Daisy Von reached out to me to offer condolences after my mom passed away and asked if I would be interested in talking about it on this podcast episode, for she had a similar situation a few years ago with her beloved father. Daisy's dad was her biggest fan, he had prints of her art and he read her blog and they talked on the phone about it all the time. After he passed away, Daisy dealt with immense grief for a long time. 

After talking about our parents for a while, we related to the grief of modeling for such a long time, many photographers we have know (who may have been elderly or in poor health) have also passed away. It's always a bit sad if they were a creative collaborator we connected with. We touched on the "therapist" aspect of being a nude model at shoots, and sometimes we end up being the one needing to vent at shoots when something traumatic is happening in our lives!

Thanks so much for listening! 

You can check Daisy out on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/daisyvonmodel/

Cover image by Bill Cole Photographics 

Taylor is an inspiring model from Seattle who has gotten into full time touring within the last year. She started working with an agency and also books tons of her own work across the US. 

Taylor had a job working with teenage athletes for quite some time. It wasn't until her modeling became more and more of a passion for her that some of her coworkers found out about her photos online and complained to management, resulting in her getting fired. She took this opportunity to become a full time traveling nude model, and I am so glad she did!

We talked about so many things including mental health issues, which Taylor is a boss for dealing with! Apparently her parents were not so understanding, so she had to suffer through high school years unmedicated. It wasn't until she moved away from her parents that she was able to seek the help she needed. It was really fascinating to learn all this from her! 

Check out Taylor on instagram! http://www.instagram.com/xx.tbabe

Cover image by @Skylar.shoots.photo

Michelle Sorensen aka Velveteen Serpent Queen is a super down to earth freelance model who also has a passion for bodily expression through dance. She teaches spine flexibility classes and other movement focused classes online and in person. She invented her modeling alias with the "Velveteen Rabbit" story in mind- for which the moral of the story is if you love something enough, it makes it come to life! 

Michelle's early modeling brought her to learn new things about herself, including overcoming an eating disorder. Through experience, she also learned that outdoor nude in nature modeling was her true passion, and favors that genre over any other modeling genre, though she did mention that it's really about the people she is working with, not just the setting. Good vibes only!

I had such a fantastic time listening to Michelle speak about her life in such a candid way. I hope we can meet in real life sometime, enjoy listening to the episode!

Check out Michelle on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/velveteen.serpent.queen

Also her classes and other links are here: https://msha.ke/sliiink.movement 

PS: Sorry I skipped a week of this podcast, my mom passed away and my world turned upside down. I do enjoy putting this podcast together... please don't hesitate to reach out if you enjoy listening :) I truly appreciate your comments!! 

Aurora, aka Poetic Minx, is a world traveling model from Australia, who has also lived in Poland! She is passionate about creative photography and even coordinates destination photography events in stunning locations around the world.

We talked about so many things including how the modeling community can be supportive but also at times, some can be competitive. Her crazy photoshoot story was really scary, she was almost taken out by a wave! 

Her hometown in Poland contacted her to interview her about her modeling, and it was really exciting for her but it also affected her family. 

Check out Poetic Minx on her instagram: http://www.instagram.com/poetic.minx 

Also on her website http://www.poeticminx.com 

Cover image by @StaceyMikePhoto2

Lucy is a dedicated art model from New Zealand who travels all over the world! Australia, Europe, and the USA are some places she frequents. Lucy studied music and drama and has an art degree. 

You will feel the cringe of her photoshoot fail story at a nude beach - I felt so bad for her too (awkward!!) Lucy has also gone above and beyond in her remote shooting experiences with photographers, sometimes even taking her gear and hotspot to an outdoor location so a photographer across the world can capture her in ponds and mountaintops in New Zealand. I was in awe! 

Check out Lucy's official website: https://lucyartmodel.com/

As well as her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artmodel.lucy 

Cover image by Steve Italiano

I met Beth MG in person at a group modeling event earlier this year and I just had to interview her for the podcast! Beth is very acrobatic, and I learned during our conversation that she did gymnastics as a kid. Art school was inspirational for Beth, even though she didn't feel confident in her artistic skills, the experience of class brought her into the modeling world.

Photography students asked her to be their subject over and over, and she enjoyed some of the creative projects... posted some images on Fetlife, and found her first modeling gig that way! The rest is history, and you can learn more about the progression of Beth's modeling, her past relationships, her rising phoenix moment and more!

Check out Beth on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bethemgee 

and on her Website: https://www.bethmg.com/

Cover image by Mark Wiles @markwilesphoto

Whitney Masters is a dedicated creative who loves the process of the photo shoot. She has traveled for modeling for quite some time, and reinvented herself over the years. Whitney comes from a very artistic background, she also has experience in acting. 

It's very apparent that Whitney loves what she does for a living, and will continue to be successful! She has a very positive mind and applies this to her creative career - look out for her poison ivy freak incident though! 

Check out Whitney on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whitney.masters

Also on her website: https://linktr.ee/whitney.masters

Cover image by Jeffrey Sklan

Vivian loves to live creatively, and she expresses herself in all aspects of her life in this way. She has a rebellious spirit and loves being her own boss. With a history in acrobatics starting as a pre-teen, Vivian progressed to other forms of dance to express herself, and landed in the Contact Improv community. It's a form of dance that relies heavily on creative movement and flow, rather than standard motions or choreography. 

A good friend of Vivian brought her to some photoshoots, and she fell in love with art nude modeling! Vivian is so passionate about artistic nude modeling in nature, she has become a co-organizer for multiple events that host model photography trips! 

Check out her trips: https://www.venusdetierra.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/femmenuephotoretreats/ 

Also find Vivian on Insta: https://www.instagram.com/vivian.cove 

and on her official website: https://www.viviancove.art/ 

Cover image by Frankie @fotos_by_frankie

The internet can be a harsh, dehumanizing space... especially when it comes to displaying "18+" imagery! David Bollt founded Model Society as a place to celebrate the art of figurative nude photography, to embolden creatives and to create a community where this type of photography can be appreciated. 

I have been so curious about "the man behind the curtain" of Model Society, since they are a team of like-minded humans who facilitate the web community. Other websites that freelance models and photographers use for portfolio hosting or networking are either muddled with low quality/ exploitative imagery, or are over-censored and not welcoming of nude artistry. 

David shared with me his back story, involving his history in the tattoo community, and how that transformed into artistic nude photography for him, and the reasons why he pursued fine art photography and creating this community around it. 

We went down the rabbit hole on transcending trauma through art, the differences between various model photography genres and their place in our world, and how art nude photography bridges gaps between humans of various walks of life. 

I really enjoyed talking with David on these topics! 

Even if you're not a model or photographer, http://www.ModelSociety.com  is a great place to enjoy and appreciate figurative fine art nude photography for fans as well! Check out their newsletter, see the latest and greatest figurative fine art photography, and enjoy the Magazine as well! 

Zoe West was arrested in downtown NYC while nude in body paint! Videos of it went viral online. She has always been a daring model, and perhaps one of "loose morals" as she mentioned during this podcast, and her vibrant spirit has allowed her much success and fun in her modeling career!

Zoe has been published in Penthouse and traveled the world. Though she has had major success in modeling, she still struggles to find her true place in the world. Burnout has affected her at times, so she has experimented with many different jobs and careers, but has always come back to modeling because (as she put it), there is nothing else in the world like it. 

Cover image by Andrew J Bacha

Check out Zoe on IG! https://www.instagram.com/zoecelestawest/