The Responsible Artist

It has recently been brought to my attention that I, as an artist of the female form, should be mindful of the ramifications that may impede my models, as a result of the images I create. Now that this issue has been brought to the surface, I am not questioning my agenda but that of the model.

I work with adults and adults only. It is not my job to babysit nor hand-hold those that choose to participate in the create process which result in my images. As I look at this issue it has occurred to me that there are a lot worse things that an individual could do than to model for me... clothed or otherwise. A boyfriend, family member, or friend, may not understand nor except the concept of my images but it's not my job to look into the future and take responsibility of the actions exhibited by the models.

In the past 18 months I have photographed approximately 45 models. I do this work free of charge. The models have willing participated in the process of creating these images. I have never coerced nor deceived these models into thinking that this process was anymore than the creation of the images. In these past 18 months, I've had 2 models ask me to remove images I had created of them from my online portfolios or blogs. In both cases I accommodated them and removed the images in question. At no point did I feel I was censoring myself. In fact, I removed the images to honor the wishes of my friends.

In each case the reason for the request was brought on by a newly formed relationship with "boyfriends." Boyfriends who weren't in the relationship at the time the images were created.

My question is this... as an artist, is it my responsibility to foresee; to predict how my images will be interpreted or defined later down the road? Is it my responsibility to foresee the future path my models will take? Should I concern myself with how future relationships may be affected by the actions my models take?

The individual who brought this topic to the surface advised me that, "in the future as you choose your muses... consider them." If that's the case then should the reverse be true? Should the muse consider me... consider the mental energy that goes into my images? The image itself is not the art but a mere manifestation of the art. A tangible representation of the energy that courses through the artist's being.