met her through her site on OMP. We had a preliminary meeting at a coffee shop along the Riverwalk and she was intrigued by my portraits. I told her she had too many nude on her website and she very frostily told me she had someone managing her website thank you very much. Like so many young people she was positive in her direction and had a bit of a chip on her shoulder. I immediately pegged her as an at risk person who needed some positive feedback and maybe some gentle guidance. Anyway she agreed to come to the house for a session, at the time I could strip everything out of the bedroom and turn it into a studio. She came out of the bathroom in the nicest short bathrobe, sat-down and lit a cigarette very cool and in control like. For five minutes she read me the rule and regulations about how the shoot would go, I wasn’t to ask any personal questions and her sex life was private. She inhaled deeply and blowing out the smoke ask if there were any questions. She was watching me intently, very challenging like and I replied, " Yeah, do you get nekked"? And she tossed off the little robe and looked at me like feast on this pal! So I looked at her for a few moments and replied "Naw, let’s get you into a dress". We’ve been friends ever since.
A shoot is what you make it, it takes a bit of hard work and confidence in the photographer ability to respect you but you can play and have fun. That’s key, I respect my model and I respect them for working with me and sharing their skills and talents. I expect my girls to work hard but I don’t ask the impossible of them and best of all I feed them after because I know they come on a empty stomach. Never in my years of working with women have I had any problems . It’s because we both understand what we’re there for, models are not there to put on any free-show for anybody. And if their uncomfortable with a pose I ask of them they can see a polaroid at anytime. I love my girls as people, as individuals who give me their best and I respect that. And sometime if I’m a little too rough with them they understand that what we’re getting is worth it.
2 comments:
Beautiful portrait and you're quite right of course. Mutual respect and trust are the key.
You did a great job describing the shoot scenario with your young model. It's so entirely different from what any of my shoots have been like, mainly because I am not that cynical. I don't expect any nonsense and generally don't get any. It was like reading a novel about another country.
And that's just your point, isn't it. Each model is an individual, and it's good you respect that individuality.
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