I have always regarded Model Mayhem with a bit of disgust, but this just verifies how I feel about the matter.

Anyone on ARTnudes Network that feels threatened in any way by anyone who has contacted them through this website (photographers or models) should feel welcome with open arms to tell someone that foul play is going on. They will be banned, people will be warned and I will notify authorities if the behavior is worthy of notifying them, and/or cooperate with you if you need to act in a way that requires me to save pertinent information regarding their behavior here. No one should be scared to do what they love doing. I do check profiles regularly to make certain that the people who are making profiles here are actually photographers. I don’t know everyone, but I try my best to make sure they aren’t posting stolen images to lure models or that they actually are a photographer.

One act of caution – you should always bring your own beverages to a photo shoot. Mad-Eye Moody (Harry Potter character for those in the know) would agree, never accept a drink from someone you don’t know or a “known enemy.” Constant Vigilance! Not only for yourself, but for other models. Models, please feel an act of sisterhood in warning those who share your love of modeling. Tell someone, you could save a life. No one can help stop these things from happening if you brush it off like it’s no big deal if someone creeps you out.

I feel very sorry for Miss Jane Doe. And I hope she gets that 10 mil.

Here is the information from Court House News:

LOS ANGELES (CN) – A model claims in Federal Court that she was drugged and raped by two men who filmed the crime and sold it as pornography, and that defendant Internet Brands Inc. dba ModelMayhem.com did nothing to stop it.
Jane Doe No. 14 claims that Internet Brands Inc. owns and operates more than 100 websites, including ModelMayhem.com, where she had an account to market herself as a model. She sued the company and its dba, and only those two defendants, for negligence.
The headings of the three major sections of the complaint tell the story: “Internet Brands Knew of the Rape Scheme Targeting Modelmayhem.com Users … Jane Doe was Raped in the Modelmayhem.com Scheme … [and] Internet Brands Purposely Kept Modelmayhem.com Users in the Dark About the Rape Scheme.”
Doe says in her complaint that the defendants were aware that Emerson Callum and Lavont Flanders mined their websites looking for victims.
Both men were convicted in December 2011 of drugging women and videotaping themselves having sex with them to sell as pornography. A Miami federal judge in February sentenced them to life in prison.
Flanders is a former Miami Beach police officer who had more than a dozen aliases in court records, according to the Sun-Sentinel newspaper.
“At all relevant times, Internet Brands knew that Jane Doe was typical of the women who were targeted and horrifically raped in the scheme,” Doe says in her complaint.
As indicated by “No. 14,” many other women have made similar allegations.
Jane Doe 14 claims that Flanders contacted her in February 2011 and lured her to South Florida for a phony modeling audition. She claims that Callum and Flanders drugged her with a date-rape drug and that Callum raped her while Flanders videotaped the crime.
“The next morning, Jane Doe woke up in her hotel room feeling disoriented, sick and confused. Jane Doe then noticed that her mouth was swollen and that there was blood in her vaginal area and anal area, as well as blood in the bathtub,” the complaint states.
It continues: “Jane Doe contacted the police and was taken by police to the hospital where she was examined and given blood tests. The blood tests revealed that Jane Doe had benzodiazepine in her blood stream. Upon information and belief, benzodiazepine is a common ‘date rape’ drug that, when combined with alcohol, has the effect of causing one to ‘black out,’ with the inability to control one’s actions or remember anything that occurred while under the influence.
“Benzodiazepine also has the unique effect of allowing someone under the influence to appear normal and coherent, despite being unable to control one’s actions or remember what occurred.”
According to the complaint, the two men were first arrested in 2007 for using ModelMayhem.com to lure and victimize at least five women. The complaint states that Internet Brands bought ModelMayhem.com from Donald and Taylor Waitt in 2008, and in 2010, Internet Brands sued the Waitts in Los Angeles Federal Court, claiming that the Waitts had failed to disclose the potential for lawsuits against ModelMayhem because of the actions of the rapists.
“Accordingly, on Internet Brands’ own admission, it had actual knowledge no later than Aug. 2010 that:
“a. ModelMayhem.com was being used as a means of luring unsuspecting female ModelMayhem.com users, like Jane Doe, to drug and rape them;
“b. Lavont Flanders and Emerson Callum, in particular, had used ModelMayhem.com on multiple occasions to lure unsuspecting women to drug, rape and videotape them for pornography; and
“c. Flanders and Callum used ModelMayhem.com as an essential element of the scheme, horrifically victimizing ModelMayhem.com’s members,” the complaint states.
Doe 14 claims that Internet Brands knew enough to stop the attacks by warning ModelMayhem.com users about Flanders and Callum, but chose to do nothing.
“With this actual knowledge, Internet Brands had a duty to make adequate disclosures and warn ModelMayhem.com users of the danger presented, and inform them of the need to screen and verify the legitimacy of persons using ModelMayhem.com to contact them for modeling services,” the complaint states.
“Internet Brands knew that plaintiff, in using ModelMayhem.com, was exposed to an unreasonable risk of harm from the foreseeable acts of sexual predators, particularly Callum and Flanders.”
Doe claims says that Internet Brands breached its duty to warn her about the rapists’ scheme and that its negligence resulted in the sexual assault – even while Internet Brands went after ModelMayhem.com’s former owners for failure to disclose.
“With willful and wanton disregard for the health and safety of its users, Internet Brands brazenly sought compensation from the Waitts for failing to disclose the Flanders/Callum charges in 2008, while leaving its users vulnerably in the dark and exposed to heinous sexual batteries. Upon information and belief, Internet Brands was purposely silent to its users in an effort to evade or limit negative publicity and civil claims and liabilities arising from the acts and conduct of Flanders and Callum,” Doe alleges.
She seeks more than $10 million in damages, medical expenses and lost earnings. She is represented by Kevin McGuire, of Temecula.

© Candace Nirvana

Her one off shots have sort of a documentary feel to them while tricking you into believing they were staged at the same time. It’s as if she brings you into the intimate world between models, the giggles the cockiness, all of it for those who had their guard down. Models normally have their guard up.

© Candace Nirvana

© Candace Nirvana

© Candace Nirvana

Her act with the ideas is quite well perceived also. Stunning shadows. Great composition. Showing off her eye as well as her interactions. You get a feeling of being there then snagged back to a viewer. Rightfully poised.

© Candace Nirvana

© Candace Nirvana

© Candace Nirvana

© Candace Nirvana

© Candace Nirvana

© Candace Nirvana

© Candace Nirvana

© Candace Nirvana

There there’s always something weird going on. That’s when it gets really good.

© Candace Nirvana

© Candace Nirvana

The photos presented were all taken on our trip to Mexico last October. Go check out Candace’s photography website too! She’s got some really lovely work.

Read about our previous fest’s on these blogs:

Australia 2009

Australia 2010

Mexico 2011

Read about last year’s fest here!

What a few people say about the festival who have attended in the past who are definitely coming again:

• “Because I love everyone involved in the event and have felt so blessed for the past two years to have been able to share such a wonderful experience with so many wonderful and talented people ”
• “Best its the best experience of My life. Every time has enrichened My life.”
• “I would absolutely love to attend this years Zoefest. I had such an amazing time at the last two Zoefest’s creating art with like minded people from around the globe who share my passions of art, figure modelling and photography. I feel there are special bonds/frienships that are made between the people who attend these events which I think take the art produced to another level. It’s just amazing. I’d also like the chance to create with people who I haven’t had the chance before. ”
• “Except for the 2011 meet that I missed, this annual event is something I look forward to every year.”
• “Because I love my friends and it’s a great opportunity to see many I don’t see otherwise and I love creating wonderful art pics.  And what other week of the year do I maybe get to play with things like a goat or a giant blue pig?”
• “Because it’s fun!”
• “I have been fortunate enough to attend the festival the past two years and am now thoroughly convinced no year will be complete without attending the festival. I am a strong believer that photos become better between people when photographers and models continue to work with each other and develop a connection on a personal level in addition to an artistic level. Through this festival, all of the attendants are able to live with each other, discuss their art, collaborate, goof off and of course, get down to working with each other. The photos from the festival never cease to amaze me. A week of intense art making with socialization between shoots is absolutely incredible. I relish the experience of being in a community where everyone is into their modeling and photography for the right reasons – to create art.  I feel at home, happy and inspired while at the festival. Here I my passion for bending in uncomfortable shapes on rocks, in cold water, or while hanging off cliffs is thoroughly understood and even appreciated.”
  
• “It is a pretty damn awesome group to be involved with, I had a wonderful experience last year!”
• “Because ZoeFest was by far the best experience ive ever had in this field. It’s filled with awesome talent and like minded souls. Plus it’s the single best gathering to create art in, period!”
• “FestX was my first and I REALLY don’t want it to be my last. I had such an amazing time. You really create a great atmosphere!!  You’re also great at picking out compatible groups. It’s nice to have a relaxing/safe work environment. I can’t wait to see where it ends up being held this year!”

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15 in Mexico © 2011 Zoe Wiseman

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Ducreux

The move was not without some casualties though and we apologize. We had to resort to a 2 week old backup of the site because of some data corruption that couldn’t be resolved. New members who joined during those two weeks will receive an email from us very soon to welcome them back. (If you were one of those members and you are reading this… very sorry. Please rejoin, you won’t become a casualty ever again!) We hope their first impressions weren’t tainted by our slanted pancake eating backflips. But we’ve worked very hard behind the scenes … very hard… excruciatingly painful jedi mind tricks hard… to bring you a better site. It may not look like a lot has changed, but believe us, it has!

Those of you who lost blog posts; Sorry, there wasn’t anything we could do about it. Everything got corrupted during those two weeks of limbo. We hope you will repost what you lost. If we could bring it back for you we would. But, from now on we can definitely provide a more stable site.

We are upgrading everyone’s profile so you can have 50 images! And image sizes are going to be set to 350K instead of 200. We hope this will help. We would always appreciate smaller file sizes as it’s just much easier for us to manage, but if you don’t know how or don’t have time hopefully this will help out. All blogs will also receive more space. At present it’s 10 megs. So we’ll up it to 40 megs.

Thank you for your patience during this transition. And if you see anyone imitating our pancake tricks,  please take pity on them. It really is not easy! And do not worry about Ducreux… he certainly isn’t.

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Thank you for being here and helping fine art nude photography grow and be accepted. No censors, no warnings, just beauty! As of today, we celebrate 21,633,753 hits for 2011. Not so shabby.

I’m sharing Michael Marlborough‘s yearly Christmas magnet this year of Soph. Michael has been doing these Christmas magnets since the ’90s and several of us within the community have grown a nice little collection. Contact him if you’d like one to beautify your metal bits.

Christmas 2011 © Michael Marlborough - model: Soph

For those of you in the United States who feel like giving a little something back this Holiday Season, Please text: HOMELESS to 50555 and $10.00 will be put on your phone bill to help The Weingart Center.

For those of you in other countries who would like to make us aware of charities located near you, please comment and let us know. We’ll add that to our posting.

Back in January I went over to A&I Photo Lab in Hollywood to talk to the owner about printing my iPhone photographs and Rex, who works with A&I Books, sat down to tell me all about this amazing little city in Baja California Sur called Todos Santos. He even owned property there named after a vampire… Casa Dracula. So, intrigued, I searched online for every tidbit of information I could find about this little Pueblo Magico. Within 2 weeks I decided this would be the spot. Now off to organize it all!

I decided upon three different hotels that would hold us all but would still be close enough to each other so we could walk to see each other. The first one was The Hotelito a grand place of modern architecture, the second was The Todos Santos Inn which lent itself to more traditional Mexican themed surroundings, and the third was completely built and designed by the owner and lent itself to a mass of whimsy and eclecticism The Casa Bently. We managed to book all the rooms and the house at Hotelito so we all had the run of all the hotels for making art. Perfect!

32 photographers and models with their friends, babies and significant others met up in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, Mexico for a week of fun filled evenings, art making and friendship. Our sponsors went above and beyond and lavished us with product to give away for the slide show prizes and all the random drawings we do throughout the week. Thank you to Lensbaby, onOne software, ExpoImaging and Peak Design for all the goodies! And special thanks to Malcolm Smith who donated prizes too. Michael Marlborough was priceless to secure sponsorship for us all this year and he deserves a very warm thank you also.

Our first dinner out on October 24 was at the legendary Hotel California. They say the Eagles wrote the song about this hotel. Myth, legend, truth? I didn’t really care as long as they served Pink Champagne on Ice. The dinner was fabulous, the surroundings and atmosphere superb, the owners festive and accommodating, wait staff Muy Bueno! Todos Bien! A great time had by all. And yes, we heard the Mission Bells.

The next three nights were filled with slide show presentations at Casa Dracula. The first night, October 25th was models slide shows. Tara Liggett won first prize and Brooke Lynne second for their truly artful presentations. They both won Apple Store gift cards. All shows were fabulous and all the  models have amazing portfolios! October 26 – 27 were photographers. Mark Haskins won first prize (a Capture Unit from Peak Design) and Joel Belmont second (an Apple store gift card). Special thanks to Stephanie Anne for being the nightly commentator and for being the VOICE, you are adored.

On the 28th we had an amazingly festive party at The Hotelito. The owner suggested a chef named, Iker who seriously should consider his own television show or at least his own restaurant. The food was delish! He prepared about 15 different dishes for us and just kept bringing them out one after the other. I can’t remember Mexican food EVER tasting this fabulous. After dinner we all did a bit of Salsa dancing and had a few drinks by the pool. It was excellent!

We also drew prizes and names out of our hats to disperse all of the gear lavished upon us by our amazing sponsors.

FestX dinner at Hotelito with Iker (what is Ron doing?)

Sponsor Drawing

The rest of the days were filled with more shooting, a Halloween party at the Hotel California, and a last Hoorah BBQ at the Hotelito House. Seems impossible it was a month ago we were all getting ourselves to Los Cabos Aeropuerto for our final adios. Luckily we have a dedicated blog to keep up with everyone’s images here: figuremodels.org/festx Please subscribe to the RSS feed there to be automatically updated on new postings. The photographers and models outdid themselves this year and produced some really beautiful images.

Till next year Amigos y Amigas!

Thanks to Michael Marlborough for taking all these photographs!

Joel Belmont's Dynamic Nude Workshop

Joel Belmont, a member of ARTnudes Network, invites you to The Dynamic Nude photography workshop, a seven-day unforgettable photographic adventure in the heart of the Southwest landscape: Glen Canyon – also known as Lake Powell, Utah! Instructors Joel Belmont,  Bert Pasquale and Kim Weston guide us by boat and by foot to explore an amazing mix of sculpted red sandstone, deep blue waters, anasazi ruins, arches, petroglyphs, waterfalls, grottos, and towering rock formations. We’ll work with the nude female form against these backdrops, both on the large scale of the grand landscape, and the more intimate landscape of the slot canyons, where the curves of the canyon walls resonate with the lines of the human form. In addition to focused projects collaborating with models each day, there will be plenty of opportunities to make a wide range of landscape images.

Whether you are a beginner or a pro, you’ll dramatically improve your photography skills. You’ll create hundreds of stunning images, and feel creatively energized by spending a week in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. The Dynamic Nude runs October 2nd – 8th, 2011. Cost is $1695, which includes all meals and accommodations. Only a few open spaces remain – secure your spot today! (your application must be received by August 31st) More at www.DynamicPhotoWorkshops.com or (970) 618-1962.

Vincent O'Byrne ~ Be Inspired Website

Within, you will find amazing tips and techniques that will help you realize what you see. Go have a peek!

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ARTnudes on Twitter

ARTnudes Network on Facebook

If you have a blog on ARTnudes Network you can set it to auto-post to all of our social network pages so you get more exposure and more people see your work. Just scroll down on the left side of your blog’s dashboard and look for leenk.me.

Leenk.me

ARTnudes has a Google Buzz and LinkedIn also. All you have to do to make your blog auto-post to any of these social networks is:

1. Copy and paste this code: 4050943C2F5A1DB2D337A305  - Then insert it into where it says Leenk.me API Key then click on “verify”

settings for Leenk.me

2. ARTnudes Network doesn’t have a “friend feed” so ignore that one. But click on all the others you’d like your blog to post to.

3. Save all settings after you put something in.

4. If you want to edit settings so that it says something like: You Name Blogged New Photos: when it posts to twitter, click on “twitter” under the Leenk.me section of the dashboard and customize it to your liking. You can do the same for all the social networks that are automated. Just do not select “Personal Profile” on the Facebook settings or it will publish to Zoe Wiseman’s personal facebook page and not on the ARTnudes Network fan page.

That’s all there is to it! After you’ve done all that follow us on Facebook and Twitter and you’ll see all your posts show up on our pages. We get lots of traffic from Facebook and Twitter, so if you want people to see your work… get posting! Let us know if you have any questions or run into trouble.

Happy summer!

Mission Beach, Australia 2009 ©Cam Attree

We are busy gearing up for our annual artist retreat! Lots of organizing and plotting going on around here for October!

The past two years we spent relaxing times together in Far North Queensland, Australia soaking in the humidity, rain forests, ocean breezes and lots and lots of picture making! You can see our 2009 blog and our 2010 blog about it by clicking on the highlighted text.

This year 20 models and 18 photographers have jumped on board for days filled with making art, seeing old friends and making new ones. At this date we have room for four to five more photographers. The location is ideal, an artist colony, mountains, ocean, desert landscapes, lagoons, horses and beautiful local architecture. We’ll let you know where once you’ve been invited.

We have taken over three boutique hotels and two houses so far all within walking distance of each other. One of the houses will serve as our base of operations.

People who have never been have often asked what it is. It’s not a shoot out, that’s tacky. It’s not a workshop, we’re friends. It’s a genuine artist retreat and a gathering of sorts by invitation only. This is our 10th year and we would love to know if you’d like to join us. Shooting during the day, BBQs and dinners out at night, slide show nights and just chilling. You can schedule shoots with any of the models in attendance if you like, or you can just come and hang out. Your plans are your own. The only schedules we keep are the slide show nights and dinners.

Once you are invited you will be asked to join our private discussion board we have set up for the event so you can keep track of everything. You’ll also be able to see who will be attending once you’ve joined the private board. We have videos and local guide websites posted on the private board.

This is not a commercial endeavor, ARTnudes Network doesn’t make money from this. It’s really just a really cool vacation for those of us who have known each other online for so many years to meet and make art together.

Please fill out this online application in order to receive your invitation. (click the text)

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