Fashion Model Warning: It’s A Really Hard Road In High Heels
Studio fashion portrait of a young woman in Melbourne, Australia.
Are you an aspiring fashion photographer or model? Either way I think it’s important to understand how physically difficult a fashion shoot can be for a model.
Here's a quick photo made, in between sets, during a fashion photography session I was involved with a while back.
It was a privately organized session with a lovely teenage girl, Caroline, who agreed to model for the day.
In fact the session had originally been organized as a publicity shoot for an up-and-coming fashion designer in Melbourne, Australia.
I was brought in to provide some technical assistance for the photographer, a friend, who had agreed to do the photography.
As I was there primarily for technical support my images were made quickly, in between sets, as lighting, backgrounds and clothing were changed.
Being A Fashion Model Is Hard Work
From the models's point of view this image was made near the end of a long, hard session. I could tell she was tired, but I new I could make a beautiful image in as little as a minute.
I was motivated to make the image as I very much wanted Caroline, and her mum, to have something positive and beautiful by which to remember what was otherwise a very difficult day.
For me its more of a portrait than a fashion image and more about the individual than about the garments she's wearing or any suggested lifestyle attained through the purchase of such garments.
It's hard to pass by an opportunity to make an image when the combination of light, subject, gesture and design can so easily be brought together.
I particularly like the graceful line that flows, like an S curve, from Caroline's right hand down towards her elbow. It was simply a matter of approximating the pose I had in mind and Caroline mirrored my idea and how I expressed it perfectly.
It's not an easy job being a model. Standing in awkward positions, often in high heels, on cold, hard floors for extended periods of time can't be easy.
Studios set up in old buildings can be difficult to heat. The fact that models frequently wear flimsy garments can only add to their discomfort.
This was a long, hard session for Caroline that provided her with some real-life experience and a first hand understanding of the physicality involved in the so-called glamorous world of the fashion model.
A fashion photographer friend told me once that he found it extremely difficult working with young, aspiring models. He often found them to be late, lazy and highly unmotivated.
I do think it’s likely that a lot of young people just don’t appreciate the amount of work required, in addition to the discomfort and tedium associated with this kind of work.
Outside of huge budget productions, most swimsuit campaigns need to be photographed during winter to allow time for marketing material to be assembled and distributed, and for orders to be placed before the garments are made and shipped into stores for sale to the general public.
Just imagine having to model a swimsuit, outdoors on a beach in the middle of winter. They should give out academy awards to the model, photographer and crew who can turn a freezing cold location into the illusion of a warm and inviting paradise.
So, why I don’t doubt my fashion photographer friend’s opinion, after all it’s the industry he works in, it just wasn’t my experience.
From my perspective Caroline shone and I very much appreciated her patience and hard work.
Thanks to Caroline, Jenny T Fashion and, most of all, to my friend May for the opportunity to help out.
