Shaun Tia had been successfully touring as an art model before me, and I always heard about how amazing she was at posing! I finally met her in real life and we became friends. On this podcast episode we talked in depth about what it was like for her to transition from modeling to primarily photography. 

She had some really funny and some rather effed up stories to share! Especially that one photographer who forced her to shave her pubic hair, that was so sad! 

Shaun Tia also went into detail about some of the unfortunate family dynamics she has had to deal with due to her nude modeling, and some people in her current city befriending her then ghosting her after learning about her artistic preferences. 

Check Shaun Tia out on her website: https://shauntia.com/

And on instagram! https://www.instagram.com/shauntiamodel/

Cover image by Evan Romine

I learned so many interesting things about Marcus Rasaan that you will surely find fascinating as well! Their career has been a progressive challenge because many photographers want to photograph Marcus in narrow stereotypes - either hyper sexualizing or characterizing them. Though Marcus is a trained dancer and flexible gymnast with a vast range of emotive posing and depth, so many photographers wanted to depict them as a super masculine black man, which is not Marcus' vibe at all!

Marcus Rasaan is no longer modeling, however they have remained active in the creative world. Anime style art is one of Marcus' passions.  Also they are now spearheading a valuable asset for the model photography community: a consent document for photoshoots detailing specific levels of clothing, nudity, comfort zones, and erotic limits. The purpose of this document is so that freelance models and photographers can come to an agreement in writing what specifically is being created together, and to reduce or eliminate coercion and unfair power dynamics at some photo shoots. 

Check out Marcus Rasaan on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcus_rasaan/ 

Also check out their art! https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-marcus-reignite-the-dream-of-animation? 

Also join the Consent and Boundaries Webinar Aug 27, 2023 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/consent-and-boundaries-in-model-photography-webinar-tickets-667186301187? 

I've been super curious about Alice for quite some time, now I finally got to ask her all the questions I was wondering about! She has been modeling since she was in high school (through Barbazon) and started her Model Mayhem account in 2016. 

Alice has had some traumatic experiences when she was younger, and modeling has become a way for her to express her beauty and interact with other people socially in a safe setting. Safety in the modeling industry is very important to Alice, she even started her own group photo events and model academy to help empower models to learn and work in a positive environment. 

Check out Alice on IG!! https://www.instagram.com/alicetakeover 

And her website has more on her too (Including her Moxie Academy) https://www.aliceantoinettemodel.com/

Photo credit: Robert DeVaul @devaulports

Creating photos with intent in mind is certainly important, and my conversation with Roarie brought this into a more obvious space. It's fun to show up and "wing it" but sometimes you nail things better when you set an *intention* for where you want the creativity to be enjoyed.  

We also talked about how modeling has evolved over the past decade, shoot etiquette, and rebelling from norms in modeling! 

I was super happy that Roarie agreed to do this podcast with me! I had been following their work for SO LONG and so I feel like we finally "met" over the call ;) 

Check out Roarie on IG https://www.instagram.com/roarie_yum 

Cover image by Eva Zocher 

Jay Ban is a nurse as well as a nude model, she juggles both of these lives elegantly! We talked quite a bit about what it was like for her to just love modeling for the joy of creating art, modeling "tfp" (meaning unpaid) for so many years before deciding to take her efforts more seriously. Photographers offered to hire her frequently! So she made the shift into professional freelance modeling. 

My eyes were bugging out of my head when she told the story of the crazy passerby who caught her and another model posing nude for an outdoor photoshoot!! It was so fun and interesting having this conversation. 

Check Jay Ban out on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jaybanmodel/

She is also on Model Mayhem https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/3719216

Cover image by Jim Hagen

In the last decade, models have been privately sharing information with each other in secret invite only groups on FB and in IG group chats etc... Merrique was the sole moderator of a prolific group for traveling freelance models, unfortunately some horrible things outside her control happened within the model community and the backlash of it caused her to close that group down. It has been a few years now, and I wanted to chat with Merrique to see how she is doing since then. 

She has learned to protect her energy by delving into various creative methods - modeling being just one of her many creative passions. Though her thoughts have gone to dark places at times, Merrique has remained true to herself. It was really fantastic to chat with her through the podcast. I am happy to have reconnected and I hope you enjoy listening to us talk about some crazy stuff!

Check Merrique out on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/st.merrique/

Also, Merrique manages a Patreon page, check her out! https://www.patreon.com/SundayBest/posts 

Cover image shot by John Patton 

Julia is such an inspiring human! Don't let her cute doe eyes fool you, she has way more life experience than you would expect! Julia exposed what it's like becoming a model after she survived life threatening cancer as a young teenager. Now her perspective on life is that everything is a blessing. So many others who have been scarred and maimed have reached out to her about the scar she shows in her modeling images, and so Julia has these unique connections with war survivors and other trauma survivors who see themselves in her modeling work. 

Julia is not defined by her past, despite what she has survived she is extremely hilarious and fun to talk to. Her craziest story about a photographer in an underground bunker just got weirder and weirder as she told it to me! Listen to the episode to find out what happened there...

Check out Julia on her instagram! https://www.instagram.com/explodedgalazy/ 

Image credit @emotepro.creative 

I was so nervous and excited to interview Angelina Duplisea, aka @AnActingAngel from IG. Her art nudes on instagram had drawn me to her social media page, particularly her work with Sylvie Blum. It wasn't until I was preparing to do our call thatI discovered Angelina had been featured in MANY mainstream platforms with celebrities like Dr. Phil & Miley Cyrus (and many more, look her up!)

Our conversation progressed from the superficial - body shapes and sizes - to more niche in depth rabbit trails, like the atmosphere of modeling in LA, how she came from a troubled past and made her way to the Hollywood scene, and the crazy things she has endured, and the wild art scenarios with celebrities and known artists she has been a part of (including bondage suspension, getting waterboarded with milk and cherries, and more!) 

I truly enjoyed my conversation with Angelina and I hope we can be connected in the future as well. 

Check her out on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/anactingangel/

and her wordpress: https://anactingangel.wordpress.com/2021/11/17/the-past-few-years-2/ 

Cover image by Corwin Prescott 

Muirina Fae is a beautiful traveling nude model from Eastern Europe. As I got to know her through this podcast recording, I felt I related to her so much! She always felt like an outcast or "the weird kid" in high school, and that social anxiety crossed over into her 20s while working at some non-modeling jobs, before she went full time. 

Muirina clearly feels welcomed and fulfilled in the nude art community! There's something about being comfortable in our skin and using it for artistic purposes that brings us together. 

So many unique perspectives came up while we were talking, male nudity, dick picks, sexual assault while working abroad, and of course her doozey of a photoshoot fail story!!

Check out Muirina Fae on instagram! https://www.instagram.com/faemuirina/

Cover image by Michelle Kenyon Photography :) 

Unfortunately Darian's first two years in the modeling industry have been tainted by unnecessary drama- let's all reach out to her with kind words of encouragement to show her what the love in our community can really be like! 

I recently met Darian at a group event (Muses in Wonderland) and had the chance to photograph her and make friends. This was her first ever podcast! We discovered we have fought with the same giant stuffed octopus in Pennsylvania, there is a photographer/ videographer there who has a fascination for that...

Darian also wanted to share an experience that traumatized her... she had to use her words carefully for fear of being sued... but to me it sounded like a sexually coercive workshop where she was expected to perform a surprise threesome! The aftermath resulted in toxic gossip and a massive witch-hunt targeting her on facebook. 

Darian is very talented and very sweet, she has lots of dance experience and she is already making her full time income from freelance modeling within her first two years in front of the camera!

Check her out and tell her I said hi on instagram!! https://www.instagram.com/darianleyce/

Cover photo by Robert Beasely