Lara Stone for LOVE Magazine August 2010
There's no easy way to say what I'm about to say. But I'll try to be educational about to quell/dispute the myths, rumors, questions, etc.
First off, I shoot fashion nudity because I like shooting fashion nudity. I also shoot fashion nudity because I can shoot fashion nudity. I don't pay the models. In fact, most of the time I get paid to shoot fashion nudity. Who pays me to shoot fashion nudes? The models themselves pay me to shoot fashion nudes. I have a portfolio full of these images and they want images like those in my portfolio.
What about the agencies? The modeling agencies I work with pay me to shoot their girls in the traditional model portfolio way. Clothed but with fashion edge. Basically, the type of work I did before I started shooting fashion nudes. What kind of agency girls do the agencies send to me for paid tests? All kinds. Agencies will sometimes send girls that are really commercial-looking because those girls don't draw a lot of interest from photographers doing unpaid tests. On the other hand I also amazing round-the-world working models that are so busy that they can't afford to waste any time testing with bad photographers. So their agency sends them to me for paid tests. In neither scenario are fashion nudes requested. Not yet at least. I think that might happen down the line though...
So if the agencies don't request these images, who are they for? We've only scratched the surface. So far we've only talked about the paid tests. To reiterate, models book me to shoot fashion nudes. I'll shoot whatever they want but lately they request to shoot fashion nudes. Yes, I have a wonderful job. I love my life. Now, what about the unpaid tests? The unpaid tests are for me and the model. I currently have no desire or need to shoot more wardrobe for unpaid testing. Those days are long gone. If you want me to shoot a model who isn't willing to shoot fashion nudes, you'll have to pay me. Simple as that. No apologies. I have time for 1 unpaid test a month. Maybe. Sometimes I don't even have that much time. So, I'm not about to do charity work during my free time. There are much better charities out there that I'd like to be a part of. The "clothed-model foundation" is not one of them.
I've said this before in another blog post, I set the expectations way in advance. And I don't ask models to shoot with me. Haven't in years. Models ask me to shoot them. If they ask, I assume they have seen my work. Even then, I ask them very candidly, "Are you comfortable shooting fashion nudes?" No shame. It's just a question. Either yes or no. And most of the time they say yes. After all, my portfolio is chock-full of fashion nudes. Who did you think you were shooting with? If you thought you were coming to shoot fancy wardrobe for free, you missed the boat by about 2 years. So yes, I put it all up front. No beating around the bush (no that's not a pun). It is what it is, I need to qualify you to ensure you're worth my time. And this is after I make sure you've got the right look, the right measurements, agency-represented, easy-going, etc. Don't waste my time and I won't waste yours. It's good for everyone.
Oh and I ask them if they can bring wardrobe and do their own makeup. This has never been a problem to-date.
And trust me. Be upfront about everything. You don't need to be afraid that the model is going to turn you down because of a certain request. Just be honest. If you want to shoot nudes, ask. If she says no. Move on. It's as simple as that.
Then again, I live in LA. I'll be right back, UPS just dropped off 5 models at the front door :)
I don't get hung up about these things because the next bus is coming in about 5 minutes. No rush if we miss this one.
Now if she asks, "Can we also shoot some clothed stuff for my book?" I always say yes, because after all this should be mutually beneficial. Don't be an asshole. Build her book too. Besides, throwing some wardrobe in here and there allows you to mix it up. Almost all of my fashion nude sets start off with wardrobe and end up with fashion nudity. They don't always just start off totally naked. Sometimes they do. But usually it's more fun to have some wardrobe to play with.
So what do the agencies think? I think they're tolerant of implied nudity and maybe topless. But here's the thing. Vagina isn't sexy. Unless you're making some hardcore statements deep in the fashion capitals of the world (NYC, Paris, Milan, etc.), showing "the goods" is going to make some people uncomfortable. And being that agencies are marketing their models to potential clients, it's unnecessary to have full-on fashion nudity in the portfolios. Also being that I'm here in LA, I've got to be careful that I'm not putting vagina on display in my work.
So why shoot it? Because LA isn't my final destination. Because I have made a pretty big push into fashion nudity and I'm not going stop anytime soon. Because I like shooting fashion nudity. Because I can shoot fashion nudity.
If you think about it, it's simply a very natural sequence of events.
1. shoot clothed models (non-agency) for free
2. shoot clothed models (outside of the agency) for free
3. shoot clothed models (from the agency) for free
4. shoot topless models (outside of the agency) for free
5. shoot topless models (from the agency) for free
6. shoot clothed models (outside of agencies) paid
7. shoot clothed models (from the agency) paid
8. shoot full-on nude models (outside the agency) for free
9. shoot full-on nude models (outside the agency) paid
10. shoot ful-on nude models (from the agency) paid
Now this isn't an exact order of operations but for the most part if "makes logical sense". So walk with me here. Most of you are probably somewhere around 1 to 3. Very few of you have ventured into implied nudity much less topless or full-on fashion nudity. But imagine one day you're getting enough paid testing where you maybe want to explore shooting fashion nudes. You start shooting topless. Okay, no big deal. People enjoy the pictures. You get more paid work. Some models request shooting topless with you. Okay, cool. Now you want to shoot full-on fashion nudes so you start with full-on implied fashion nudes. That's fine. No problem. Later on you want to shoot full-on fashion nudes (not implied). This is where you run across the conundrum.
What do you do about the private parts?
The logical answer if you're in my market, you might be better of with some strategically placed censorship. Hence this:
Why shoot it if you're going to censor it? Those purple/pink censoring stripes are lame! Oh, you're absolutely right! So why don't we do this; You keep shooting implied nudes where the models are limited in range of motion, limited in expression, and pose with the fear of being exposed... and I'll keep using my purple/pink censoring stripes for more range of motion, greater expressions, and achieve a comfort level that you don't have with your models.
I think that's fair! Glad you brought this up! Very happy I won't be seeing you copy my work any time soon without totally refuting your previous argument!
Here's the thing. People ask me why the purple censorship stripes? I don't have an answer for why. It just happened. It's just a natural progression of events. A logical one at that. I'm on step 9. I live in LA. I want to continue to shoot fashion nudes without alienating (too much at least) the market I work in. Furthermore, I want my models to be comfortable shooting full-frontal nudity without the fear of retribution that the images will reveal their private parts. So very naturally I used my light leaks as a solution to cover up private parts. It seemed like a better solution than black or white blobs that are obtrusive and annoying. Maybe you find the light leaks annoying. No problem. Go back to what I said 2 paragraphs ago.
All these questions stem from me being on a "less-trodden" path. I'm probably one of the first photographers (if not the first) to use light-leaks as an "elegant vagina censorship solution" ("EVCS" you heard it here first!). People get worked up because the reality is that I'm pushing the envelope. There is no right answer. People are "armchair quarterbacking" as I like say. They get mad because they aren't sure if they're supposed to like it or not. They're confused because they haven't seen this before. So they hate because they don't like change. But I don't give a shit what you're supposed to like or not supposed to like. That's why they call it art. Stop asking other people what you're supposed to think. Think for your own goddamn self and stop running with the flock. You think any of us have any real answers? Nope, we're in the same boat as you. But maybe if you developed more independent thinking you'd have your own sense of your own style. But instead, you only like what you're told you're supposed to like. You only know what you're told to know. And that's why you don't know very much.
I don't get hung up about these things because the next bus is coming in about 5 minutes. No rush if we miss this one.
Now if she asks, "Can we also shoot some clothed stuff for my book?" I always say yes, because after all this should be mutually beneficial. Don't be an asshole. Build her book too. Besides, throwing some wardrobe in here and there allows you to mix it up. Almost all of my fashion nude sets start off with wardrobe and end up with fashion nudity. They don't always just start off totally naked. Sometimes they do. But usually it's more fun to have some wardrobe to play with.
So what do the agencies think? I think they're tolerant of implied nudity and maybe topless. But here's the thing. Vagina isn't sexy. Unless you're making some hardcore statements deep in the fashion capitals of the world (NYC, Paris, Milan, etc.), showing "the goods" is going to make some people uncomfortable. And being that agencies are marketing their models to potential clients, it's unnecessary to have full-on fashion nudity in the portfolios. Also being that I'm here in LA, I've got to be careful that I'm not putting vagina on display in my work.
So why shoot it? Because LA isn't my final destination. Because I have made a pretty big push into fashion nudity and I'm not going stop anytime soon. Because I like shooting fashion nudity. Because I can shoot fashion nudity.
If you think about it, it's simply a very natural sequence of events.
1. shoot clothed models (non-agency) for free
2. shoot clothed models (outside of the agency) for free
3. shoot clothed models (from the agency) for free
4. shoot topless models (outside of the agency) for free
5. shoot topless models (from the agency) for free
6. shoot clothed models (outside of agencies) paid
7. shoot clothed models (from the agency) paid
8. shoot full-on nude models (outside the agency) for free
9. shoot full-on nude models (outside the agency) paid
10. shoot ful-on nude models (from the agency) paid
Now this isn't an exact order of operations but for the most part if "makes logical sense". So walk with me here. Most of you are probably somewhere around 1 to 3. Very few of you have ventured into implied nudity much less topless or full-on fashion nudity. But imagine one day you're getting enough paid testing where you maybe want to explore shooting fashion nudes. You start shooting topless. Okay, no big deal. People enjoy the pictures. You get more paid work. Some models request shooting topless with you. Okay, cool. Now you want to shoot full-on fashion nudes so you start with full-on implied fashion nudes. That's fine. No problem. Later on you want to shoot full-on fashion nudes (not implied). This is where you run across the conundrum.
What do you do about the private parts?
The logical answer if you're in my market, you might be better of with some strategically placed censorship. Hence this:
Why shoot it if you're going to censor it? Those purple/pink censoring stripes are lame! Oh, you're absolutely right! So why don't we do this; You keep shooting implied nudes where the models are limited in range of motion, limited in expression, and pose with the fear of being exposed... and I'll keep using my purple/pink censoring stripes for more range of motion, greater expressions, and achieve a comfort level that you don't have with your models.
I think that's fair! Glad you brought this up! Very happy I won't be seeing you copy my work any time soon without totally refuting your previous argument!
Here's the thing. People ask me why the purple censorship stripes? I don't have an answer for why. It just happened. It's just a natural progression of events. A logical one at that. I'm on step 9. I live in LA. I want to continue to shoot fashion nudes without alienating (too much at least) the market I work in. Furthermore, I want my models to be comfortable shooting full-frontal nudity without the fear of retribution that the images will reveal their private parts. So very naturally I used my light leaks as a solution to cover up private parts. It seemed like a better solution than black or white blobs that are obtrusive and annoying. Maybe you find the light leaks annoying. No problem. Go back to what I said 2 paragraphs ago.
All these questions stem from me being on a "less-trodden" path. I'm probably one of the first photographers (if not the first) to use light-leaks as an "elegant vagina censorship solution" ("EVCS" you heard it here first!). People get worked up because the reality is that I'm pushing the envelope. There is no right answer. People are "armchair quarterbacking" as I like say. They get mad because they aren't sure if they're supposed to like it or not. They're confused because they haven't seen this before. So they hate because they don't like change. But I don't give a shit what you're supposed to like or not supposed to like. That's why they call it art. Stop asking other people what you're supposed to think. Think for your own goddamn self and stop running with the flock. You think any of us have any real answers? Nope, we're in the same boat as you. But maybe if you developed more independent thinking you'd have your own sense of your own style. But instead, you only like what you're told you're supposed to like. You only know what you're told to know. And that's why you don't know very much.
And you don't have my problem. You don't have models willing to shoot nudes with you much less pay you to shoot them nude. So don't worry about it. Worry about it when the time comes. You don't need to think about these things now.
Don't like seeing the censorship stripes? Stop surfing my sites. If you hate my work and you've read this far, I can't help you. You've obviously got bigger issues than hating on my pink/purple stripes :)
So there it is, that's the skinny on the issue of fashion nudity, the censorship, and how I do it. You do what you do. I'll do what I do.
