Ok in the past I have written a number of articles on new models and I thought it best like they do in america with the state of the union address to update things to take a long hard and difficult look at the current situation with models in the united kindom.
I took a long hard look at the number of new models on the scene and found out some disturbing facts that photographers need to take note of and should consider before making a booking.
Firstly, many of the new models out there have simply been told, ohh you look good you should be a model, fifty seconds later with the help of a friend they have a profile, they are seeking payed work only and have a number of little more than camera phone pictures plastered over the internet where they expect to earn vast sums of money from snotty faced young geek photographers or past it over the hill ones who get their rocks off by taking pictures and well I leave the end result up to you.
Secondly, these new models (Or should I say the term MOVELS) have little intention of being serious about making a proper career in the industy, many have been ill advised on how much they can make and most have never learnt anything about how to pose, prepare for shoot or indeed been advised on how to build up a collection of professional images that they need to get on.
Thirdly, these girls and guys see this as a quick win for them with no long term plan, ie: working to gain experience, getting professional images that can be used with an agency and then getting published in proper magazines not the tabloid press that seems to churn them out on a regular basis then move on to the next one. Some of these people have no knowledge that there are a certain number of people ready and willing to exploit them from day one and will have no qualms in killing off their career plans in the first few weeks or months.
Professional standards seem to have been thrown out of the windows these days. In the past a model was discovered by a photographer or agent, they were sent for a test shoot, following this a consultation would take place and if suitable they would be enlisted on a series of training sessions giving tips and advice on how to pose, choosing suitable clothes to wear, advice on makeup and lots more about the business of modelling.
Following this they would move on to doing a range of TF work with professionals willing to provide suitable images that they could use in their model book and for professional advertising purposes. Sometimes a photographer would take a selected model under their wing for teaching purposes and specific guidance about the styles of work they wanted to aim for such as fashion, glamour etc..
These days this does not happen much and the result is so many new portfolios containing a rapid assortment of badly taken pictures that do little to promote and sell the model and many that are more of an insult to the poor girl or guy in the images. If this carries on then the industry will slowly turn itself into something that is not suitable to nurture a model and little more than a movel of the week situation. Many professional photographers these days have turned away from modelling sites and have moved to work directly with the agencies that in the past they only used for occasional shoot material for clients, this is as a result of the influx of more and more untrained, money grabbing individuals who see modelling as a simple cash cow to milk.
Its sad when you consider how good some of these new girls could be if they only had some help and guidance that told them the truth, in some cases that they are not cut out to be models, that they should change their attitude to the industy and for many that this is a full time career not a part time job they can quickly hope in and out of. One only has to look at the busy models to understand how this works, effective networking, timekeeping, commitment to the career and ability to work hard is standard for them and it shows with the number of bookings that they take to keep themselves in funds as a professional model.
Many of you reading this might think this is a dig at those new models, far from that it is a simple statement of fact that the industy needs a re-think and anyone who is serious about entering this difficult and time consuming career needs to get professional advice, help and above all a commitment to do well. Hopefully in time this may occur but looking at the stats I feel that the damage has been done by so many bad models that it may be too late.
Thanks for reading, till the next one, bye for now. Paul Rowe.
