Exposé:The Shady Business of Fashion.

A friend shared this link with me. In essence, here is her except.

I’m not the first victim of Terry Richardson, one of the world’s most notable ( I’d say notorious) photographers. He has shot Obama, Lil Wayne, Megan Fox, Kate Moss and many world-wide known celebrities and models. He has tried to trade sexual favors for a photo-shoot with him. 

Would you fuck for fame? 

Keeping it Real,

Jade Griffin xoxo

At first, with those small screen shots i thought this was a funnyhumour.com sorta thing that my friend shared. One of those made-up-stories. I squinted and read through the screen shots, looked up the flickr account mentioned. Lo and behold, Jade IS real and very pretty.

Then i looked up Terry Richardson, still doubting the realism, thinking this is a joke, personal vendetta or malicious rumors. Instead of going to boring Wikipedia descriptions, i found Jennifer Wright who wrote a much more interesting profiling.

Terry Richardson is famous for his outrageous antics and infamous fun on sets...

He recently photographed a lesbian fashion orgy for Purple Magazine. It’s eye-catching. It was also photographed without Terry getting nudity approval from the model’s agents, which was kind of surprising, but at least one model on the shoot says that the nudity happened organically. A few days ago, Abby Kershaw remarked to the Times UK:

“Terry doesn’t force girls to do anything they don’t want to. He puts you in a G-string in a pile of mud because you want to do it. You touch yourself because you want to. For me, that shoot was the truth about how things were between us both, and I felt good doing it. I’m not ashamed of it — why should I be?”

That's Terry, clothed.

Jen then spilled more and thought his work to be exploitive of women. Especially after German model Rie Ramussen called him out.

“He takes girls who are young, manipulates them to take their clothes off and takes pictures of them they will be ashamed of. They are too afraid to say no because their agency booked them on the job and are too young to stand up for themselves….His ‘look’ is girls who appear underage, abused, look like heroin addicts . . . I don’t understand how anyone works with him….I told him, “what you do is completely degrading to women. I hope you know you only fuck girls because you have a camera, lots of fashion contacts and get your pictures in Vogue.” Instead of arguing with me, Terry ran out of the bar. Then the next day, he called my agency and complained I called him names in front of clients in Paris. It was the most cowardly thing I have ever seen.” Page Six

Fellow Gloss writer, Jamie Peck who is a damn good writer who wrote a very candid, honest and detailed post about her experience with Terry.

I'm not a model, just a vain girl with nice tits who likes to pose for the occasional cheesecake photo. I modeled for Terry Richardson when I was 19. And guess what? I felt bad about it. Of all the fine folks I’ve frolicked au naturel for, he’s the only one who’s left me feeling like I needed to take two showers. 

He asked me to call him Uncle Terry and i obliged...

Uncle Terry was feeling frisky that day! I told him i had my period so i wanted to keep my underwear on, and he asked me to take my tampon out for him to play with. “I love tampons!” he said, in that psychotically upbeat way that temporarily convinces so many girls that what’s fun for Uncle Terry is fun for them....... I politely declined his offer to make tea out of my bloody cunt plug. It was then that he decided to just get naked.

Before I could say “whoa, whoa, whoa!” dude was wearing only his tattoos and waggling the biggest dick I’d ever seen dangerously close to my unclothed person (granted, I hadn’t seen very many yet)....

So his assistants took pictures of me taking pictures of him. All the while, he was dropping names like they were hot, casually mentioning his upcoming Miu Miu shoot with Maggie Gyllenhaal and Billy Crudup, wondering aloud if he could get the kid from Elephant to model, and suggesting I come upstate with him and his fab celebufriends. I wish I could say this didn’t impress me, but I was fucking 19 and nerdy as hell, okay?

I’m not sure how he maneuvered me over to the couch, but at some point he strongly suggested I touch his terrifying penis. Who the heck specifically requests a handjob, that most unpopular of sex acts......Not that I would’ve preferred him to request anything else.....

This is where I zoom out on the situation. I can remember doing this stuff, but even at the time, it was sort of like watching someone else do it, someone who couldn’t possibly be me because I would never touch a creepy photographer’s penis. The only explanation I can come up with is that he was so darn friendly and happy about it all, and his assistants were so stoked on it as well, that I didn’t want to be the killjoy in the room. My new fake friends would’ve been bummed if I’d said no.

I must have said something about finals, because he told me, “if you make me come, you get an A.” So I did! Pretty fast, I might add. All over my left hand. His assistant handed me a towel. 

I honestly did not expect to find a picture of him caught-in-action.

As they I say, the pen keyboard is mightier than a sword. Jamie's blog account took on a life on it's own on social media and soon traditional print picked it up. Terry Richardson then made a statement replying to the furore of unsavory comments about him.

I just want to take a moment to say I’m really hurt by the recent and false allegations of insensitivity and misconduct. I feel fortunate to work with so many extraordinary people each and every day. I’ve always been considerate and respectful of the people I photographand I view what I do as a real collaboration between myself and the people in front of the camera. To everyone who has embraced and supported me and my work, I am so grateful. Thank you, it means a lot.

Caption reads: "Pornography, art or blatant self-obsession, call it what you will.
Whatever way you look at it, you've got to admire his balls."

 So is it true? Or is Terry a black sheep of the industry?

A fairly famous photographer friend of mine did tell me before that in China, the Chinese models do sleep with photographers for that shot of fame.

Does it happen in Singapore? Did Zoe Tay or Fann Wong sleep with the judge to win Talent Search in the hay days? I poked around and probed the industry people but some told me "nah...Singapore's pretty clean" and some replied, "no comment". With my imaginative mind, that answer usually MEANS SOMETHING, right?

A mature friend (that means a decade older than me) once told me that, "Sex only means something to you when you're young. As you get older, it doesn't mean much. It's then a sport that you casually engage in."

And it's true, as Pringles say, "Once you Pop, you can't Stop."

Except, it would be silly to sleep with a photographer for that shot of fame that is not yet bagged. After all, Sex Can't Be REFUNDED.


A photographer friend introduced me Modelmayhem.com. He said it was a great site for collaborations between photographers, models, make-up artists, stylists and digital visualizers. Granted, talent can be discovered via portals like MySpace and blogs but i haven't heard Modelmayhem shooting anyone to fame. Where Professional Models Meet Model Photographers is a misleading tag line when an option to choose when filling up your profile was "not experienced."

Most people use this site to TFCD (trade for CD) which means the model gives her/him time, body and face while the photographer return her/him with a CD of her pictures to use for a portfolio. There are more women than men in there, perhaps the hunger to be a supermodel is more evident for females.

They ARE professional photographers in there like my friend who do shoot for fashion magazines covers.

But it's a fair share of gorgeous faces as well as the CMI (cannot make it) faces as well as debatable men who use photography to mask ulterior motives. ModelMayhem.com borderlines on being a soft core porn site. Plenty of "artistic" nude pictures there that are debatable on its appeal.

From modelmayhem member.

As human beings crave attention, everybody wants to be famous, even for 15 seconds. I have to admit that i had a Modelmayhem account (now defunct) because i was secretly hoping to be the next discovered star.

That one big job never came, all i got were proposals to pose naked by hobbyists. Some had impressive portfolios, some were downright disgraceful. The amounts offered were tempting. $200 an hour, more than what a dentist would earn! I rejected immediately, and they would counter-offer with lingerie then bikini. I guess they wanted me badly.

Some "photographers" would turn nasty when i decline a shoot, saying "You don't know what you're missing".  Some would say "i'm too difficult" when i start probing on the location of the studio and conditions.

A friend told me he tagged along on a shoot and the photographer started masturbating in front of him and the female model meant to do implied nude.

I wrote about my experiences here and whilst i didn't reveal before, one of the unknown photographer allowed me to access my pictures via his password locked portal. When i logged in, i saw folders of different girls names. Whilst i was in swimwear, the other girls (not difficult to crack his code) were in g-strings and even nude.

I was young and foolish, but thankfully such mistakes didn't do much damage.

Why isn't someone as pretty as Jade not making it? Is it really true that a model need to sleep to the top? How then do the photographers themselves get famous?

Maybe they do it by discovering a talent before an agent does? Or shoot controversial pictures like Terry Richardson does?

Richard titled it Sunburnt.

Rie Ramussen may call him out, but she too has something similar.

Whether you shoot for personal satisfaction or have sex for the sheer enjoyment, just know that you do it on your own terms and not be coerced into anything.

But for me, i guess i'll never shoot nude unless it's for Chanel, in the next life time.

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Shoot without Thinking

With portals like Model Mayhem and the likes, everyone wants to be a supermodel. Almost everybody on our sunny shore is a student/model or model/ part-time student. Some girls pay for their portfolios to be shot (read hoaxes), some girls would pay to attend modeling schools, all with the hope and dream of becoming the next top model.


I once questioned if the business minds behind modeling schools were ethical (what if the girl's face is chui one, how can you be at ease raking exorbitant school fees knowing she will never make it as a supermodel?). My query was deftly debated that a teacher teaches regardless if the student has any potential or not. Every student goes to a school, hoping to succeed but isn't guaranteed. That's what education is, and nobody should be deprived of it.


Everybody can be a model. Don't let anyone tell you what you should, or shouldn't be.


However, in your quest to becoming a supermodel, do practice caution and do not be greedy.


Just as there are many supermodel wannabes, there are also just as many photographer wannabes. 


"Photographers" have sent private messages to me via social media accounts, asking to do private shoots of bikini, lingerie, implied nude and nude. I am not here to judge forums like Club Snap, the quality of pictures, the wannabe(s) skills nor looks, because everyone has dreams and anyone can be what they want if they set their mind to it.


I am here to share my experience.


It was a personal principle and rule that i do not shoot with strangers, and definitely none of the lingerie, implied nude and nude concepts (unless for commercial legit advertisements). I believe that my naked body is sacred and only to be seen and enjoyed by a legit lover.


Greed got the better of me.


For the love of money, I broke my rule of shooting with a stranger not once, but twice. 


I laid my ground rules before accepting this request.
1) It was to be outdoors
2) I will not be posing lingerie, bikini, implied nude or nude


I commanded an above average hourly rate because of my experience, and the photographer relented. However, he politely asked if i could wear something a little sexier but keeping my modesty. I compromised and told him i would only do a sports attire. We found an agreement.


On hindsight, was his rationale that i have to show skin just because i commanded an above average hourly rate? I almost chickened out nearing the date. I have never done something like this, i was worried about consequences. Yet, i proceeded with caution because


1) I was greedy (money is the root of all evil)
2) I have no boyfriend to account to (shouldn't be a reason at all because you should love yourself first)
3) It's outdoor, i am protected (not entirely true, this is naive thinking)
4) I wanted to honour my agreement (that's how i roll, you can count on me)


To give the photographer credit, he turned out to be a decent married man who simply wants to hone his skills. He didn't touch me once and he was respectful. 


However, having shot with professionals commercially that produced this:

Photographed by Dominic Khoo, www.whatisthesight.com

and trusted friends for my portfolio pictures that you see on this website, i felt it was beneath myself to shoot with amateur photographers. Pardon my haughtiness, i just do not want unprofessional pictures of myself floating in the cyberspace. It's one thing to be caught on camera being yourself without make-up, but it's another thing to be caught on camera in pictures that gives potential suitors, employers, friends the wrong idea. Your name and reputation is the one thing you can be in control of. When you do a commercial shoot, there are terms and conditions to the model release. You are informed for how long the pictures would be used and on what mediums.


To the girls who've shot lingerie, bikini, implied nude or nude with strangers, is there a contract on the usage of pictures? Can you trust these photographers? How will you know they aren't circulating, how will you know they aren't keeping folders titled with different girls on their desktop?


That outdoor shoot passed harmlessly, i consoled myself that my fears were unfounded. However, i still didn't feel comfortable and i vowed to myself that shall be the first and the last.


6 months later, greed got the better hold of me a SECOND TIME! I reject any requests from strangers that come my way for bikinis, lingerie, implied nude and nude. However, this photographer managed to persuade me into donning a bikini. I did screen his portfolio and i did admire his black and white risque shots. The money was double that of the first, so i relented.


Again nearing the date, i panicked and alarm bells start sounding. I asked a male friend to be my chaperone, and again to give the photographer some credit, he was respectful.


The pictures this time round came out better than the first experience, but again i felt shameful having shot in bikini with a stranger (not for commercial reasons). It was as if i sold my soul, as if i had a one night stand.


Such projects are lucrative to the pretty girls, to the wannabes. I was offered $300 an hour to mingle with guests at a private S&M party, offered $400 to be shot on a private yacht. I turned them down because after those two experiences (though harmless), i am wiser. 


Pre-Fame Porn Stars
from www.cracked.com


1) JACKIE CHAN

"I had to do anything I could to make a living 31 years ago, but I don't think it's a big deal, even Marlon Brando used to be exposed in his movies," said Chan after it was revealed he starred in a Hong Kong skin flick called All in the Family. Featuring Chan getting it on with a famous porn actress of the time, the cast also included Sammo Hung (from Walker, Texas Ranger and co-star of the short lived spin-off Martial Law with Arsenio Hall). CAN YOU IMAGINE SUMMO HUNG working his groin-groove? Then again, for a big guy like that, he sure has some commendable moves in IP Man 2.

2) CAMERON DIAZ

At the tender age of 19 (two years before her breakout role alongside rubber-faced man-fart Jim Carrey in The Mask), Cammie shot some softcore S&M footage with another lucky girl, ostensibly to get some tasteful nude glossies "for her portfolio." (Apparently it was filmed just in case the photos didn't develop properly.)

A few years later, the super-classy photographer attempted to sell the film to a Russian pornography operation after offering Diaz "rights of first refusal" (i.e., tried to blackmail her to prevent their release). Diaz, who has not appeared nude in an American film to date, took him to criminal court, won, and blocked the footage from ever being shown.

Naturally they showed up online soon after anyway. Because the Internet is as shameless as it is awesome.

3) SLYVESTER STALLONE

Before he turned into a half-melted novelty candle, Stallone received the kingly sum of $200 to star in the 1970s classic The Party at Kitty and Stud's, wherein he managed to snag the plum titular role of "Stud." Originally released as hardcore pornography, after Stallone became famous the more graphic scenes and money shots were cut from subsequent releases, and the movie was re-packaged under the names of Italian Stallion and Cocky and sold in those shitty $1.99 DVD bins at Walgreens.

Should you manage to be lucky enough to find a copy, you'll learn there's no false advertising in the title, as "Stud" belt-whips "Kitty" and services three of her friends at, sure enough, "a party."

4) ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

There are plenty of unsubstantiated rumors floating around that Arnie went gay for pay in some early films, but he can't deny posing nude for controversial photographer and alleged "boy-loving pervert" Robert Mapplethorpe in the mid-'70s. (He also posed butt-ass-nekkid for gay magazine After Dark.)

Lest you think this wildly out of character for a loudly conservative, Catholic politician, in an interview with Oui Magazine around the same time, he showed the type of sensitivity that would eventually stand him so well with the Republican party. "Men shouldn't feel like fags just because they want to have nice-looking bodies. Gay people are fighting the same kind of stereotyping that bodybuilders are: People have certain misconceptions about them just as they do about us. Well, I have absolutely no hang-ups about the fag."

Honorable AMUSING Mention:

Princess Leia in the tantalizing bikini bending over for Boba Fett is something many nerds probably fantasized about. This footage does exist, of course, but it's locked securely in the LucasFilm vaults and available only for private viewings.

But for those us without access to Lucas' ranch, yes, Carrie Fisher technically appeared in a porno widely available to anyone with money. Sorta. An associate producer of the original Star Wars movie decided to make himself a hella dirty movie and invited a few Hollywood types over to watch.

In addition to Fisher, Timothy Hutton, Richard Dreyfuss, Matt Stone and Trey Parker sat on the sidelines during the making of the XXX-rated film Profiles #8. For those of you currently scrounging around desperately for your credit card and eBay password, be advised that none of the big names actually participated in the humpfest-but if watching a bored Princess Leia make small talk with Timothy Hutton while an anonymous couple fucks in front of them gives you some some small measure of joy in your life, be sure to check it out.

It might not be porn you're shooting, but those pictures you're taking without thinking twice? You never know when your past will haunt you.

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Label me Not.

You know what they say, like mother like daughter. I inherited my pose-y genes from my mum.
Just the other day, she showed me these pictures and said “it’s not only you who have OK!”

Now that her youth is gone, she has lost her vainty in posing, she is at a loss of how to pose. But we saw alittle bit of that revived in our recent Japan holiday pictures. After all, she has to show who's the MOTHER not? LOL.

This is our first every mother-daughter make-over picture taken in 2005. Overly photo shopped, we both looked weird.

This one, with zero photo shop. I like my tan.

 

And you know how does my very first make-over picture look like? It makes me cringe.

Nubile not? Haha. So you see, even I can look rather different from before and now, so really people should stop judging and assume girls who look different from before and after definitely has some plastic surgery done. Like I said, there ARE temporary beauty enhancements available. That being said, even if Dawn Yang or KK has plastic surgery done, SO WHAT?? They’re not my personal friends but I find them gorgeous, although that kinda makes me inferior sometimes because girls like them are getting closer and closer to being perfect yet I giggle when I think that any man who marries someone who is overly spliced, imagine the shock he gets when their baby come out. Where did the pretty genes go?? *snicker*

So anyway, I know people label me as a model, but seriously I don’t call myself a model. My profession is NOT a model. I’ve mentioned it before here. Got to admit, I am judgmental sometimes. I look down on girls who put FULL TIME MODEL as their profession. Why do they have to proclaim although they’re a student but they’re also a model? And girls who really do full-time model, why don’t they just put UNEMPLOYED when they’re not as famous as Hanis Hussey, a Singaporean who had a 2 year contract with Yves Saint Laurent, and went on to model for Givenchy, Dior etc.


Being a model is all about luck and having the body of a clothes hanger really. I don’t think Hanis is as gorgeous as say VS’s angels, but she had the luck to be discovered by Dick Lee at Lucky Plaza back in the 1980s (perhaps her clothes hanger figure stood out) and she had the wits, mind and attitude to make that career work for her, becoming an international name. That, to me, is a model. You can rightfully and proudly put on your name card, application forms and immigration forms.

If you’ve taken pictures with Club Snap, that’s not a model but a person who loves being snapped. If you’ve done car shows and events, that’s not a model but a promoter.

There’s nothing wrong with engaging in such activities and taking pretty pictures. I have hundreds of said pictures. After all, they immortalize my youth, but I absolutely do NOT have the audacity to proclaim I am a model!

Some people know they got it, so they flaunt it. Many girls dream of being famous one day, and although I wasn’t desperately hankering for fame, I admit I did dream of being a model (jet setting lifestyle, beautiful clothes, working when I want etc.)

When I was 14, I got “recruited” along the streets of Orchard by Shine agency. I was young, and inexperienced. I went to their office and they praised me of my features, it was all very flattering. Then came the sales pitch. They need me to PAY for a portfolio. They need me to pay for the catwalk classes. I might be inexperienced, but I could smell a rat a mile away. I wondered why I had to pay when you “discovered” me? Is that how it works? I gave it the benefit of the doubt, after all, I have never encountered such situations. So I gave up my hard earned savings in exchange for the agency’s composite cards that they asked me to do. That’s how my FIRST make-over photo came about. I’m not sure if it’s the change in times that my make-over pictures look A LOT BETTER now, or that was just sub-standard work.


Ever since that experience, I have NEVER paid for any pictures, or done any sort of portfolio again. SHINE did promise work after I am armed with a portfolio for them to market me, but it didn’t come with a disclaimer that you still have to go for castings, still compete with EXPERIENCED models etc. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t dabble with agencies, or that anyone who asks you to pay for a portfolio, you immediately label them as a cheat. After all, it HAS to start somewhere right? So pay to get a portfolio done if you’ve never had make-over pictures taken. It is something to keep and remember your youth anyway.

What I absolutely LOATHE are the agencies who “recruit” me and after I told them, I have my own set of pictures that I can give it them to use and stamp their branding over, they said…OH WE DON”T DO THAT. IN ANY SANE MIND, WHAT SENSE DOES THAT MAKE??? It’s so bloody obvious that they are then just milking you for that portfolio fee!! It’s not like they’ve already SEEN MY PICTURES, and then give me reasonable comments like “ Oh, this won’t work because so and so. Or we need better lighting, studio pictures etc.” Model agencies take commission after models clinched a job, that’s where they should earn the dough. Or collect school fees if people come to sign up, WITHOUT ANY HARD SELL.

Eventually, SHINE did give me calefare jobs like being a commuter in an EZ-Link commercial. ONE job, and I never heard from them again. Earned back half of what I paid. Didn’t dare tell my mum because she will scold me for wasting money and building sandcastles in the air.

At 15, I got lucky. I was talent-spotted at a TEENS magazine fair in now defunct Exhibition Center. Now, that was for real. It’s all about being at the right, place the right time and meeting the right people. That was where I had my picture taken professionally a second time. It was an advertorial for a hair/make up salon. These are the RAW images.

 

 

Pastry white, look like ghost leh! Red top some more. Think the stylist was thinking of the horror movie the night before.

When I hit puberty, skin got very bad. Was demoralized, got fat (52 kg) due to snacking during lectures to stay awake, but was a student ambassador for NP so I helped them take catalogue pictures.

 

 

Then i was in some Ch 5 programme. Friends of Carlsberg. I think i am fat.

Then the BIGGEST job came when I was 19. I wasn’t attached to any agency, didn’t pay for any portfolio done (in fact used the pictures I got from the hair ad in TEENS), and got cast for VISA.

And the rest trickle in very slow, super slow. Raffles Country Club, Ciba Vision, DOLCE etc.That’s because I was NEVER a full-time model, I don’t go for castings all day. I have an office job.

Only recently I found that it is my right to request for any professional photos taken of me, even if I am paid. But sadly, it seems like Singapore’s industry don’t practice it. So I never saw some of the ads nor do I have any as keepsake.

So you see, you can count the number of paid jobs I have as a talent. It’s not comparable AT ALL to model Hanis. I am flattered I am labeled a model by some people, but really if you must know, I am NOT a model. But I don’t mind doing “modeling” stuff, if I get shopping money out of it. It is after all a grey line, and who knows I still might get famous some day. :)

Check out this funny music video dissing model wannabes. Watch it before it gets taken off Youtube again! The song is ACTUALLY nice, but i'm not so sure if his dance moves are attractive ;p

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