In the last year or so we’ve been seeing a lot of sexual harassment and misconduct incidents being brought to light. Possibly even a surprising number, especially given today’s age of social media and “big-brother” always watching. It’s kind of amazing that things are still coming to light even from people with huge celebrity followings like with the allegations against Marcus Hyde a few weeks back. Clearly there’s a dark side to the modelling and photography world, where models are taken advantage of by the people behind the camera.
In this video from Jessica Kobeissi, she talks about this dark side and interviews multiple models & photographers who share their own experiences with incidents of this nature.
“As a human, youtuber & photographer with a large platform and close friends who are models that have experienced harassment, I feel responsible to speak up about this serious issue plaguing the photography and modeling community. I hope I do this topic justice. I hope it’s good enough.”
If you’re a model, than this video should help you identify some of the “Red Flags” to help you avoid predators, and if you’re a photographer, there are a bunch of tips to help you not to be seen as “that guy.” It’s important to note that both male and female models have experienced abuse and predatory practices in a variety of ways. Jessica takes time in the beginning of the video to explain that no matter your gender, it’s important to protect yourself!
[Related Reading: Former Model Agent Talks About Known Model Abuse & What Photographers Can Do]
Jessica also brings up the important distinction that harassment and abuse may not necessarily be physical, but can also be verbal and emotional, listing many examples that you can see and hear in the video.
The bottom line here is it is important for you to be, and feel safe on set! There are a lot of best practices to adhere to and many of which are discussed in the video, like bringing a chaperone to the shoot and letting people know where you are and when for the shoot. What else do you think should be added to this? Have you had any experiences like those described in the video? Have you got some advice for aspiring models and/or photographers to ensure they don’t experience a situation like this that perhaps wasn’t covered in the video? Let us know in the comments below.
Follow Jessica’s Work at the following links;
INSTAGRAM ► https://www.instagram.com/jessicakobeissi
FB ► https://www.facebook.com/jessicakphoto
WEBSITE ► https://www.jessicakobeissi.com
TWITTER ► https://www.twitter.com/jessicakobeissi
YOUTUBE ► https://www.youtube.com/user/jessicakphoto
