Secret Diary of a Life Model

“£50- £100 for three hours, depending on experience.”

The idea of being naked for artistic purposes, rather than it being taken as something sexual, was appealing. As were ideas of meeting some very interesting people I wouldn’t normally. But I won’t lie – it was the money that was the main motivation when I responded to the advert pinned up outside V-Bar calling for models for life drawing classes in York.

Life drawing is about the academic study of the body, of anatomy, and as a result it is of no matter what age, sex or dress size the model is. With this in mind I was comfortable to strip. As most of my friends would tell you, I’m perfectly comfortable with people I trust seeing me in various states of undress, so why should I not put this to a purpose? I would be useful to art classes and give myself enough money to enjoy the few weeks of freedom after exams had finished.

Like most things in life, it was not as easy as that. There were obviously the initial worries. No matter how comfortable I am with my friends, having a group of strangers being that familiar with my naked body was a scary thought. And it was not only my own worries. Most of my friends were supportive of whatever I chose to do and many actively encouraged me to take a really interesting opportunity. My more artistic friends were familiar with life-drawing classes and reassured me, answering my questions. However there were still those that struggled to understand why I would choose to strip for money. Especially when phrased like that it sounded much less appealing…

On top of this, there was also the worry that I had absolutely no experience, and I was not naïve in that I realised it was not just a case of taking my clothes off and getting paid for it. But then again I have a high pain threshold and the advert did say no experience necessary, so I decided to go for it and at least go for the initial interview with my potential employer. I wanted to hear a bit more about what would be expected of me, what the classes were like and what they involved. And what the person organising it all was like.

All excited, I went trotting through York (I say trot, more of a flat out gallop in my sundress and flip-flops as I was running late – not the calm, cool artistic look I was going for) to meet the man holding the life drawing classes. The room he spoke to me in was where the classes would be held and it was already set up for a still-life class he was holding that evening. All very professional, I thought. He reassured me and talked me through my doubts, emphasising the layout of screens that would be put in place, the control of cameras and phones and of who could come in and out and when.

This is in line (enough) with the guidelines that can be found on the Register for Artists Models (RAM) website, “A cubicle should be provided with chair, mirror, coat hooks and hangers, which can be kept cleaner than the surrounding art space… A screen is not really satisfactory, though better than nothing.” There are not official routes artists or models have to go through, and yet the RAM is one of many organisations existing to increase the professionalism of nude modelling both for the tutor and the model.

My potential employer then told me that before I could start, as I had no experience, he’d like to hold a preliminary ‘training session’ later on, unpaid, at his own studio just to show me the poses, see which ones I could hold and for how long and just make sure I was confident with everything before putting me in front of a class.

I had done some googling and Facebook stalking of my potential employer prior to meeting him, attempting to find reassurance, and did find at least some artwork of his. As it turns out, I really should have gone with my gut instinct of not trusting someone who called one of his models a ‘good girl’ on his Facebook.

So I went along to the ‘training session’, bringing along my (very, very, very) good friend. Upon discovering that his ‘studio’ was in fact his front room, we were suspicious but willing to give the benefit of doubt, if not enough to do a totally nude, free, private session. However by the time he later emailed me deciding I needed more ‘private sessions’ at £25 for three hours (about £8.30 an hour, way under the £12.50 an hour recommended by RAM, and half what he originally offered despite knowing I had no experience), totally nude before I was ready for a class at full pay, I realised I’d be better off sticking to waitressing which might not be amazing pay, but at least I wouldn’t feel quite so vulnerable to someone who said he would give me more money if he felt like being ‘kind uncle’.

RAM recognises modelling one-to-one as being very different and containing more risks than group modelling, something that my potential employer seemed oblivious of when he emailed me after this ‘training session’ complaining about my accompanying friend showing a protective streak and asking some questions about his work with life models. According to these guidelines not only should you see samples of a prospective employer’s work and insist on a chaperone, but also you should be able to speak to previous one-to-one models.

Just getting to his ‘studio’ made me realise the risk I was taking. I probably should have told the trusting part of me to shut up and woken up to my suspicions much earlier. Artists and tutors that are used to working with life models understand well what poses put stress on the body, but it is always up to the model to do what they are able to do and comfortable to do, points emphasised by both the RAM and the ‘artist’ I almost worked for, before he decided to then ignore this in practise. Having had a shoulder operation in previous months I warned him that that was the only part of my body that wasn’t very strong, and yet the first pose he asked me to do was from a book of photos of nude poses (so the models only need to stay still enough for a camera shot), whereby I had to hold my arms in the air at an angle whilst I arched my whole body back and sideways. He then used my inability to hold this for very long (regardless of my stillness in the following poses) to argue that I’d need many more private sessions. Such changes in originally ‘non-negotiable’ terms did not fill me with confidence about how professional this particular establishment was going to be in starting a life modelling job.

Whilst I personally have been put off life modelling in this case, in principal I don’t plan on turning cynical to the whole idea. Official agencies emphasise the ‘exhilarating and almost spiritual experience’ of life modelling, and I am not going to contradict that. However, I have discovered it is not quite the casual job it was advertised as. To go through official routes, providing an N.I. number and then having a contract and security, you need to be professional and gain experience rather than just being able to do it as and when you can or want to. There is no need to ever make yourself vulnerable working for any unofficial or un-established groups when, for those that are serious about modelling; there are official and professional routes to take.