BLOG #116

12/04/2015

If a young woman, usually between the ages of 15 to 21, is exceptionally pretty or unusual looking in some particularly photogenic way, and tall and slender, whether she lives in China or Chile, Sweden or Senegal, Brazil or Bosnia, there is a good chance she’ll be “discovered” and scouted as a future model.

Often these rare creatures eventually get to New York City, sign with a modeling agency, and begin making the rounds attempting to attract interest and get hired as fashion models.

My SOHO studio was frequently visited by such beauties and I made casting photos. It occurred to me that if I spent time and made images carefully, I could find something unique, original and wonderful as well as beautiful. I worked hard to make photographs that brought out whatever was special about a hopeful model, and after a few years a body of work emerged and was published as a book called RARE CREATURES.

The experience of working with fashion/beauty models has been rewarding and educational for me because they came from dozens of different countries, cultures and walks of life. This, to me, is a major reason to make photographs of anyone, whether models, actors, or street people: The joy is in the connections, the discoveries, the endlessly fascinating stories.

These are some of the images I made:

I asked some to return for another photo session: