It's Fine Art, Not Porn

There is nothing more frustrating as a nude model than meeting the accusatory stares when you tell someone what you do as a hobby. Here in the bible belt, any time I tell someone I am a fine art model, I get blank stares. Occasionally I can leave it at that but more often than not, people want clarification. When I explain that fine art modeling is tasteful, classy, artistic nudes, all they hear is "I DO PORN". And it's rather difficult to change someone's perception once they think the worst of you. So for a while I would simply say I model. But people always assume this means you're on advertisements and have some sort of contract with a major makeup brand or something. And once you explain to them that you prefer to work with local artists than be represented by some horrible, soul-sucking agency, they give you the look. The "oh-that's-so-cute-she-thinks-she's-a-model" look. Seriously, folks?

For the most part, I don't even tell people I model anymore. It's way more difficult than it's worth and I'm not a fan of lying. But as something that is so important to me, it's hard to keep it a secret. It's not the status as a model, it's the artistic endeavor. I do very few "artsy" things so I pour out a lot of my artistic side into my modeling. I want to be able to share it with more people. But as long as I live in the bible belt, I don't see this happening. Enter, the internet. I've found a nice little niche on deviantArt and thank goodness for that. I would highly recommend using this site, even if you aren't in an artistic closet. I've made a lot of great contacts on the site and I feel completely at ease sharing my pictures because there is a huge community dedicated to fine art photography. Go check it out and while you're at it, hit up my page.