themarytaylor:

Work = Play.  Action shot of me shooting Katie West last March.

Behind the scenes photo courtesy of Chad Michael Ward.

I Don’t Model: A Post by Katie West

Recently I’ve had a bunch of inquiries from photographers asking if I’d want to work with them, or model for them. So I’m writing this in response.

I used to model a lot about six years ago. I had a ModelMayhem account and an OMP account and emailed photographers all day and did all that shit. But I honestly found modeling to be extremely boring and frustrating. Especially when I was working with photographers I didn’t connect with and didn’t understand their vision or really like their aesthetic. And because they were paying me, I couldn’t really be like, “I think if you did it this way, it would look way better.” I felt a lot of what I was doing lacked substance. I did a bunch of fashion shoots that just about made me run away screaming. I liked being in control of my image, and with many photographers, I didn’t have this control and it made me feel shitty. I didn’t like standing around posing and looking pretty. It just wasn’t for me.

It took me awhile to realize that the part about photography I liked wasn’t the modeling, but the making of the photograph. The entire time I was modeling, I was also taking self-portraits and eventually came to the conclusion that that was what I actually wanted to do.

So unless I could collaborate with a photographer who would allow me to give input and be involved in the photo-making process, I just didn’t want to do it. And I still don’t. This is why I don’t model for many people. And when I do, it’s usually because the people are my friends, or because I really love what they’re doing and want to be a part of it, or because I hope to learn something from the experience. 

I like taking other people’s pictures, and my own picture, but I’m just not too keen on other people taking pictures of me.

Done.