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Taking your clothes off for money need not be exploitative. Yvonne Eller explains what drives her, and many women like her, to embrace figure modelling
If you are willing to invoke confusion, bewilderment and a sudden urge in others to change the subject, you could consider an extra source of income in these crunchy times: life modelling. When I tell my friends that this is what I do with my spare time, the reaction is usually one of disbelief. "You take off your clothes for money?", they splutter.
I do. Three times a week, I model for Robbie Wraith, an internationally renowned artist who studied in Florence under Pietro Annigoni. I stumbled across his advert accidentally after finishing university, and have not looked back since. I have no (lingering) body hang-ups, and delight in the idea that, when I'm eighty, I'll look back at what I did at twenty-two, smug in the knowledge that I once looked like a twenty-two-year-old.
As well as being the subject of some great art, I have also learned a lot during these afternoons: about myself, the creative process, and the world in general (not to mention the horrors of south-east England's fading and intermittent daylight).
And I have only dipped a toe in the waters of life modelling. Entire networking websites exist to match up artists (of all media and expertise) with willing models, who often work full-time and are predominantly female.
One Oxford-based model, Ivory Flame, said: "I got into modelling when I used to work for a beauty store. When I was doing the makeup for a local fashion show, I was approached to model for a magazine article. Then I was introduced to some of the online networking sites by a photographer I met, added some pictures and built it from there. I did it part-time alongside my degree, and now I have been full-time for over a year." Flame works three to five days a week, with each photoshoot varying from a few hours to a full day.
Life or figure modelling (or 'art nude' modelling, the term often used by those in the business), is a sub-genre of modelling that models often stumble across. Madame Bink, who describes herself as a full-time 'art model', explains, "Art nude was the only aspect of the shoots I really enjoyed. I felt more comfortable in my own skin than dressed up, so I started to just do art nude work." There is certainly a lot to be said for turning up to a job to which you literally need only bring yourself.
But what kind of person becomes a figure model? Must there be some underlying exhibitionism in desperate need of expression? Ian Leake is a fine art photographer, who uses an increasingly rare process of platinum printing to create simple nude compositions that "celebrate beauty". He believes there are three main reasons to become a figure model: "For some models it's a rite of passage into adulthood and control of their lives; others do it for the money; and a few do it because they love creating art."
Often, and certainly in my case, it is all three. Working with passionate, creative artists can be very exciting. Flame agrees: "There is one photographer I know who is so ardent about every line, cove and crevice in the body. The way he compares them to things is hilarious … he will get so enthusiastic about the light hitting my big toe. He's really fun. And an artist I worked with recently was so inspired by the light and textures captured on my skin. It is so energizing to be part of that vision that is created. It's such a joy working with people like that."
There is also a sense of community between life models. Often, jobs are found by mutual recommendation alone. But don't imagine that there is not the same amount of schmoozing as in any other career field. Full-time models must be on top of their game if they are to succeed, especially when it comes to self-promotion, speedy (often international) travel, and, of course, the dreaded tax returns that come with self-employment; discipline. Or, as one model puts it, "It's like a giant complicated jigsaw puzzle you have to put together all the time." Bink only found herself back home in Lincolnshire five times in 2008.
So is figure modelling worth the hassle? "If anything it has made me less vain", says Flame. "I'm naturally a quiet person, and can get quite shy around new people, so to have the balls to go into a group shoot, drop my robe and work nude in front of a room of people with cameras - it's a real challenge and I have had to learn to literally wrench the confidence out of me.
"Sometimes I still get nervous and get those surreal moments when I think 'How did I get into this?', but I take a deep breath and it passes by. I've always been fascinated by the human body, so to be in a profession inspired by it is really interesting. But the more I do it the more I realise that it's really nothing to do with having a nice body. There are gorgeous bodies all over the place. You really have to bring something extra - emotion, expression."
Of course, there are friends and relatives who will get entirely the wrong end of the stick when they hear about what you do. The stigma differs depending on whether you model for a painter or a photographer (or a sculptor, or a digital-art photographer, or a body painter …) Some people are still keen to impose a hierarchy of respectability onto the art world. As Bink says: "On the London Underground right now there is an advert featuring a very classical nude painting. I can't see them putting up a nude photograph any time soon."
So what do artists look for in a life model? The ability to hold a pose, clearly. Flexibility, perhaps. But there is far, far more to the role. Photographer Allan Jenkins says: "It's not about size zero, that's for sure. It's about shapes, angles, light, shadows, style and movement. It's the model's ability to create a rapport with the photographer - to be able to take direction well, the ability to feel comfortable in front of the lens, act like a muse ... be inspired and inspire."
Modelling is a collaborative process. It's not about being a blank canvas for an artist to manipulate into art; it's not passive. It's about bringing something to the table. The Figure Model's Guild declares modelling to be "an art form in itself".
I tease Wraith by occasionally asking, "Does it look like me yet?" a few minutes into a new sketch or painting. It inevitably does - to an astonishing degree and in a matter of seconds - but Wraith wouldn't say so. He once told me that he wasn't really painting me at all. He was painting his reaction to me - a mixture of himself and myself.
I am sometimes asked rather probing questions by giggly friends. "What about sexual tension? Isn't it a bit weird?
Well, I say (a little red-faced at this point), an artist has to find some appeal in his or her subject - otherwise what would be the point? But it doesn't have to be sexual. In fact, sexual tension would often be more trouble than it's worth. Leake says: "I suppose that if you're making erotic or glamour photos then sexual tension is probably a good idea, but it's not in the slightest bit necessary for the kind of work I do - in fact, I believe it would be a big hindrance. What I need is creative collaboration. In my experience that's fostered by trust, honesty and integrity, not by sexual tension."
Leake's is not an art that objectifies women: "People are fabulous - they do unexpected things, they have opinions, and they bring their own feelings, emotions and life experiences to the work. I love it when one of the pictures we've made shows the model a new perspective of herself ... Sometimes it's the first time they've realised just how beautiful they are. I've seen models completely stunned when they see pictures we've made.'
But it's certainly true that there is a gender imbalance in the figure-modelling world, which largely features female models and male artists. Leake believes that is socially more acceptability to show nude women than nude men. "I know an American photographer who received a death threat after posting a picture of a rather well-endowed man on a photography web site - I've never heard of a similar reaction to female nudes."
It would be disingenuous to accept this as the main reason for the gender divide. As Leake admits: "It's also because female bodies are simply more beautiful than male bodies."
