Modeling / Photography & Age Discrimination

About three weeks ago I worked with a model I’d never worked with before. She is gorgeous in every way. Polite, intelligent, beautiful skin, gorgeous full and shiny hair and an amazing fit body. As long as a person is of legal age I don’t really care how old they are. If they suit the look I’m going for then I really could care less beyond getting the job done. But I was stunned by what she told me. She mentioned that in her experience many people were turned off by her age. She perfectly recalled an occasion, when a photographer she had just finished shooting with asked her age. When she told him he visibly expressed shock and immediately became dismissive and treated her horribly. I personally just don’t understand the obsessiveness with age. Clearly this model was perfect before the photographer knew her age. I was appalled and very disappointed in this photographer’s behavior. It makes the entire industry seem so very very superficial.  All we really want or really need is a competent and talented subject to meet the criteria of the task. 

I might have known that something was off when she asked the average age of the models I typically work with early in the photo shoot. She was unnaturally interested. When I mentioned all ages she was visibly but pleasantly surprised. I clearly remember saying, “I don’t have an age limit. I only have qualifications. If a person suits those qualifiers then I don’t care. If she is slightly older then all the better since statistics tend to suggests that more mature models are more reliable.” Then she told me her story. I couldn’t get over how someone calling themselves a professional could behave in such a manner. In her estimation, anyone over 30 years of age was at a horrible disadvantage. Clearly she had been shaken and somewhat discouraged by her experiences and given her talent and her looks I was simply baffled why anyone so beautiful might have developed such a distrust and negative attitude about the industry at large.

It didn’t take me long to realize she was not alone. I did a bit of research and spoke to a few colleagues and other models. While there are certainly more mature models working, many have experienced some form of push back when they revealed their age. It wasn’t because they didn’t look the look, walk the proverbial walk or that they didn’t meet all the criteria of the task - NO! It was only because of their age; a simple number that often disqualified them from further consideration.

When did we become so shallow a society to care how old or how young a person is if they perfectly suit the task at hand? In fact, I have argued that on occasion it might be more attractive to seek out a slightly more mature model because of their attention to detail, their work ethic and dedication. Paid or unpaid, collaboration or commissioned, I have never had a model over 30 years of age not show up. From a marketing perspective, any smart person would know that models in their 40s, 50s and 60s is a rapidly growing and sought after group due to the amount of products and services seeking that demographic. More specifically, the amount of quality images needed to promote products to that group is rapidly expanding. It is quite simply, a smart move to work with this rapidly expanding market. If anything, this photographer should be bowing and pleading for the pleasure. But even that is not really the argument here. The lack of common business sense is argument enough for the imbecile that has a problem with age. But what truly perturbs is the fact that this age-nazi expressed no problem whatsoever until he or she actually learned the model’s age. It’s baseless and ignorant to age discriminate for any reason short of not being able to perform the task and that can be true of any person at any age. 

This photographer, whomever they are is simply a fool. It was a tactless thing to do, a blatant lack of professionalism and it shames me to know that someone as kind and as beautiful as this model has to endure such ridicule for being who she is. 

Lucky for me I did photograph her and quite frankly I loved every second of it. She was perfectly qualified, punctual, experienced, respectful, communicable and gorgeous. What else could I possibly want? All things being equal she was perfect and I don’t care how old she is beyond being of legal age. 

Sircus Magazine Cover Design Concept by heliosimaging

Should You Get a Model Release for Photos?

A Model Release document is a formal document used largely by photographers and publishers to outline the allowances and restrictions of images and photographs that contain the likeness of an identifiable person or persons. For photographers, it largely protects them from civil liability of image use and publication.

The Release often confirms the legality and consent of the party to have their likeness captured, and/or distributed; or as outlined in the details of the Release document.

Why is the Model Release important? It identifies all parties. It demonstrates consent, age appropriateness and legality, due consideration, allowances and restrictions of relevant parties among other things. It may serve as protection against inappropriate image use by a publisher, a photographer, or any individual whose identity and likeness is clearly recognizable. The Model Release may also establish copyright ownership and image publication allowances.

All Releases are not created equal. Some are established purely for proof of age while others are considerably more detailed. Make sure you understand your rights as a subject, a photographer, and/or a model in order to protect your privacy and avoid potential liability.

Can Graphic Design and Photography be Eco-friendly?

I believe that eco-responsibility is something that extends to all of us. We all share the same planet, breath the same air, and these commonalities bond all of us. We are all ecological neighbors on this world. As a photographer and graphic designer I have wondered about things I can do to decrease my carbon footprint and try to become more eco conscience.

Print design has the potential to use large amounts of paper; particularly during the proofing process. Despite having monitors, print designers often have to see how each image or each layout might look on different media. We experiment with textures of media, weights, colors, acidities, and varying opacities. We have to be more conscience of our waste. We have to start exercising a higher degree of mental retention and write and record what works and what doesn’t instead of increasing the size of our landfills. We have to think about the amount of ink we use and try to reduce our use of inks with toxins that can harm the environment such as lead based inks. The recycling of empty ink cartridges is a start and disposing of them in the proper way is extremely beneficial. Email more proofs instead of using paper.

Consistency is important in this business and our responsibility to give our clients a perfectly repeatable image and message is tied to our success as designers and photographers. There is a high degree of variance that can come with proofing from monitors and different printers but we can limit our paper proofing a little until we’re near the final designs, where color is consistency becomes more critical. Buying a series of printers with a recognized standardization on color is a beginning to reducing paper waste. Using energy efficient equipment and turning off our monitors and computers when they’re not in continued use is a start. Requesting recycled paper when possible for our large less critical print jobs is a huge bonus.

Even as a web developer I’ve searched for different things and I discovered a web host that harnesses wind power to run their servers while others are utilizing solar energy. I had never heard of such an ingenious solution being applied to such high technology and I have plans to use these hosts for upcoming web projects when plausible.

We have a great responsibility but also a wonderful opportunity to do some amazing things.

Thanks.

Wil