"Modeling Life"

This is going to have to be a shorter post than usual. I have homework to do tonight which requires some research time, so I can't play on my blog like I'd prefer. I was recently linked by Nude Video Art, (...thanks, Iris), which used this image to link to my website. So, I extend my thanks and invite you to visit their site as well. More than photography is posted on this blog, as it portrays videos, digital illustrations, and music sharing. I found several of the digital illustrations to be of particular interest as they showed an air of creativity that I hadn't previously appreciated.

I am also currently reading a book by Sarah R. Phillips titled "Modeling Life: Art Models Speak about Nudity, Sexuality, and the Creative Process". I picked it up at Amazon.com. Its also been in my links section of this blog. I haven't gotten far as I am only in the first chapter, but she is pointing out a particular distinction between life or art models who pose for the big three...drawing, painting, and sculpture, vs. those models who pose for photography. I must say, her research does not look favorably upon art photo nudes, nor the models who pose for us. I intend to keep an objective perspective on this and review the book through it's entirety, though I will criticize the author for not having a larger sample size in which she based her conclusions on, being a pool of 30 models all located in Portland Oregon. For a professor, I'd expect a bit larger sample and a larger distribution. Many of the models she interviewed more than likely know each other and thus may formulate some of the same opinions.

Okay, so I lied. This isn't necessarily as short as I planned. I will include in my future posts reports of my critiques and opinions on this literary publication as I am able to review it. I think I can lend an interesting perspective having a background as a life model of both drawing and photography. As always, I'd love to hear your comments on the matter.