Who wants to be a model?
I found my eyes glued on TV, a segment on the program Imbestigador really caught attention. Apparently, two 16 year old cousins were dreaming of making it into the world of fashion photography, then a group of photographers sought their service. It wasn’t an X-deal, they were paid P3,000.00 each for the gig not to mention the free flowing booze to make these girls more “comfortable” during the shoot.
Then the “ugly” thing happened, allegedly, these photographers took advantage of these girls. Asking them to strip, promising them that these photos will land on the pages of Maxim and FHM, then finally humping on them. [note: FHM & Maxim Philippines denied employing these photographers]
Neither Maxim nor FHM printed the photos, instead, the photos were posted on the photographer’s Multiply account [which was deleted after being busted].
This bothers me much. Who knows if this just another case of blackmail, whose blackmailing? God only knows. That’s why it is very important for every photographers to take necessary precautionary measures, a simple model-release form would save you from being busted.
About a year ago, while waiting for the participants in a photo shoot, I met some “newbie” photographers in the pick-up point somewhere in Makati. We were talking while having breakfast in a Jollibee outlet, I asked them on what sort of photography that they were interested on. A young-looking guy saying with pride “I bought this DSLR to shoot models.”
WTF! Talk about high-tech perversion. Look, I have nothing against these kids holding a DSLR, I don’t have problems them shooting sexy models either. But getting a DSLR just to shoot models? That’s way too absurd for me.
I just wish that photography would be understood as more than sexy models, that photography is an art form. As my favorite quotes says “Owning a Nikon doesn’t make you a photographer, it made you a Nikon owner.”
