A New Model's Viewpoint
Charlie Samson writes of his experiences:
When a friend suggested I join the Register of Artist Models I was more than a little apprehensive. Not long before, as a cash-strapped student, I had been given the butt-naked runaround by a somewhat unscrupulous artist. I won’t go into great detail but it involved oil and gasmasks, and resulted in less than half the previously agreed fee. However, with a useless humanities degree under my belt and a headful of unrealistic dreams, it seemed wise to set up a few safety nets. And getting paid for sitting around in the nude certainly beats sweating the night away behind a bar, so I got in contact with Rachel and she signed me up for a trial run straight away. After my previous misadventure, joining RAM was like coming in from the wild. The introductory session at a life drawing class in North London was incredibly helpful. The gentleman running it was an experienced professional life model who was more than happy to show me the ropes, teaching me a few classic poses and explaining what to expect in the future, in terms of pay and experience. “You’ll never get rich from it,” he said, “but you can earn a comfortable living.” Despite the reassuring introduction, I was still extremely nervous before my first proper job. “Relax,” said a more experienced friend, “you just have to remember that you are the one with the power.” She was right – there is something empowering about walking into a room full of strangers and stripping down to your skin. There is so much shame associated with the body but life modeling makes you realize that you have nothing to hide. Every job I’ve done since has made me feel stronger and more confident. All power to RAM!
When a friend suggested I join the Register of Artist Models I was more than a little apprehensive. Not long before, as a cash-strapped student, I had been given the butt-naked runaround by a somewhat unscrupulous artist. I won’t go into great detail but it involved oil and gasmasks, and resulted in less than half the previously agreed fee. However, with a useless humanities degree under my belt and a headful of unrealistic dreams, it seemed wise to set up a few safety nets. And getting paid for sitting around in the nude certainly beats sweating the night away behind a bar, so I got in contact with Rachel and she signed me up for a trial run straight away. After my previous misadventure, joining RAM was like coming in from the wild. The introductory session at a life drawing class in North London was incredibly helpful. The gentleman running it was an experienced professional life model who was more than happy to show me the ropes, teaching me a few classic poses and explaining what to expect in the future, in terms of pay and experience. “You’ll never get rich from it,” he said, “but you can earn a comfortable living.” Despite the reassuring introduction, I was still extremely nervous before my first proper job. “Relax,” said a more experienced friend, “you just have to remember that you are the one with the power.” She was right – there is something empowering about walking into a room full of strangers and stripping down to your skin. There is so much shame associated with the body but life modeling makes you realize that you have nothing to hide. Every job I’ve done since has made me feel stronger and more confident. All power to RAM!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, as a relatively inexperienced life model, they were really great to read!
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