Member-only story
Why I Canceled My Photography Club
I was a bright-eyed recent college grad who had just move to the big city. I found myself blindly attending a photoshoot. I showed up with my camera, knee-high boots, and a nervous smile. The first thing someone said to me when I stepped out of my car was, “Sweetie I think you missed the hair and makeup, the other models are on their way.”
I didn’t want to model. I had modeled. I wanted to shoot. After a few comments, the men backed off and let me shoot. Which was a relief, and I was also pissed. Why couldn’t I control the narrative for these young teen models that had shown up to shoot? Wouldn’t I be making them more comfortable than these middle-aged men?
I liked being a female presence. We needed at least one female photographer for the group dynamic. I know my presence broke up the guy talk, the comments, the leering. I didn’t put up with it. I eventually started my own photography club with some of the same actors.
My first few months of running the group were awful. They didn’t get better either. The men coming to shoot free models were sometimes well into their sixties. They would ask the…