MacTribe : Photography Model Releases

Successful shooters share strategies for securing the all-important model release-or not.

Five young men-shirts off, empty beer cans crumpled at their feet, arms folded across their tan chests-stood squarely between me and the remote, idyllic beach I had traveled all the way to French Polynesia to photograph. What the hell what was I going to do now?

Well, to begin with, I had to be honest with myself. This warm-eyed gang was not that intimidating. I just wasn't in a people-shooting mood. But their bronzed bodies absolutely presented more interesting photographic material than the pathetic stretch of garbage-strewn sand that lay beyond them. I was tired of tidying up beaches in an attempt to make postcard-pretty pictures (even though Huahine is supposed to be one of the most picturesque islands in the area), and this was just the change of pace I needed. So I sucked up my nervousness and approached my wary targets with camera raised and my friendly, can-I-take-your-picture grin.

After clicking off a few shots of these cool-looking locals, I was pleased enough with my efforts for that damned, agency-driven mandate to pop into my head: "Get model releases!" Like many photographers, I don't relish the process. But with the outlay of my self-financed trip looming large, I pulled out a pad of simple release forms a friend had translated into French for me. Then I began a game of Charades geared at persuading all five young men to pen their names on the line just above the word sign.

What happened next was completely unexpected. Much to my surprise (and delight), the release forms grabbed my subjects with great interest. Maybe the translation was hilarious to them, but within moments, signing the model releases had become an amusing game in itself, with each Polynesian eager for his turn. As they laughed and passed around my pad of releases, I kept right on shooting. Soon enough, we were all piled in my tiny rental car, and I was getting a personalized tour of the island.

This experience taught me something valuable: the act of securing a model release doesn't have to be a daunting problem that gets in the way of my photography. In fact, it can actually enrich the experience. On a number of occasions since then, I have used the model release request as a jumping off point for more meaningful interactions-and better pictures.

Nonetheless, the nagging feeling that I must get model releases is something that weighs on me when I travel-it seems of even greater concern than my plane going down or contracting malaria or coming down with dengue fever. It's not that I don't understand the importance of getting releases-both in terms of increasing the value of my images as well as protecting the rights of my subjects-but I must say that I find it exasperating when non-shooters insist on getting model releases as though it was as easy as using a tripod in low-light.

Different Shooters, Different Approaches
Recently, while preparing for a trip to South America, I decided to find out exactly where some of my fellow photographers weighed in on the topic of model releases. I wondered who used them and when, and how they integrated releases into their shooting? Not surprisingly, there seem to be as many different attitudes about releases as there are types of photographers (and versions of model releases). However, I found that the more experienced the shooter, the more they had found solutions that worked-in relation both to usage of images and their approach for interacting with subjects.

Model Releases Be Damned
As a travel photographer who has covered scores of countries in more than 40 years of shooting, Victor Englebert never uses model releases. He shoots almost exclusively for editorial. He claims the chances of licensing his pictures for advertising usage are slim. "I'd rather not bother with getting releases, even if it means losing some money once in a while," he explains. "Also, I feel that asking someone to sign a release after that person has smiled for my camera would be like thanking her by pouring iced water over her head. I'm afraid of the sudden suspicion that it could raise."

While sensitive to his subjects' privacy, Englebert is surprised by how often he reads that photographers should ask permission to take people's pictures. "I wonder what kind of pictures Cartier-Bresson would have given us if he had always asked for permission," he ponders. "I never ask permission. I shoot until I'm caught. Then I smile. If my subject returns the smile, I keep shooting. And perhaps I'll ask him or her to do certain things for my camera. If my subject frowns, I move on. When I really want a picture, I take it whatever the consequences, and deal with them afterwards."

When I asked Englebert how to cope with the fact that I sometimes feel like I owe my subjects something in return for their time-and for making it possible to earn a living as a photographer-his advice was simple: "Just be nice, and they won't expect anything from you." He added that it is important to "avoid giving anything in return for the pictures you take except for a smile, a handshake or a hug, and your gratitude, otherwise it will soon become a terrible burden. If your subject is poor and has been good to you, give him or her some money, and be done with it. But don't overdo it, or soon no one will be allowed to take pictures of anyone without paying first, as is happening in many African countries."

What about giving people pictures, I asked. "In 1964, on my first National Geographic assignment," Englebert told me, "that magazine gave me a Polaroid camera and film that added to my already heavy equipment load. Every time I took a picture of the Algerian women, they tore them up and asked for another one. And the Polaroid became such a magnet that I was constantly surrounded by people who all wanted their Polaroid picture taken, and I could no longer take my own. That was it. I never carried a Polaroid camera again."

To Shoot Is To Release
In contrast to Englebert's no-release policy, Bill Bachmann always gets his subjects to sign model releases. With over 25 years of experience, Bachmann is one of the world's top grossing stock shooters, and he knows that the value of a stock shot increases significantly when the model signs a release. He explains that he values the time he spends shooting in relation to the marketability of a given image. "If you are going to spend the time shooting great images," he reasons, "then take the time to get the release. It is second nature to me."

How does Bachmann get the releases signed? "In just about every foreign country I hire good guides and interpreters," he says. "I have them talk to the locals first, and I try to get the release first. But sometimes I like what I see so much that I shoot first, and then work on getting the release." To do this Bachmann resorts to a number of strategies. "Sometimes I buy something for them, or I buy something from them if they are vendors. There is nothing that works all of the time," he says. "But I am pretty fearless. Persistence pays off."

Bachmann explains that he regularly shoots Polaroids and gives them out before asking a person to sign a release. "That often does the trick!" he declares.

Models Make Releases Easy
Ray Laskowitz, a photojournalist and stock photographer with 29 years of shooting experience says he prefers to get signed model releases when possible. However, the nature of his assignment tends to dictate whether he goes after releases in the first place. "If I have to photograph about 120 locations in only a few days for an editorial project," he makes clear, "it might not be practical to stop and take the time to explain what I am doing and why a release is necessary. This, of course, limits secondary sales."

"I find it's easier from a time perspective to hire models and put them in a picture rather then to just photograph someone who happens to be there and explain why I need them to sign a piece of paper," offers Laskowitz. "If a photographer is shooting for some agency's files, then he or she better shoot pictures that don't require releases-which are becoming fewer and fewer-or that photographer better use models even in what would normally be considered to be travel shoots."

"For instance," Laskowitz continues, "I photographed in Bangkok, Thailand last year. I shot it partially as a location shoot. This was mostly places and things. I tried for very few releases, because I did not need them. However, when I moved to the travel/lifestyles segment of the shoot, I hired local talent. For some of the talent, I spent a reasonable amount of money and the pictures were as much about them as they were about the place. For other models, I spent less money. That's when the pictures I produced were really about the place, but they needed a person to make the image complete. In either case I had unique images that were model-released."

Laskowitz explains that many talent agencies have different rates based on levels of talent. Going rates vary from country to country, but in a country where a top-level model costs $100 per hour, a third-level model might cost only $25 per hour. "The talent at the third level might not be as trendy or fashionable," he says, "but they are attractive, real people. You hire these third-tier people to be 'in' the picture."

"Sometimes the models don't speak English," Laskowitz says. "In Thailand, since I speak about five words of Thai, I would have them call the talent agency on their cell phones. Then I would have them give me the phone and I would tell the agency person what I needed, and the person at the agency would translate the directions on the phone for the talent." Laskowitz adds that he doesn't hire people off the street because he's found it's difficult to explain what he wants them to do.

The Human Connection
All the photographers I talked to, whether pro- or anti- model release (or somewhere in the middle), made it clear that it is the human connection that matters most. When I asked Laskowitz for his advice on how photographers can get over the oft-sighted anxiety of approaching people for model releases, he referenced the first line in the song "Wooden Ships" by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: "If you smile at me, I will understand, 'cause that is something everybody everywhere does in the same way…" And that, "he said, "is the best advice I can offer."