Stealing Kottke
May 16, 2006
Alternative and amateur model photography is getting trendy… From the grand blogger Jason Kottke himself:
Interview with photographer Jay Parkinson about his aspiring model project. “I feel that it’s a photographic cop-out to take photos of strictly beautiful people because it’s hard to take a bad photo of a beautiful person, especially a very scripted portrait.”
While I understand what Jay is doing with his series, I’m uncomfortable with it because it feels exploitive and condescending — even though I am convinced he is ultimately sympathetic to his subjects. The graduate student art-speak in his interview doesn’t help because it reveals a huge “gap” in education and class between Jay and his models. But I’m not slamming him — his work is making me think. And isn’t that what successful photo projects are supposed to do?
In contrast, Sanders McNew is doing a series of nudes using alternative and amateur models. His ladies — of all shapes and sizes — look genuine, beautiful, and confident. They’re downright wholesome. I can tell he’s affectionate and not just another horndog tog. He can photograph my daughter. Just don’t let me see it.
My all-time favorite alt model tog is this guy called Stuntkid. He has no pretensions. He says he draws and photographs because “girls are pretty.” Damn, that is so simple and brilliant. Don’t forget to circle back here after you get lost in his lovely website.
I’ll confess that when I first started shooting internet alt-models I took an anthropological interest in them. “Why would you do this?” and “What in your background inclined you towards being a model?” But I succumbed. The models were just too nice. I went from documentation to celebration mode (while trying my best to avoid tired cliches and pure cheese.)
It’s fun to photograph people who want to be photographed. Especially after years of hearing “but I’ll break your camera” from thousands of reluctant subjects.
Perhaps this new attention to alternative modeling is an outgrowth of Myspace? I don’t think that many young women are naive enough to seriously think they could be full-time professional models. But they all want cool photos for their Myspace page.