About three weeks ago I worked with a model I’d never worked with before. She is gorgeous in every way. Polite, intelligent, beautiful skin, gorgeous full and shiny hair and an amazing fit body. As long as a person is of legal age I don’t really care how old they are. If they suit the look I’m going for then I really could care less beyond getting the job done. But I was stunned by what she told me. She mentioned that in her experience many people were turned off by her age. She perfectly recalled an occasion, when a photographer she had just finished shooting with asked her age. When she told him he visibly expressed shock and immediately became dismissive and treated her horribly. I personally just don’t understand the obsessiveness with age. Clearly this model was perfect before the photographer knew her age. I was appalled and very disappointed in this photographer’s behavior. It makes the entire industry seem so very very superficial. All we really want or really need is a competent and talented subject to meet the criteria of the task.
I might have known that something was off when she asked the average age of the models I typically work with early in the photo shoot. She was unnaturally interested. When I mentioned all ages she was visibly but pleasantly surprised. I clearly remember saying, “I don’t have an age limit. I only have qualifications. If a person suits those qualifiers then I don’t care. If she is slightly older then all the better since statistics tend to suggests that more mature models are more reliable.” Then she told me her story. I couldn’t get over how someone calling themselves a professional could behave in such a manner. In her estimation, anyone over 30 years of age was at a horrible disadvantage. Clearly she had been shaken and somewhat discouraged by her experiences and given her talent and her looks I was simply baffled why anyone so beautiful might have developed such a distrust and negative attitude about the industry at large.
It didn’t take me long to realize she was not alone. I did a bit of research and spoke to a few colleagues and other models. While there are certainly more mature models working, many have experienced some form of push back when they revealed their age. It wasn’t because they didn’t look the look, walk the proverbial walk or that they didn’t meet all the criteria of the task - NO! It was only because of their age; a simple number that often disqualified them from further consideration.
When did we become so shallow a society to care how old or how young a person is if they perfectly suit the task at hand? In fact, I have argued that on occasion it might be more attractive to seek out a slightly more mature model because of their attention to detail, their work ethic and dedication. Paid or unpaid, collaboration or commissioned, I have never had a model over 30 years of age not show up. From a marketing perspective, any smart person would know that models in their 40s, 50s and 60s is a rapidly growing and sought after group due to the amount of products and services seeking that demographic. More specifically, the amount of quality images needed to promote products to that group is rapidly expanding. It is quite simply, a smart move to work with this rapidly expanding market. If anything, this photographer should be bowing and pleading for the pleasure. But even that is not really the argument here. The lack of common business sense is argument enough for the imbecile that has a problem with age. But what truly perturbs is the fact that this age-nazi expressed no problem whatsoever until he or she actually learned the model’s age. It’s baseless and ignorant to age discriminate for any reason short of not being able to perform the task and that can be true of any person at any age.
This photographer, whomever they are is simply a fool. It was a tactless thing to do, a blatant lack of professionalism and it shames me to know that someone as kind and as beautiful as this model has to endure such ridicule for being who she is.
Lucky for me I did photograph her and quite frankly I loved every second of it. She was perfectly qualified, punctual, experienced, respectful, communicable and gorgeous. What else could I possibly want? All things being equal she was perfect and I don’t care how old she is beyond being of legal age.
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