Timbee

I've been semi-professional since 1989, mostly in magazine, catalogue and glamour. Now mostly focussing on artistic erotica, mostly for three particular websites but also private collections. I am aiming for images which are compelling and erotic without being sordid, degrading, offensive or (worst of all!) kitsch. So the images are very different from the sort of standard glamour that appears in most commercial and popular magazines. Photographers whose work I admire would include Helmut Newton, Roy Stuart, Petter Hegre, etc.
I enjoy this work immensely, and have made many good friends on both sides of the camera, so I am always interested to discuss and build on models' own ideas.
I have no problem with paying suitable models and I'm not generally keen on TFP deals; they often seem to lead to too much compromise on what each party wants. I'm normally happy to give a model copies of images of herself, but prefer a clear agent/client understanding.
So what sort of models am I looking for? I like to think it would be as wide a variety as possible, but I am particularly interested in working with very naturalistic models and perhaps also more mature models. I'm not (normally) looking for a glamourised, highly made-up look; I want a naturalness to come through. However, as for most photographers, tattoos and piercings are a definite drawback; they are simply unacceptable for many markets and I am getting fed up with spending hours air-brushing them out! A couple of small tattoos, if they are not too conspicuous, may be ok but otherwise I'm afraid that tattoos are likely to rule out a potential model (though I am frequently inconsistent!) Similarly breast enlargements; whatever your surgeon tells you, they never look natural and I prefer not to work with models who have them. For one current project, I am specially interested in unshaved models, and as my portfolio shows (I realise; not sure how that happened), I do quite a few G/G and B/G shoots.
It seems unfair always to ask the model to set the rates, so these are mine: I usually pay £30/hour (nude), £50/hour (erotic), £75-£100/hour (fetish / adult / B/G, G/G). I generally want a minimum 3 hour shoot.