Fashion Models from Europe are more relaxed about Nudity then American Fashion Models.

While numerous photographers had a remark on the area, I choose to focus on the opinions made by a qualified photographer with over 20 years in the market. His reviews were very insightful and fascinating, to say the least. Whether they are true or not is of course unknown, and your experiences may vary greatly.

Photographer Interview:

Me: How many years have you been in the fashion model industry?

Photographer:  I started about 20 years ago shooting for a modest online business that worked with stock pics. Mostly I worked with freelance models and created the content that the provider would later sell along with the graphic license. After about 2 years I branched out on my own and began to work in the fashion market place. My work was 100% in the USA for the first few years and I worked well with models ranging from formal evening wear, designer outfits, to Playboy style artistic work and enjoyment magazines that include Maxim. I treated the job as a specialist and always worked with top rated level models.

Me: So when did you start traveling abroad to work with models and what main difference did you detect?

Photographer:  My 1st trip to Europe was about 6 years ago. I started out doing work in Prague. The commitment for this built up slowly but surely over time. Quite simply I was having more and more trouble finding proper American models. Not because of their 'look', but because the culture was changing so fast in regards to web based modeling and freelance photographers. For example I would generally be required to pay for for the model's boyfriend to be present at the photo-shoot to ensure that nothing 'funny' was going on. Or to pay for a bodyguard/chaperon to be present at the shoot and for the duration of the interview. Now I fully comprehend the need for essential safety, but I am a qualified photographer with a huge stock portfolio and years of expertise. Also the models I worked with quite often came from agencies and talent scouts, not Craigslist. So over time it became very unpleasant to work with American models. I even begun to feel 'sleazy', as if what I was doing was in some manner shady. This sense was not from the content I produced, but from the model's actions toward me. Furthermore to this the expense started to go way up while the quality started to drop significantly.

My first photo-shoot in Prague was an astounding experience. I contracted the casting call through an agency. Upon arrival I found out that there were over 100 applicants, some from as far away as Brno (a two hour drive). My typical pay-rate was more the double the regular pay-rate that models normally collect from local photographers. The models treated me with great regard and openness, which was a fantastic difference from the paranoid US models. I traveled with a modest company consisting of a make-up artist and crew members. We leased a large dwelling that we established into a studio room for the photo-shoot. The condo was over 5000 square feet and would have cost 1000s in the states. However we were able to arrange the stay for $1200 (which covered 2 weeks).

The models also came ready. What I mean by this is the models really knew how to pose and what type of images I was looking for. Prior to the photo-shoot we have a casting and I exhibit the image variations and critique the correct type of work I am looking for. I do this in America as well but irrespective of my prep work the models often show up having no clue and I basically have to spend around 20-30 minutes critiquing the posing variations and overall feel I am trying to attain from the imagery. I was pleasurably astonished to see that all of the European models practiced preceding to arriving at the shoot.

Me: Does this imply you will not work with American models any more?

Photographer:  Well I'm sure it may seem is if I am coming down to hard on US models and I don't mean for that to be the case. I have worked with some incredibly experienced American models. Nevertheless the feeling lately in relation to American models appears to be rookie. I have experienced total photo-shoots completely spoiled because the model was not well prepared or simply changed her mind mid-shoot. So for the time being I believe I will stick to European models. top male fashion models