'At the end of the first shoot he assumed he had to “pay” for it and said I could do whatever I wanted '
Clearly, I love images of hot men, I wouldn't still be working on FH if I didn't. Regular readers of the site also know however, that as much I love a great image, I also love a great story. Learning about how a shoot came together, and the experience of the participants, often adds a layer of complexity and depth to the impact an image or shoot can have.
That is certainly the case with photographer
Michael von Redlich and his work with 19 year old Jay. When I first saw the images (hundreds of them!) that Michael sent on from his multiple shoots with Jay, I was initially taken with Jay's tight hot body, his striking face and beautiful and expressive eyes. I especially loved the images in which Jay was smiling, making faces and appearing just to have fun.
Those moments are even more meaningfully after Michael shared that this was both Jay's first professional photo shoot, and his first time posing nude. Given his inexperience with nude modeling, During his first shoot with Michael, Jay was nervous that the shoot, and any resulting images for his portfolio, would come with strings. When Michael ended the session, Jay prepared himself for what might come next.
At the end of the first shoot he assumed he had to “pay” for it and said I could do whatever I wanted - I handed him his clothing, and said he owed me nothing, I added that if he was hungry, he was welcome to join me for a quick bite. Jay began to cry when he understood that the shoot was all that I wanted.
Although Jay had never modeled naked before, he wasn't naïve. Michael found Jay on a dating website, but was clear from their first contact that he was looking only for a model. Given how they initially connected, it wasn't a big jump for Jay to still assume there might be stings attached. During their subsequent shoots however, Michael learned why Jay reacted so emotionally to the photographer's professionalism.
Jay was both very surprised and very excited when Michael first asked him to shoot. He and his family were struggling financially, and never thought about modeling before. Michael shares that in the beginning, Jay had very little self-confidence, and didn't see himself as good looking. This was part of the reason Jay felt that there had to be more to Michael's offer than just a set images and the photo shoot.
There was a lot of pressure on Jay to make money, to help his family financially.. Jay shared that his mother didn't appear too considered about how he earned the money, and at one point even tried to convince him to take a job as a gogo boy at a local club.
Photographers of the nude form, both of male and female models have gotten bad reps over the years, usually due to the predatory behaviour of a few. It's understandable that both models and photographers would be cautious about who they work with. Jay alluded to some bad experiences with older men in the past, and after hearing his story, I'm glad that his first shoot ended up being with Michael.
As stated, although new to nude modeling, Jay wasn't shy, and over the course of their many shoots and collaborations he became more comfortable and even a bit of an exhibitionist in front of the camera. Although the shoot started out with fashion shots and implied nudes, it was Jay who initiated pushing the boundaries. From the many images that I saw, Jay actually appears to become more comfortable when his clothes are totally off.
