Models ...

Models ...

This week has seen a first for us in the 10 years or so that we have been in business, and sadly it has not been a happy first. It was always going to happen eventually, and I have to confess that sometimes there were times where we nearly caused it to happen deliberately, but when all is said and done, when it did finally happen it was quite traumatic for most of those involved.

For those of you who have worked with models in a studio before you will understand the frustration that models can cause. You know, the ones who turn up half an hour late looking like they have been dragged through a hedge backwards, disappear into make-up and re-appear an hour later looking like they have been dragged through a hedge backwards. The ones who despite being on the scrawny side of a size 6 always insist that their bums look big in what ever you ask them to wear, the ones who fall asleep in the middle of the shoot drifting off gently in a haze of alcohol fumes under the gentle soothing warmth of the lights. Even those who have the soft doe-eyed beauty and demure looks of Bambi - then turn out to have the personality of an enraged T-rex in the middle of a very bad Monday morning.

Yes, we finally killed a model ...

Imagine the set ... the plain white floor and background so beloved of Amazon, the bright modeling lights punctuated by the brighter flash of the main lights and the "beeep" as they recharge, a group of photographers gathered around all eyes on the model who is stood in the center of all that light. The odd muttered "turn round just a little bit more", or "yes, like that, hold it there" followed by the click of a shutter and a simultaneous sudden flash of light. People's faces dimly lit up by their camera screens in the gloom behind the main lights as they chimp their latest shots ...

Just another workshop day in the studio ...

I'm not sure how it happened, and apparently it all happened very fast, but the model decided to leave the set moving forward out of the lights to escape into the cooler darkness away from the bright lights and the bright white set. Unfortunately the photographer who was shooting was not prepared for this and apparently there was a bit of a collision during the course of which the model was ... well ... to put it bluntly ... mortally harmed.

After the ensuing panic had died down we tried to resuscitate our model to no avail and one of the lads with a little medical knowledge suggested that it would appear that our model was "life expired" at this stage, so we did what any true photographers would do and carried on shooting ...


At this point I feel that I should add that we did offer the photographer concerned some form of counseling to help alleviate the guilt of their actions but they settled for a cup of tea and a stiff helping of Bourbon biscuits instead to help settle their nerves.