We usually see our favorite male models in artistic and extravagant photoshoots and think their life must be amazing. But a model’s life isn’t always as glamorous and luxurious as people think it might be. NY Mag gives us an insider sneak peek into the life of models with photography by Cass Bird. Above we have a view of how models Adrian, Nico, and Jakob live at Ford’s apartment for models in Chinatown. And below we have a look at Petey (who won the first Vman Ford Model Search competition) in his bedroom in South Williamsburg and his buddy AJ taking the F train.
I chose a couple of interesting paragraphs to share with you below.
Financially speaking, male modeling is not unlike being a straight-male porn star: The men have always made less than the women, and very few become big names. For most magazine work, models are paid less than $250. Twenty percent of that goes to the agency, which also bills models for their board and expenses. “Sometimes you get charged for things you never thought of,” says Petey, “like $30 a month to be on the website.”
The only hope of making ends meet is to book an ad campaign or catalogue job. But even those are less lucrative than they once were. “Where you used to get $5K for a job, it’s now $2K,” says JD Ferguson, a former model who now works as a fashion photographer. “I remember my booker saying to me, ‘Hey, if you won’t do $2,000, there’s another guy right behind you that will.’ ”
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