Of all the styles of photography in the industry, perhaps the most misunderstood one out there is ‘glamour’.
By modern definitions, the word glamour means: “alluring beauty or charm (often with sex-appeal)”. In photographic or modelling terms, ‘glamour’, concentrates on a model’s appearance and presentation rather than the clothes she may or may not be wearing. It is about creating sexually provocative images! It is about the attitude, the eroticism, the mood, and sometimes nothing more than a particular look in a model’s eyes.
It is also the most popular market where the majority of models can earn a relatively profitable living. There are no height or age restrictions (though you have to be at least 18-years-old before a photographer will even consider working with you on a glamour shoot), nor are there any size issues. All those pesky rules that are associated with the world of fashion simply don?t apply, which accounts for the sheer number of glamour models out there. In a sense, it is perhaps the most democratic form of modelling in the industry that exists: everyone can give it a go! Those models that do succeed in this field reach the top not necessarily by their good looks or stunning figures alone (although both help), but often by the sheer force of their personality and the professional attitude they bring to their work.
In recent years, the glamour industry has been accepted more by the mainstream media due to the rise of the “lad’s mags”, such as FHM and Zoo, to name but a few.
The irony of the glamour industry, however, is that for many models, it is anything but glamorous! For the majority, it is about the inevitable travelling (be prepared for a lot of it!) to and from shoots in cold, inhospitable studios and locations, as well as the inevitable dangers present for impressionable young women on the road to fame and fortune. It doesn’t help, of course, that the term for ‘glamour’ has been hijacked by the more extreme ends of the industry to make porn sound more palatable as a product for both photographers and models alike. This lazy and convenient categorisation of the industry itself to label everything that is neither fashion nor wholesome, as ‘glamour’, leads to inevitable confusion.
We can’t tell you the number of first-time models we’ve worked with, who’ve either assumed that ‘glamour’ meant ‘porn’, or that it involved some kind of nudity. On the other hand, we’ve also encountered models who’ve assumed that ‘glamour’ simply meant nothing more than wearing lingerie (nope, that’s modelling lingerie, which isn’t the same thing at all). So the long and the short of it is this: ‘glamour’ modelling can range from lingerie to nude work, but it does NOT insist on nudity of any kind, implied or otherwise. What a model is prepared to reveal is based sole on the requirements of a photographer offering work, but more importantly, it is dictated exclusively by what is agreed between both parties beforehand.
Finally, ‘glamour’ is not about how much you see, but how much you think you are going to see?
© 2007 YouPan Models. All Rights Reserved.
YouPan Models kindly gave us permission to use this article.
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