The fashion meat market
The world of fashion modeling is the craft of generating a powerful moment: a quest to materialize a still-life capture that intends to draw upon the intensity of a unique movie, promotion, or speech, however all the while maintaining elements of passiveness and conformity. The photograph must embody emotion, character, and sexiness, in order for it to gain power, yet there is an invisible structure or mold in place that all models must adhere to. The documentary Model, the film Paris is Burning, and television show America’s Next Top Model portray different aspects of the fashion-modeling world. They are not all the same by any means. Model represents a cutthroat yet very generic and faceless form of modeling: personal character shining through is not valued in this medium; rather the young are exploited for benefit of the agencies profit margin. Similarly America’s Next Top Model places an emphasis on one’s ability to keep one’s mouth shut and look pretty. Only in Paris is Burning, with the focus centering more on the message of the modeling rather than the image, do we see true character reflected in the wearing of clothes. Model is more of an observational documentary than anything. The filmmaker is not really noticed nor does he infuse any sort of message, opinion, or commentary into the subject he is filming. There are no sound effects infused, no voice over commentary, no supplementary music, no behavior repeated for the camera, and no interviews.