A Social Networking Site for Photographers and the Models Who Love Them

There’s an acronym for ordinary guys for use search sites like modelmayhem.com to find a hot chick who might want to pose naked for them. The term, which should be considered derogatory, is “GWC,” which stands for “Guy with Camera.” These are posers who aren’t really interested in taking pictures, if you know what I mean.

I’ve been visiting modelmeyhem.com frequently over the past few days, ever since I had lunch with a fashion photographer friend last week. I won’t mention his name because, while he is certainly not a GWC, he did admit that he thinks of the site as both a professional resource and a kind of job-specific dating service. (Note to my wife, if you read this: I was only doing journalistic research.)

The site is a kind of real models and would-be models hook up, professionally speaking of course, with real photographers and would-be photographers. You can critique would-be models, help both models and photographers choose images for their portfolios, find stylists and makeup artists in various cities, etc.  My friend the fashion photographer says he has found models for various jobs via the Website. So far he hasn’t found anyone to rival the supermodels that photographer Peter Lindbergh captured so famously in the early 1990s (see above), but then who has?

Under its list of rules, modelmayhem.com specifically notes that it is not a dating service, advising people not to join if they aren’t in the industry. To be sure, my friend is very professional. It just so he happens that he sometimes connects with someone he wants to date. And let us all be honest here: Artists off all kinds, and certainly photographers, have long been known to combine their professional interest in muses with their private enthusiasm for muses. In many cases this combination has resulted in great works of art, as well as very messy lives.

At any rate, modelmayhem serves a worthwhile function. It’s a different kind of social networking for all those workaholic types who prefer to socialize only within their profession. And in its efficient helpfulness, it is far more enjoyable and instructive than that embarrassing and exploitation Tyra Banks show.
--David Schonauer

Comments

[J.M. Giordano]

Wow. No offense, cuz I luv this blog, but seriously you think that telling people about Model Mayhem makes you look in the least bit hip? dude. that site has been around for a billion years. Reading this was like my mom telling me about this new thing called an "eyepod" or something.
why not find some new model website?

[David Schonauer]

Well, I have to admit that I'm kind of out of it when it comes to this. If there are some more up-to-date sites I'd love to hear about them. Speaking of new things, have you heard about the eye-phone?

[David Schonauer]

Well, I have to admit that I'm kind of out of it when it comes to this. If there are some more up-to-date sites I'd love to hear about them. Speaking of new things, have you heard about the eye-phone?

[David Schonauer]

Well, I have to admit that I'm kind of out of it when it comes to this. If there are some more up-to-date sites I'd love to hear about them. Speaking of new things, have you heard about the eye-phone?

[J.M. Giordano]

David,
try www.onemodelplace.com or www.models.com.

[David Schonauer]

Thanks for the tips. So I'm curious, do you use these sites just to find models?
Thanks for checking in.

[David Schonauer]

Thanks for the tips. So I'm curious, do you use these sites just to find models?
Thanks for checking in.

[anon]

fake profiles everywhere. many of the cute girls are guys looking to check out nudie pix.

the off topic forum is populated by 100 people who spend all day posting insane topics that have nothing to do with photography but everything to do about sex.

it is a dating site.

[Charles]

There are some good togs on the site but they are leaving quickly. None participate in the forums. Its not a dating site but many are there just for fun, togs and models are terms to be used loosely. There is a tog on the site, Danny Bourne who apparently used modelmayhem not only to date but to find a wife who is a model. Now they constantly use the forums to keep peeps updated on their wedding and honeymoon plans.