Help, trouble with working with photographer.

[ladyMsfc]

so my friend that is a model is trying to get me into modeling too with her. i wanted to give it a try so i was looking for some photographers. she told me about this one named steve. like screen name on here is like stevo8, thats how my friend found him in the first place because he was offering free shoots. i never did a photoshoot before so this was my first time. my friend said to bring somebody with me so i brought one of my friends and i picked out my oufits and stuff for the shoot. i scheduled an appointment with steve nd he gave me an address to go to.

i went there with my friend and when i got there he wanted to do a photoshoot in this room. he made my friend sit in another room and wouldnt let him into the room we were shooting in. i didnt think it was weird at first because he said that he liked to work in a surrounding where it was just him and the model so that he wont be distracted. but like this was my first time doing a photoshoot so like i didnt know what to expect. i changed into my outfits and we started taking pictures. at first it was ok but then he started to suggest things that i was not comfortable with. but he said that since he was paying me to do the photoshoot that i should do what he wanted. it was like $100 only. he told me to do things like pull down my shirt a little and open up the front of my pants.

i didn't want to do a shoot like that, i just wanted it to be normal clothes but he pressured me to do what he wanted because he said it was a little sexy or whatever. he would come and fix my hair and pull down my shirt and then he would use his hand and touch my boobs. he tried to make it seem as an accident but it happened a few times. it was an uncomfortable experience and i did not like the pictures. now i am afraid that he will post them up online. i asked him to get rid of it but he said it will cost money for me to buy back the rights from him or something. he took advantage of me because this was my first shoot and did not know what to expect.

i told my friend that introduced me to this modeling thing and she said thats totally not suppoes to be like that. i did not know that it was like this. i thought that you had to be 18 years or older to take pictures like that. i am 17 but will be 18 at the end of this month. so now i dont know what i can do because i asked for the release form that im not even sure if i signed and steve said that he had to go look for it because he doesnt know where he put it.


i just also wanted to like warn other girls and people that do shoots with steve. i think his full name was steve larman. but whatever his screen name is stevo8. be careful of shady business and dont feel pressured to do things like this.


i came on here to ask if anyone can help and let me know if there is anything i can do. please reply or send me a message.

thanks

[Anbesol]

Well, he can't post pictures of you anywhere, the model release is useless since youre only 17, it must be accompanied by your guardians signature to mean diddly squat, he may as well trash his model release as its not worth the paper its written on. Does he know you are 17?

Your friend met this guy on here?

[Frog]

Totally not cool! Aside from what Anbesol ahs said, if you are paying him then you decide how the pictures should be.
Making your boy friend stay out was your first warning sign.

[gotrocks]

Quote "but he said that since he was paying me to do the photoshoot that i should do what he wanted. it was like $100 only"

I agree with Frog, however; there is some conflict in the story.
Quote "because he was offering free shoots."

She was not supposed to be paying him.

Quote " steve larman" if you are there let's hear your side of the story.

Anbesol asked you " Your friend met this guy on here?"

ladyMsfc Let's have your followup.
I'll be waiting. I know Curiosity killed the cat.

[ladyMsfc]

im sorry for the late response, ive been busy lately.

steve said he was paying me to do the shoot. the shoot was free for me, but he said he was paying me to do the photoshoot. i didnt pay anything, he gave me $100 for the shoot. sorry i guess i meant that he only paid me like $100 for those kinds of shots. free as in no cost to me.

and yah he knew i am 17. i am 18 soon. i signed a paper but i didnt remember writing my birthday or age on there. just my name, or modeling name, and then signed it and date, phone number.

im not exactly sure how my friend knows steve or how she met him but she told me she did a shoot with him before in 2008. she gave me his contact directly so i didnt talk to him on any forum. she said she doesnt remember what forum she found him on but she told me his screen name for it and i googled it and found this one. and thats why i signed up on here now.

im wondering if i can press charges for him touchin me inappropriately or something but there is no witness because my friend was sitting in the 'waiting room'. at first it made sense to me that there was a waiting room because the space we were working in was small and steve said he didnt want to be distracted.

i mean, since he says he own the pictures he can post it up anywhere he wants right? i dont want to be that kind of a model and i dont want anyone seeing the pictures. i made a mistake and i regret it.

[Frog]

I looked up sterveo8 in our membership list. Boy are there a lot of steves.
He joined in January of this year and has made only one post.
I think this should be in the legal forum and will ask that it be moved.
I will also send a private message to the big cheese!

[icicle]

I honestly think you should of walk out on him, for what he did was so not right.
And why didn't you call your boyfriend in?
I think there are many ways to go about legal issues against him, but talk to a good lawyer.

[ciddog91]

I think there could be some legal issues here. There COULD have been some criminal offenses. Unwanted touching of the breast area and the genital area is against the law. It may not be a criminal case as the "evidence" may not be the greatest, but I don't know. I think that he could always say it was accidental touching and that it was standard practice for photogs to assist models with poses ect.

I would NOT see him again and would talk to a lawyer and possibly the police if you feel violated. The posting of 17 year old girls would be ILLEGAL and it needs to be pointed out to him by a cop.

This is just my take on the matter....

[GB1]

Hm. Interesting though not uncommon story.

From what I've heard, shooting a minor w/o parental consent is a no-go, regardless if the minor signs a release. Both the minor and one of their parents or legal guardian must also sign. Then there's the issue of sexually suggestive poses, which is sort of also a no-go. I say sort of because I've seen many, many sexy poses by minors on album covers etc .. I don't know where the line is drawn.

Something to keep in mind once you're 18, if you decide to do any more photoshoots, is to discuss with the photographer beforehand what you're comfortable with. If you two mutually agree on some fun poses and think it will produce the kind of shots / art you both want, then you can go forward. Note that if you don't do this, it had the potential to lead to all kinds of problems for both you and the photographer, which I don't need to elaborate on.

Professional models are often polite but very clear on what they're willing to do in a photo shoot. I recommend checking out one model place (OMP, at onemodelplace.com) and seeing model portfolios. They have checkboxes with stuff like casual, fashion, bikini, etc. (the photographers don't get to check the boxes - LOL) and their portfolios also provide a hint of what type of work they are willing to do.

Anyway, hope you have a lot better experience on your future shoots !!

G

[jetrim]

Interesting story, but there are some holes in it.
If you were unhappy and wanted the photos destroyed, why did you take the $100?

You SERIOUSLY can't remember the guy's name, even with written contact info and a friend to consult?

The rest can be chalked up to naivete, but you REALLY REALLY should have taken 10 minutes to educate yourself about what you were getting into.

For serious photographers and models, there are protocols, but it's not unusual for the escort/chaperon to be required to wait out of view of the model (but not out of earshot). It's also not unusual to have 18yr old+ models (or guardians for those under 18) to sign the release before the shoot and make a copy of their state issued ID. Nearly all photographer provide 2 copies (one for the model, one for the photog.)

By the same token, the very first rule of shooting models is - NEVER touch them model, unless that rapport has been FIRMLY established. If something can't be fixed without touching, have a female assistant or the MUA (make up artist) do the touching.

He can't legally post/print/distribute the photos, but that doesn't mean they won't show up on some obscure niche website somewhere. You can talk to the police, but don't hold out too much hope that they're going to jump through hoops to catch him. This type thing is common enough that there's a derogatory term in the industry for people like him: GWC or Guy With Camera.