Stories From Set: Being a Woman on a Photo Shoot
““Well, If I had a body like hers, I wouldn’t mind,” the client told the photographer I was working for as a photo editor. We were photographing a law firm, creating new headshots as well as capturing full body images, and the lawyer in question who just came in for his session was disappointed to discover the latter aspect of the shoot. Thankfully, I was sitting with my back to the both of them or they might have seen the murderous look of rage that instantly donned my face. I might have withered the man right then and there with my deadly stare.”
Weighing in on Photographer Jason Lanier’s Sexual Assault Allegations
“I can’t speak to whether or not these allegations are true, and I will say on the whole in my eyes, we as a society have a tendency to presume innocence in men, maliciousness of women, and have a high frequency to forget that in these situations, the women are the victims, aka the ones who should be presumed innocent. Several of the women echo an all-too-often warning sounded to other women, even in ways I’ve said it myself recently – “Make sure you know who you’re working with,” “be careful who you trust.”
Girls! Girls! Girls!: A Take on the Objectification of Women in Photography
“I couldn’t believe what I was taking in – what appeared to me as trashy, nearly pornographic, stereotypical sexualization of women actually seemed to be ad space sold on the photograph email listing to promote a photographically based online auction. I felt compelled to take a deeper dive and investigate further, though I already felt certain about what I was about to find.”
Why Don’t We Teach Photographers What to Charge for Their Photos?
“The question becomes one of “how can we even begin to determine if we have a problem?” in a field as tight-lipped as ours. We hoard our financial struggles and successes like hidden treasures, afraid for our peers to judge and belittle when they know our failures, and to face jealousy and resentment for where we excel. We rage online relentlessly about young bloods ruining the industry by not charging proper rates, but never make an effort to teach them what they should charge, how to evaluate, how to gauge. We want widespread knowledge without the education, and I’d like to make the case that it’s leading us down dangerous ways.”
When Photographers See Models as Human Props Instead of P
eople
“We get so caught up in the power of creation, and oftentimes we push instead of respect the boundaries created on set, determined to get the shot we want at all cost (usually at the model’s expense).”