What is Model Society?
Here are some examples of our work and our message. More importantly, here are the voices of our models and photographers, whose testimonies about the brand, the art form, and their personal experience are worth far more than my opinion.
What Models Say
Model Society has earned an impeccable reputation among models for a reason. Many regard our platform as their creative home. A new model recently sent us a message that said, "I wish I'd found you sooner. Model Society is the only space that treats the human body as sacred".
Healing Scarlett
Scarlett reached out to me personally after seeing the website and reading a blog post. She was on a mission to find healing. She trusted me (she trusted Model Society) to support her process. She helped me understand both the opportunity and responsibility of what we do.
What Photographers Say
We elevate those who hold humanity with reverence. The recognition has a meaningful influence on how the community sees itself.
The Best of Model Society
Our first Kickstarter generated over $180,000 in 30 days. You'll see from the video that our value proposition is dignity, reverence, and respect. Hundreds of models and photographers submitted work. Nearly as many women as men have purchased the book, and the positive feedback has been encouraging and validating.
April McKay
April is just an example of who our community leaders are. She is a model, photographer, and a close friend. She leads a fiercely loyal army of models who follow, trust, and support her. She guides groups into the wilderness for weeks to create art. She embraces her sensuality as an essential part of her humanity. She and the models set the terms and the rules. They run the workshops.
Samantha Olson
Samantha is our editor and curation director. She started as my assistant with no art experience. She fell in love with the artform and our mission. As an outspoken millennial, she shapes the messaging as a peer. She speaks for the brand. Samantha co-wrote our community guidelines. I look to her for counsel and wisdom. She screens new members and grooms the image feed. I intended for Model Society to provide her and her family with a lifetime of security and prosperity. These videos are her voice and message. About 6 months ago, she wrote the article below that addresses some of these concerns directly.
Is Nude Art Hurtful to Women?
Someone recently expressed concerns that this artwork is “hurtful to women” and exists only “for the viewing pleasure of men.”
This well-meaning feedback seems like a valid response to other types of nude content. There’s no shortage of exploitative and dehumanizing images out there.
But the art of Model Society is different. Despite nudity’s reflexive association with porn, when presented in the context of art, the human body is not inherently sexual or exploitative.
Many of our models describe nude modeling as one of the most empowering, healing, and liberating experiences of their lives. For some, it has been a refuge after trauma. For others, it’s a way to reclaim their bodies in a world that constantly dictates what people should look like and what they should or shouldn’t do with their bodies.
The assertion that nude art exists only for male consumption disregards the fact that so much of this work is created by and for women. Many of our most accomplished photographers—and much of our audience—are women. The criticism also overlooks an important double standard: male models also pose for nude art, yet we rarely hear concerns about their agency or whether their work is “harmful to men.”
Many people automatically and unconsciously experience nude art in the cultural context of porn.
Although nude art has been a cornerstone of fine art for centuries, people lack the historical context to see it for what it is: an expression of reverence and respect. The idea that a woman’s nudity must always be for the benefit of men says far more about cultural conditioning than it does about the art itself.
When we’ve been hurt, it’s natural and wise to be vigilant or guarded. Considering all the exploitive nude imagery out there, it’s reasonable to feel protective and reflexively assert that nude art is harmful. It’s like carrying mistrust from a toxic relationship into a healthy one. It can be difficult to embrace something good when we’ve been damaged by something bad.
At Model Society, we realize that trust must be earned.
By consistently presenting human beauty with reverence and respect, we hope to earn the trust of people whose experience of human beauty has been wounded. We want to help people see humanity in a clarified and refreshing light.
Especially in today’s conflicted world, a positive and uplifting vision of humanity is more important than ever.
Enjoy!
Samantha Olson
Model Society Curration Director
My Messaging
We have a growing collection of core messages and articles that we call the Model Society Foundry. These messages embody our mission and help us communicate our values to art-lovers and new community members. Here are a couple of examples.
My First Experience With a Nude Model
As a teenager, my early (and only) experiences of nude models were in the pages of men's magazines. This type of beauty was like refined sugar. The images were a concentrated appeal to the primal mechanisms of my nervous system. It wasn't subtle, natural, or nourishing.
Even though I was an aspiring artist, I had no idea what an art model was until I went to art school, where I participated in my first life drawing classes. The woman, Carol, who posed for those early drawing sessions, was unlike the magazine models. She was older and lean, so her musculature was clearly defined. She had long arms, and her body shape was almost masculine.
My first reaction was disappointment that I would not be drawing idealized figures like I admired in magazines, comic books, and fantasy illustrations.
Regardless of my initial judgments, I was determined to render beautiful drawings. This process had me looking closely at her anatomy and unique proportions. As my drawings improved, I noticed something that changed my life.
I realized that my drawings were merely attempts to replicate the majesty of a living human being. Carol was alive and breathing, with blood flowing through her veins. Her body was a diary that spoke stories of her life experiences.
Even when one of my drawings felt like a masterpiece, I understood it could never fully capture the miraculous life standing there for me to contemplate and copy. The reality of Carol was beautiful in a way my drawings could only strive to portray.
After those early drawing sessions, I stopped having preferences about what a model “should” look like. Every model (male or female) was an astonishing subject whose complexity and depth would forever transcend my drawings. I understood that making art (at its very best) was an act of devotion, an attempt to make contact with the unfathomable grandeur of life and the human experience.
My art (and the eventual birth of Model Society) would forever be by this insight... The only way to create truly beautiful art is to realize the beauty of a subject.
Most people's sensibilities have been distorted by refined sugars. Many are blind to what human beauty is. They fail to see it in one another and themselves. When it comes to beauty, most of culture feeds on a diet of empty calories that will never make us feel full (or fulfilled).
The art at Model Society is not like refined sugar. The images flowing through our community are a bounty of reverence for our shared humanity that is nourishing, authentic, and healthy. For those who understand it, this art is uplifting, inspiring, and life-affirming.
I'm in awe of our incredible models who courageously offer themselves for our contemplation and appreciation. I'm blown away by our photographers and artists who understand beauty and direct our attention toward the sacred value of the human experience. I'm grateful for our supporters who make this glorious community possible.
Thank you for being a valued part of Model Society.
David Bollt
Model Society Founder
Art as a Vehicle for Healing
Years before I created Model Society, I had a profound experience with a model that revealed how art modeling could transform people’s lives.
I was a successful artist in the tattoo industry, and my traveling art gallery toured tattoo conventions and art shows worldwide. My most popular images were fantasy illustrations based on models. I’d often take photos and use them as a reference to create devils, angels, and other mythic characters.
Jamie introduced herself at a tattoo convention in South Florida and said she’d love to model for me. She was stunning, radiant, enthusiastic, and outgoing. We scheduled a shoot later that week.
At the start of the photo shoot, Jaime posed in very sexual and alluring ways. Even though she was charismatic and confident, that was not what I needed for my art style. So I asked if we could take a break, and we started talking. We got to know each other a little.
When we started retaking photos, Jaime was relaxed. Instead of being sexy, she was expressive and honest. Her assertive confidence softened to reveal sadness and depth. Her poses were elegant, lyrical, and emotional. She was glorious in her courage and vulnerability.
As we were ending the photo shoot, Jaime started to cry. I lowered my camera and asked if something was wrong. She said, “No, just the opposite”. She told me this was the first time that she’d ever felt genuinely beautiful.
Through tears, she explained how she had been sexually pursued, abused, and exploited since early puberty. She was used to being desired and had learned to rely on her sexuality for survival. We sat on the studio floor as she wept, and she asked me to take a few more pictures.
We’re all shaped by how we see the world and how the world sees us. That day, Jaime saw herself through my eyes as a work of art. Sometimes, when we attain a new perspective on life or ourselves, it can never be taken away.
It was rewarding for us both when I’d send her art that she had inspired. We remained friends until several years later when I got a call telling me Jaime had been killed by a hit-and-run. I was devastated that her light had been taken from the world. I felt blessed to have known her and offered some words for her funeral.
The lessons I learned from Jaime are an essential part of Model Society. We feature artwork that celebrates the model as a whole person. We elevate creatives whose vision honors our individual (and shared) humanity. At Model Society, we want everyone to see themselves and each other – just as Jaime did – on a pedestal as exquisite works of art.
Thank you for believing in human beauty!
David Bollt
Model Society Founder
I felt shaken this morning.
Fellow Art Lover,
I read the news of the day with my morning coffee. So many stories were dark. My heart sank. I felt genuinely shaken.
Then my workday started as usual. I checked the Model Society image feed.
I was blown away by the contrast. My screen was suddenly filled with exquisite beauty. I saw the human form presented with grace, respect, and dignity. I took a breath. Whew!
Our mission to establish a home for figurative fine art has evolved as the world has changed. It is no longer just about preserving the beauty of the human form – it is about recognizing the beauty of the human spirit.
Humans are complicated. We can be dark. We can do terrible things. But we can also be exquisite. We manage to create beauty in everyday moments and through broad chapters in history.
Any one of us can go down a thousand different paths in how we see life and how we influence the world around us.
But we don’t always freely choose how we see the world. We are constantly influenced by a firestorm of social media, the news, and the algorithms. Sometimes, it feels like I can’t see the world clearly through all the smoke.
So when I see this artwork, especially on a day like today, I am struck by a positive vision of humanity. And I am grateful.
In a world full of negative messages, the models, photographers, and artists of Model Society remind us… again, and again, and again, that there is something noble, worthy, and good about our shared human experience.
These inspired creatives remind us to see the light of our humanity through the smoke of darkness. I know how much that reminder means to me. I hope it serves you just as much.
Thanks for being with us.
David Bollt
Model Society Founder
To understand the art, see how a model sees themself.
Fellow Art Lover,
After speaking with art models about their work, I realized something. If you want to understand the spirit of figurative fine art, look at model portfolios.
Photographers' portfolios often showcase a unique visual style. But a model’s portfolio is different. It features dozens of photographers, each with a different style and perspective.
With hundreds or even thousands of images to choose from, a model selects the ones that represent how they want to see themselves.
For the model, curating this collection is a statement of artistic and personal identity.
To appear nude in artwork, to be seen without armor, is an act of courage. The great fine art photographers are the ones who reward that courage with reverence.
When you look through model portfolios, some photographers appear again and again. These aren't always the ones with the most expensive gear or lighting. They are the photographers who understand that exceptional art is about more than beauty or sexuality.
In commercial culture, beauty is reduced to a product and leveraged for manipulation. It is a commodity that is extracted while humanity is discarded.
In contrast, a model’s portfolio reunites beauty with its essential humanity.
This is the critical distinction. Thank you for seeing the difference.
 David Bollt
Model Society Founder
