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Can a model do both?
I'm a little confused. I keep seeing people say that you can't do nudes if you plan on doing commercial (or fashion?) work later on. And people doing commercial already always say they won't do nudes. So I've been wondering: do you really have to only pick one, or are there models out there who do both? [[I know this has probably been asked a lot of times before, but I don't know what to type in the search box to find an answer...]] Mar 19 06 08:34 pm Link you can get away with both..... but, in general, to be a good commercial model you must have agency representation...and agencies tend to be quite conservative (particularly when they are debating signing someone) if you want to do both, make sure that you have different portfolios for commercial vs art images.... Mar 19 06 08:38 pm Link Uh, like all the Hollywood stars that have to choose between doing nude scenes or serious work? I think you can clearly do both, there are a ton of examples. Maybe you can't pose for an ad as a Girl Scout den mother, but what are the odds? Mar 19 06 08:39 pm Link I'm not an expert, but I would say that you just do what you like to do. Unless you have a lucrative agreement with Disney or a similar monster which doesn't want to have anything to do with porn stars, then there's no real need to strip yourself off other possibilities. Look at these so called "commercial models" who so vehemently proclaim it would hurt your carreer if you do nudes - how many of them actually make any good living at commercial photography? What are the chances not doing nudes will secure you with future income from commercial photography? This might not be the case of commercial photography, but I remmeber seeing nude pictures of just about every supermodel out there. I'm not saying, I'm just saying... Screw them all! Mar 19 06 08:39 pm Link You can do both, but if you're really a commercial model getting legitimate work, you'll have to fit into your client's idea of what they want. A friend of mine was on the website of a really popular clothing store, but they took her pictures down after less than a week. When she asked why, they sent her an email saying it was because she had posed topless. If you want to work as a commercial model, you'll have to deal with the possibility of that. Mar 19 06 08:42 pm Link Don't even think about doing nudes. Having her boobies photographed killed Ellie Macpherson's career. Don't let this crash and burn happen to you. Mar 19 06 08:43 pm Link I'll type: you do what you want when it comes to Photography, someone may like it you never know. When it comes to me: I try to capture all sides of modeling[ Most], so you can look back at my pictures, and if I want to where the specific clothes in that photo, and still have them, then I will. Mar 19 06 08:48 pm Link The short answer is that it depends on what you want to do commercially. Lots of commercial models have done nudes. But there are clients that simply won't work with you if you have. I have a friend who lost a gig as a year long spokesmodel for Toyota Scion because she did artistic nudes for a photographer here on MM. Clients that do family and high prestige items are sensitive to it, unless you are a super-model. Other companies like fitness, cigarettes, swimwear and a wide variety of products don't care. As long as it isn't something so high key that it will come back and bite them, it is no big deal. Companies that cater to the working man, sometimes prefer it. As an example, Miller signed Katana Baker as their spokesmodel even though she had been on Playboy Television's Night Calls 411. That is a fairly explicit show. For a beer company, being a Playboy model was a plus. So there is no right or wrong answer. It is just a question of defining what segment of the commercial market you are looking for. Don't expect to be in Playboy and then do an Ivory Snow ad. Mar 19 06 08:53 pm Link I don't question the reality of Alan's example, and I have heard a few similar examples from time to time. A few examples, out of tens of thousands of jobs that are cast nationwide annually. Location matters; the Bible Belt is more concerned about it than New York. Client matters; there are some conservative clients who ask such questions. But not many. The nature of the job matters. If it's a fashion job previous (tasteful, good quality) nudity is rarely a problem. For commercial it is very seldom a problem. For "spokesmodel" work, where your face becomes the face of the company, it can matter a lot. All of that says that the chances of (good quality, tasteful, fashionable) nudes hurting a model's career are very slim, although certainly it can happen. I do know that in the many thousands of commercial castings I have been involved with, not once did the issue arise. Stephen Dawson wrote: I'm assuming that Mr. Dawson is joking . . . . For an international fashion model's career to be hurt because she has had "her boobies photographed" is just silly. That doesn't happen. Mar 19 06 09:13 pm Link TXPhotog wrote: I agree with you. In most cases it doesn't matter. What a model needs to know is that for some things, it does. Toyota had actually hired an investigator to check into the models that had made the final cut. That was how they found out about her nudes. Mar 19 06 09:19 pm Link Lindsey Lohan was "implied topless" on a newsstand mag cover, and she's still got a contract with Disney. I think you're safe. Mar 19 06 10:25 pm Link I think the reason a lot of people say no to nudity is because there are so many photographers (myself included) that want to photograph nudes, & it's not easy to figure out what type of nudes can hurt, so it's a "rather be safe than sorry" issue. They don't want to be typecasted, and as we are in America, we freak out about a nipple on television. It's safe to assume your birthday suit won't be well-received by certain markets, esp. depending on how far along in your career you are and what type of nudity you've done. Mar 19 06 11:59 pm Link Classy nudes actually enhances a model's portfolio. All ( or most of .. ) so called 'Super Models' do it or have done so ... But be carefull .. cheesy, cheap, sexually oriented nudes can negatively affect your image. And .. of course .. modelling nude for me is the best thing you can do enhance your image.. and mine  Mar 20 06 07:34 pm Link Phoenix E wrote: Like two different portfolios? Hmm... Mar 20 06 07:45 pm Link I've done nude work before (Clothing Immaterial by Francis Hills -- and there is at this point major celebrity involvement with this series) and a shot that Steve Azzara says gave him ideas and inspiration for his current book Naked. I have never had a problem with booking jobs. One of the shots from the Clothing Immaterial shoot was in my fashion book -- but it was more of an implied shot than a full on HELLO I'M NAKED shot. I've never had problems booking work since doing either. In any case, you should have seperate books if you work in more than one market in any case. Naked shots should generally not be in your commercial book/card. Mar 20 06 07:52 pm Link |
