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Top American Fashion Models.

While a lot of photographers had a comment on the matter, I choose to focus on the remarks made by a skilled photographer with over 20 years in the business. His feedback were very insightful and interesting, to say the least. Whether they are true or not is of course unknown, and your experience may vary greatly.

Photographer Interview:

Me: How long have you been in the fashion model community?

Photographer: I started about 20 years ago shooting for a modest online organization that worked with stock images. Mostly I worked with freelance models and produced the content that the provider would later sell along with the image license. After about 2 years I branched out on my own and began to work in the fashion field. My job 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 entertainment magazines like Maxim. I treated the job as a professional and always worked with top rated level models.

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

Photographer: My very first trip to Europe was about 6 years ago. I started out performing in Prague. The commitment for this built up gradually over time. Primarily I was having more and more trouble finding appropriate American models. Not because of their 'look', but because the customs was changing so fast in regards to internet modeling and freelance photographers. For example I would frequently be required to pay for the model's boyfriend to attend 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 at the time of the interview. Now I fully realize the need for basic safety, but I am a pro photographer with a huge profile and years of experience. Also the models I worked with normally came from agencies and talent scouts, not Craigslist. So over time it became very uneasy to work with American models. I even begun to feel 'sleazy', as if what I was doing was in some way shady. This experience was not from the material I produced, but from the model's behavior toward me. Moreover to this the expense started to go way up while the quality started to drop noticeably.

My initial photo-shoot in Prague was an incredible experience. I arranged the casting call through an agency. Upon arrival I found out that there were over 100 candidates, some from as far away as Brno (a two hour drive). My typical pay-rate was more the double the typical pay-rate that models normally obtain from local shooters. The models treated me with wonderful respect and openness, which was a incredible distinction from the paranoid US models. I journeyed with a small-scale group consisting of a make-up artist and crew members. We leased a huge residence that we created into a studio for the photo-shoot. The condo was over 5000 square feet and would have cost thousands in the states. However we were able to organise the stay for $1200 (which included 14 days).

The models also came completely ready. What I mean by this is the models actually knew how to pose and what fashion of imagery I was seeking. Just before the photo-shoot we have a casting and I showcase the image styles and evaluate the actual type of work I am seeking. I do this in America as well but regardless of my prep work the models always show up having no clue and I basically have to spend around 20-30 minutes going over the posing styles and overall feel I am trying to gain from the pictures. I was pleasurably surprised to see that all of the European models practiced preceding to arriving at the shoot.

Me: Does this suggest you will not work with American models ever again?

Photographer: Well I think 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 previously worked with some amazingly qualified American models. Nonetheless the atmosphere lately in respect to American models appears to be novice. I have experienced complete photo-shoots completely spoiled because the model was not completely ready or simply changed her mind mid-shoot. So in the meanwhile I do think I will stay with European models. glamour model agency