Closure; unfinished business

March 28, 2014January 12, 2016ERWhittington

By Nigel Barklie.

White, Yellow, Red & Blue

March 23, 2014January 12, 2016ERWhittington

I meant to show you these a long time ago (well, almost a year ago!), and looking at my schedule (and that of mother nature) it’s clear to me that Spring is a-Springing (let’s ignore the fact that it hailed today) so I’m either really really late with these or really early.

Either way, I am very much looking forward to the possibility of my some local outdoor shoots in April/May (let me know if you want to make the most of it this year by booking something in in advance!), where all of the below were taken by the lovely Kev Bretts. Sweet and casual was the order of the day.

Pearls, Fleurs & Luminance

March 8, 2014January 12, 2016ERWhittington

Thank you for my birthday wishes yesterday. I seriously couldn’t believe how many hundreds of you took the time – it brought me lots of cheer, and you also managed brilliantly to spread it out across 3/4 days (I have no idea what time zones some of you are claiming to live in and some of you are you still going strong, but hey, I’ll take what I can get!)! 🙂 Thank you!!

Also, that last post, ‘10 Things You Might Not Know About Nude Models‘ has proved quite a hit – with lots and lots of, er, hits, that, again, has blown my tiny little mind. Wow. Thousands and thousands of views, shares, comments… Not bad for something banged out quickly on a whim. I’m glad it was taken in the spirit intended.

Here are some more images by the excellent Bjorn Hansen. We seem to have got a week’s worth of images from one short shoot and I really love the luminence in the first one particularly.

Until the next one! 🙂

10 Things You Might Not Know About Nude Models

March 4, 2014June 28, 2016ERWhittington

1. Yes, it is possible to make a living doing this. But it takes a lot of hard work and a good reputation. For every hour spent in front of the lens or canvas, roughly nine million are spent networking, updating portfolios, organising work, advertising, applying to castings, travelling to and from locations, packing/unpacking for jobs/trips (because even nude models are expected, often, to bring props/accessories/items of clothing) and attacking what I like to affectionately refer to as ‘the email mountain’. We are grateful for the email mountain; it keeps us in business; we just wish we could hire some hobbit minions to live underneath it and help us out every now and then (perhaps with purpose-built sticks and digging equipment) so that we don’t accidentally offend the creative types who grow more and more anxious by our lack of reply (because we are busy modelling by day, or sleeping by night, or, you know, doing other important stuff).

2. We don’t assume you’re a pervert, when you hire us for your artwork, personal projects or even just to test your ability to turn a lump of wax into a decent, human-shaped figure. (But we do seek standard references before meeting new clients, if we take our personal safety seriously). This should go without saying, of course; nudity is perfectly normal, but I have modelled for the occasional ‘newbie’ whose hands have visibly shaken at the experience; who’ve wanted very much to mention their wives and happy marriages within the first two or three sentences (perhaps in the opening email) to assure me of their lack of intention, and who announce that they will be leaving the room every time I change pose. It’s sweet, but largely unnecessary. Rest assured that if you’re not a lech, you probably won’t come across as one.

3. That said, we don’t really want you to touch us, especially when we’re nude. We are not made of fire (you don’t need to bounce away from us as though we might burn you), but if you think it’s appropriate to move our limbs for us instead of at least attempting to first describe a pose you are trying to capture, or push/poke us into position, without asking permission first (not while you brush our hair away from our faces) we may find you rude at best and threatening at worst. Any contact should be careful and brief; this isn’t because we’re precious (seriously, nude models are not divas!) but because we value respect. Most humans are intuitively aware of personal space and how the etiquette is naturally rather amplified by nudity, but if you know you happen to struggle with social convention, it’s best to steer clear of any physical contact unless specifically agreed upon by the model. Do offer to help us down from that tree if we’re looking a bit stuck, but don’t linger about it.

4. We really do care about your results. Chances are, if we weren’t in some way artistically-inclined or interested in modelling as a creative ‘vocation’, we wouldn’t be in this job at all; we’d be doing something else completely. (Probably something more boring). When hiring us, you are under no obligation to show us the final images, and we know that, but we really hope that you might anyway – it makes the whole thing more satisfying for us. This isn’t vanity; it’s fun to see the fruits of our labours, and we like to celebrate successes with you.

Photographer: Keith Cooper

5. We are full of doubts, about whether we’re slightly mad for being involved in this quest for producing interesting, beautiful and engaging imagery via the media of our faces and bodies. We know this isn’t a normal job. We secretly quite enjoy the surprise on people’s faces when we tell them what we do for a living, but we also know it doesn’t quite sound like a ‘real’, grown-up job. We can’t pretend we have an office or a company car. We’re proud anyway.

6. In fact, we consider ourselves quite lucky that we get to experience things that other people might never even think of doing, in places we might otherwise never think of visiting. There is something very special about posing in a field of tall sunflowers in Germany, tip-toe-ing around beautiful old, derelict baths in Manchester, and lying on your back on amazing, cracked earth as a Californian storm builds over the desert. When we’re old and wrinkly, we’ll look back at these many, varied and surreal experiences with such excitement that we did them, that we didn’t say no; that we didn’t take the conventional path through life.

Photographer: Bjorn Hansen

7. We really don’t mind at all if you forget to take your lens cap off your camera ten times in a row. We know there’s a lot to think about at once when photographing a subject, especially if you’re not that experienced (and sometimes even if you are). We don’t think you’re an idiot, even when you put your camera down then can’t remember where you left it afterwards (my most amusing memory of this particular mishap to date involves a camera being discovered in a draining board next to a kitchen sink; the photographer in question works mostly from a home studio – a backdrop against the lounge wall – and produces well-respected world-class photos of the quality that people all over the globe aspire to).

8. We like it when you talk to us. Sometimes we’re booked specifically for our own style of posing, and essentially ‘lead’ a shoot. (It’s surprisingly common that a photographer will set up the lights, then basically say ‘go!’ offering absolutely no input from then on.) That’s OK; we can work with that. But it’s nice when you balance that out by telling us what you want, what you don’t want, what you like and don’t like. Don’t be silent; it can make even the best models nervous (‘does s/he hate what I’m doing? Is s/he still there?’). Instead, offer some encouragement; or at least evidence that you are alive and haven’t accidentally morphed into a human/camera hybrid via some fluke melding tragedy, never again to converse with humankind but simply to roam the streets clicking at birds and wildlife like an interesting but somewhat deformed artistic robot.

9. But don’t over-direct us. Unless we are new, we probably know how to pose to create flattering angles and interesting imagery. It’s nice when we are allowed to get into the ‘flow’ of things, especially if we have a dance background (note; dancers make excellent models!). It can sometimes work against your own interests to interfere too much, unless we are doing something badly wrong (in which case, please do intervene!). I was once directed into each and every pose after each individual camera click, body part by limb by gaze direction, by a beginner photographer who, after tiring himself out towards the end, suggested I do my own thing for the last 15 minutes and marvelled at how much more productive we were. Unless you really do want exact, meticulously pre-planned poses (which is fine!), don’t be too much of a control freak.

9. We don’t like being compared to other models. It’s not big, healthy, helpful or clever. Being told that a previous model you’ve worked with did/was x, y and z, and it was simply wonderful, is all well and good, but can be deflating if you are saying it to imply that you don’t think we’ll be as good/the same. It’s good if you can appreciate what’s in front of you; after all, you didn’t rehire your previous model, you hired us. We can offer something different!

10. This is the eleventh point. I know that. Don’t assume your model is stupid.Personally, I have a degree in philosophy; utterly impractical, of course (and if my date with an Oxford philosophy lecturer last night is anything to go by, these deep-thinkers can be a really unusual bunch, let’s just say), but at the very least I came away from university with the ability to win every single argument I am ever involved with for the rest of my life (and beyond…), using the much underrated tool of logic. Ahem, anyway… Most models I know are quite impressive, prolific and multi-talented, even just in terms of juggling all the organisation. You’ve got to be on the ball to make a career like this work. We’re probably not complete air-heads. But you knew that.

An Italian Garden

March 3, 2014January 12, 2016ERWhittington

It was such a pleasure to be invited to Tuscany in September to work with a small group of photographers alongside a few other models. The villa was just so utterly stunning – utterly Italy-ish – I can’t describe it better than that, except by alluding to the rusty brown fields, rolling hills, streaming sunlight… And Florence is just such a hotbed of art and culture, which I made the most of before I made the train journey to the countryside to shoot these. I had such a good time and definitely want to go back!

Here are some images taken by Herb Nestler, who is great fun, featuring the beautiful Italian model Valentina Feula:

(Ah, the joys of having a vineyard behind one’s villa…) And Ian Arridge took these:

Thanks Herb and Ian! 🙂

Birthdays: Soft Dances in a Room of Grey

February 25, 2014January 12, 2016ERWhittington

Here are some images taken recently by the wonderful Mark Bigelow in an Oxford studio of me modelling alongside mature model (a ridiculous term, but there we have it) Alex B. Alex and I had mutually admired each other’s blogs (hers is here) and outlook for a while. I find her very inspiring. It’s nice to model alongside someone with such character. She is incredibly elegant, with trademark long, silver hair, yet absolutely down to earth and sweet, and I really hope I will be as creative, open-minded, pioneering and graceful at her age and beyond.

There will be more images emerging in the future, probably. The first is one we did quickly before Alex arrived, and Mark has called it ‘Soft Dances in a Room of Grey’:

The Moon

February 14, 2014January 12, 2016ERWhittington

Some romantic images for you on this disgustingly gusty, rainy day – these were taken by the excellent ManCave Studio (great name, hey?), with whom I’ll be shooting again sometime soon-ish if we can get our diaries organised.

I’m also taking lots of bookings at the moment both here in the UK and in various places around Europe – looks like another busy year is in store for me. I’m always very happy to hear from anyone interested in having me model for them: ellarosemuse@live.co.uk (I get these urges to advertise myself when in ‘organisation’ mode; though I really wish I was more on top of emails at the moment; to anyone waiting for a reply, you won’t need to wait much longer as I’m on to it over the next few days I promise!!)

I’ve been modelling for sculptors/painters a lot recently, and other highlights have included battling my way through trains, cancelled trains (which morphed into buses), boats and taxis to the Isle of Wight, to work with a very creative photographer who specialises in producing the images you see on the front covers of novels. All very exciting and I hope to be able to show you something in a couple of months or so. (And I’m absolutely not complaining about the state of the transport issues here in the UK at the moment; I can’t imagine how horrible it must be for those really suffering with floods in the South West.)

I love the curve on the backdrop in the last one – looks like the moon. 🙂

Also, I just have a tiny weeny rant I’d like to vent… Please oh please oh please, if you’re a new model starting out in this world and want to give yourself a ‘stage name’ or pseudonym, please oh please check what names already exist and are in wide circulation on the internet. I have mentioned this before, but I’m getting a little fed up, to be honest, of the amount of models I see with painfully similar names to my own.

I’m not saying my name is wildly unique, but no one else was called it when I started (I checked, before I built my portfolio!!) and now there are countless variations of ‘Rose’s out there and even one model notably calling herself something just one letter different from ‘Ella Rose’. Seriously, imitation is not necessarily flattering; sometimes it just looks silly, and causes all sorts of confusions online where messages are mis-sent to me (meant for her) or sent to her when they are meant for me. I am not the only model out there who has this happening; there are countless spin offs of my popular model friends, too. And I know I sound silly and petty even mentioning it, but it does seem such a shame and not at all helpful to those people who become confused about who, exactly, they are contacting. What’s wrong with being as unique as we can each be? 🙂