http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,185295,00.html?
Xiao mei mei, you can trust me with lingerie shoot
She was only 15, but she was approached to pose in lingerie
By Hedy Khoo
December 01, 2008
DANGLING payments of $50 to $60 an hour, some amateur photographers here are preying on secondary school girls and getting them to agree to sexy lingerie and bikini shoots.
They scour the Internet to look for girls who post pictures of themselves on their blogs and entice them with offers of quick money.
In some instances, the girls - some as young as 14 - have ended up being 'molested' during the private shoots when the photographers touched them on the pretext of 'adjusting' their underwear.
Some photographers later posted pictures showing the girls in compromising positions on the Internet, in contravention of the Internet Code of Practice. Under the code, any photographs that depict those under 16 years of age in a 'sexually provocative manner' is considered prohibited.
June (not her real name) was only 15 last year when some of these photographers approached her to do lingerie and even nude modelling.
The girl, who is 16 now and has just completed her O levels, said: 'I get people who insist my age is not a problem and that they have experience shooting younger girls in lingerie.'
She had been enticed by the idea of glamour and money in modelling and started out by putting up her profile on a forum, advertising herself as a new model last year.
She put up pictures she took of herself using her camera phone and posted information on her age, height and weight.
'I stated that I do not do lingerie or nude shoots and that for bikini shoots, I will only take up those by the beach or by the pool.'
Despite this, she still received at least two requests daily asking her to pose in lingerie or in the nude.
'I even had people asking me to do fetish shoots,' she said. And she received recruitment offers from social escort agencies.
'One guy told me that he had many famous models working as escorts at his agency and if I worked for him, he could make me a famous model,' said June. 'He told me that it was up to me if I wanted to provide sexual services to the clients.'
In November last year, she accepted a bikini shoot at a swimming pool, only because she got a girlfriend to accompany her and had picked the location.
'During the shoot, the photographer started to ask me to model in lingerie but I refused,' she said.
After the session, the photographer kept calling her and persuaded her to do lingerie shots. He even boasted that all his pictures were artistically taken.
But when June logged on to his website, she was disgusted with what she saw.
'There were a lot of photographs of young girls in lingerie in very crude poses. Some with their legs open, and they did not look artistic at all, and some were topless,' she recalled.
She was even more put off when she read a section of his website in which he would 'critique' the models.
'He wrote very disrespectful comments like this model's boobs are too big, or too small,' she said.
The photographer told her that his 'trademark' pose, which is compulsory for all his models, is to be in lingerie and on all fours on the floor.
'He kept saying he would pay me $50 per hour, but I refused,' she said. She later deleted his contact and avoided him.
She continued to model in bikinis, but stopped in February this year when her mother objected.
'My mother did not approve (of it), so I no longer accept jobs which require bikini wear,' said June.
But she admitted that she was also put off bikini shoots by the behaviour of some amateur photographers she had worked with.
'Some do not respect the models. I met a few who would tell me that my bikini top or bottom is not properly in place and expect to adjust them for me.
'Some can be quite aggressive and they think that it is okay to touch models,' she said. 'I don't allow them to touch me at all, and usually I make that very clear from the start. Some get unhappy and upset when I tell them not to touch me.'
However, June pointed out that such photographers are usually guys who only want to shoot young girls in bikinis, lingerie, or in the nude. 'They are only using photography as an excuse to indulge in their sleazy hobby,' she observed.
Not all are sleazy
'Not all photographers I have met on the forum are like that. There are more serious amateur photographers than these sleazy guys with cameras.'
Nevertheless, June draws the line at lingerie and nude shoots.
'Girls who want to be serious models are ruining their futures by posing in such shoots,' she said. She explained that one of the first questions that agencies always ask models is if they have had lingerie or nude shots taken before.
Said June: 'They usually reject signing on models who have done so. It's common for girls to do lingerie shoots because they think $50 or $60 per hour is big money.
'But they don't know the consequences. Ultimately, they are lowering their own commercial value as a model.'
June also finds it troubling to see pictures of girls around her own age posing provocatively in lingerie.
'Some of these girls may look 16 or 17, but they can be as young as 14 or 15 with make-up on,' she said.
June, who has her own blog in which she posts pictures of herself, also finds it disturbing that girls as young as 12 are e-mailing her to ask how to get into modelling.
'I usually tell them they should wait a few years, because they are so young, they can only be child models and cannot hope to do fashion,' she said.
She has also met many girls who are eager to pose in lingerie for free because they want the pictures for their portfolios.
'Those sleazy photographers target young girls for lingerie shoots because they are easy to con,' she said.
'Who else can be an easier target than someone who is young, inexperienced, wants fame, pretty pictures and money?'
Xiao mei mei, you can trust me with lingerie shoot
She was only 15, but she was approached to pose in lingerie
By Hedy Khoo
December 01, 2008
DANGLING payments of $50 to $60 an hour, some amateur photographers here are preying on secondary school girls and getting them to agree to sexy lingerie and bikini shoots.
They scour the Internet to look for girls who post pictures of themselves on their blogs and entice them with offers of quick money.
In some instances, the girls - some as young as 14 - have ended up being 'molested' during the private shoots when the photographers touched them on the pretext of 'adjusting' their underwear.
Some photographers later posted pictures showing the girls in compromising positions on the Internet, in contravention of the Internet Code of Practice. Under the code, any photographs that depict those under 16 years of age in a 'sexually provocative manner' is considered prohibited.
June (not her real name) was only 15 last year when some of these photographers approached her to do lingerie and even nude modelling.
The girl, who is 16 now and has just completed her O levels, said: 'I get people who insist my age is not a problem and that they have experience shooting younger girls in lingerie.'
She had been enticed by the idea of glamour and money in modelling and started out by putting up her profile on a forum, advertising herself as a new model last year.
She put up pictures she took of herself using her camera phone and posted information on her age, height and weight.
'I stated that I do not do lingerie or nude shoots and that for bikini shoots, I will only take up those by the beach or by the pool.'
Despite this, she still received at least two requests daily asking her to pose in lingerie or in the nude.
'I even had people asking me to do fetish shoots,' she said. And she received recruitment offers from social escort agencies.
'One guy told me that he had many famous models working as escorts at his agency and if I worked for him, he could make me a famous model,' said June. 'He told me that it was up to me if I wanted to provide sexual services to the clients.'
In November last year, she accepted a bikini shoot at a swimming pool, only because she got a girlfriend to accompany her and had picked the location.
'During the shoot, the photographer started to ask me to model in lingerie but I refused,' she said.
After the session, the photographer kept calling her and persuaded her to do lingerie shots. He even boasted that all his pictures were artistically taken.
But when June logged on to his website, she was disgusted with what she saw.
'There were a lot of photographs of young girls in lingerie in very crude poses. Some with their legs open, and they did not look artistic at all, and some were topless,' she recalled.
She was even more put off when she read a section of his website in which he would 'critique' the models.
'He wrote very disrespectful comments like this model's boobs are too big, or too small,' she said.
The photographer told her that his 'trademark' pose, which is compulsory for all his models, is to be in lingerie and on all fours on the floor.
'He kept saying he would pay me $50 per hour, but I refused,' she said. She later deleted his contact and avoided him.
She continued to model in bikinis, but stopped in February this year when her mother objected.
'My mother did not approve (of it), so I no longer accept jobs which require bikini wear,' said June.
But she admitted that she was also put off bikini shoots by the behaviour of some amateur photographers she had worked with.
'Some do not respect the models. I met a few who would tell me that my bikini top or bottom is not properly in place and expect to adjust them for me.
'Some can be quite aggressive and they think that it is okay to touch models,' she said. 'I don't allow them to touch me at all, and usually I make that very clear from the start. Some get unhappy and upset when I tell them not to touch me.'
However, June pointed out that such photographers are usually guys who only want to shoot young girls in bikinis, lingerie, or in the nude. 'They are only using photography as an excuse to indulge in their sleazy hobby,' she observed.
Not all are sleazy
'Not all photographers I have met on the forum are like that. There are more serious amateur photographers than these sleazy guys with cameras.'
Nevertheless, June draws the line at lingerie and nude shoots.
'Girls who want to be serious models are ruining their futures by posing in such shoots,' she said. She explained that one of the first questions that agencies always ask models is if they have had lingerie or nude shots taken before.
Said June: 'They usually reject signing on models who have done so. It's common for girls to do lingerie shoots because they think $50 or $60 per hour is big money.
'But they don't know the consequences. Ultimately, they are lowering their own commercial value as a model.'
June also finds it troubling to see pictures of girls around her own age posing provocatively in lingerie.
'Some of these girls may look 16 or 17, but they can be as young as 14 or 15 with make-up on,' she said.
June, who has her own blog in which she posts pictures of herself, also finds it disturbing that girls as young as 12 are e-mailing her to ask how to get into modelling.
'I usually tell them they should wait a few years, because they are so young, they can only be child models and cannot hope to do fashion,' she said.
She has also met many girls who are eager to pose in lingerie for free because they want the pictures for their portfolios.
'Those sleazy photographers target young girls for lingerie shoots because they are easy to con,' she said.
'Who else can be an easier target than someone who is young, inexperienced, wants fame, pretty pictures and money?'
