Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
When you pose for stock photos, you may not even be able to imagine how those photos will be used. Writer Abigail Johnson recently warned people to “never do stock image modeling,” as a photo of her ended up in quite an… unusual article.
But then, people joined with their own experiences, each more bizarre than the other. Some of them were funny, but most were embarrassing and downright humiliating.
Nigeria’s advertising regulator has announced a ban on using foreign talent in television advertisements. The first-of-its-kind move means that foreign models and voice-over artists will be completely banned.
The measure will take effect from October 2022 and is expected to boost work available for home-grown talent. Up until now, the Nigerian advertising sector used a large proportion of white British models and voice-over artists.
We all start somewhere and if you’re a new photographer learning the ropes, you’ll likely prefer to get some practice in without having to hire a professional model for every single new idea or piece of kit you want to try out.
Don’t get me wrong, I highly recommend you pay for models when trying new ideas, as this can often remove a lot of the stress from a shoot. Paying for a model often means you’re paying for their expertise in posing and angles, and this can mean it’s one less thing for you to worry about. You’ll likely have enough going on with technical traumas, lighting placement, exposures, camera operation and much more, so paying a professional model who knows how to pose is always a huge help.
But what if you’re starting out and simply don’t have the budget just yet for a professional model?
A London Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism detective has been sentenced to three years in jail for secretly filming models during fake photoshoots. The BBC reports that 40-year-old Detective Inspector Neil Corbel was said to have committed the crimes in hotel rooms and Airbnbs across London, Brighton and Manchester using cameras hidden in tissue boxes, phone charges and glasses to film women unaware.
Corbel, who is married and has a family, admitted to 19 counts of voyeurism. One model stated that she has been left with bald spots as a result of pulling out her hair due to stress since the incident, according to a victim impact statement presented to the court. Two other victims also told the court of their distress, as reinforced by Judge Martin Edmunds QC during sentencing.
Even as an anonymous, regular girl, I can tell you that “beauty standards” are a tiring thing, wrecking women’s mental health since… I don’t know, probably forever. But if you’re a model or a celebrity, I can only imagine how bad it can get.
A model named Liz, a.k.a. Thewizardliz, recently witnessed just how toxic “beauty standards” are. During a photo shoot, a photographer told her to stop eating so she could lose weight until the next shoot. She reacted fiercely and emotionally, standing up for herself and women in general. Her friend caught it on camera, and it turned into a video that quickly went viral and gained a flood of comments.
Winner of multiple Oscars, BAFTAs and SAG awards, Apollo 13 was a pretty epic movie. And with a budget of $52 million it had some pretty spectacular effects, too. Apollo 13 was a mix of model and miniature effects as well as CG and compositing, with one of the most memorable scenes being the launch itself.
DIY filmmaking and effects guru Steve Ramsden wanted to have a go at remaking this scene for himself with the help of a model rocket, some stock footage and Google Earth. Ironically, this was exactly the way the VFX team on the actual movie didn’t want to shoot it, but Steve’s interpretation turned out pretty well.
BBC News reports that 11 models from Ukraine – with some outlets reporting 40 models in total – have been arrested along with Russian photographer, Alexey Kontsov for what has been described as a “lewd” photoshoot on an apartment balcony in Dubai. The models face up to six months in prison with the photographer who organised the shoot potentially facing 18 months.
They were caught due to video footage being posted to social media by the photographer. It is believed that he initially told police that he was watching from a nearby apartment and not involved in the shoot but made the “fatal mistake” of posting the video online – a potential crime in the UAE. But videos and photos show footage from inside the apartment and on the balcony with the models, too.
Over the past few days, I got hooked on Jessica Kobeissi‘s reaction videos, where she comments on America’s Next Top Model. I’ve never watched the show itself, but I watched a few episodes through Jessica’s videos – and they left me shocked! I felt the need to talk about it and share my thoughts. But since I’m pretty terrible at making videos, I’ll do it in this article. [Read More…]
As photographers or filmmakers, many of us have or will work with models at some point, perhaps even regularly. Typically, however, it’s about the whole package. We’re not usually focusing on just one part of them. Well, not unless you’re shooting products and need the services of a hand model. A hand model like RayMartell Moore.
This eight and a half minute video from Insider offers a fascinating insight into the world of hand modelling. RayMartell is uniquely qualified to talk about this topic as he’s been doing it for a decade now and his services can command as much as $4,000 per job.
I don’t want to photograph models. They are lovely and beautiful and work with you and do what you ask and most are a dream to photograph, resulting in beautiful images. All this is true, but…
I don’t want to photograph them. I don’t.
See, I don’t want models to be representations of my work. I don’t want hand picked human beings of all ages outfitted in custom clothing with hair and makeup done professionally to be what people see when they peruse my portfolio. Or look at my website. Or walk by my many displays. Or look at my social media sites.
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