Professional Nudity

Auguste Rodin (1840 -1917) Cloud

A couple of weeks ago I've spammed local art institutions with my life modeling cv. Fast forward to last Friday. 

I show up to a meeting/job interview at a cafe in an arts center a bit early. Get myself tea and sit by the window waiting to be approached.

And realise the most fundamental flaw in a plan. I have no idea how the other person looks like and they only saw my portfolio.

It is a selection of great works of art with me in them. Nude me.

There's nothing explicitly erotic about them, but they are not by any means regular headshots you'd find on Linkedin.

The thing is that the most professional thing a life model can wear is nothing at all. What we are selling, is our time as a living, breathing and hopefully motionless inspiration, but we do it in this full-on minimalistic costume. 

It makes me think about other job-specific attires like those of firefighters surgeons. They all allow people to perform tasks are appropriate in selected settings. The idea of a doctor wearing OR scrubs during their commute on tube seems as amusing as taking the nudity of a life model into another setting than a class or a studio.  The only place it works well is in the proper context.

So I'm sitting there in a smart casual outfit hoping to be recognized. How silly it would be for Batman or another superhero to wait to be spotted incognito. I get up and make my way to the reception desk. Introduce myself.

And continue waiting sipping the tea by the window.