Photographer Charges $100 More For Plus-Size Models, Tries To Justify It Online But People Are Not Buying His Excuses
The fashion industry is notorious for being harsh to plus-sized women who want to make their bodies seen and their voices heard. Luckily, the body-positive movement keeps on getting stronger, with people of all shapes and sizes challenging unrealistic beauty standards and speaking up about their experiences.
Last week, Megan Mesveskas, owner of modeling agency Model Nexus specializing in body diversity, exposed a well-known NYC-based photographer William Lords. The 24-year-old woman reached out asking about his rates and availability and, in response, his studio manager sent a troubling email with two different prices — one for “standard” models and another for “plus/curve” ones.
The man quickly faced backlash from the internet after Megan decided to shine a light on this baffling revelation on Instagram. Later on, model Sixtine Rouyre who is signed to Model Nexus, talked about this incident with her 573K TikTok followers, saying this is an example of “how awful the modeling industry is to anyone over a size zero.” Read on to find out the whole story.
Megan Mesveskas, owner of modeling agency Model Nexus, recently called out a well-known NYC photographer William Lords for charging extra to shoot curve and plus-sized models
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Image credits: modelnexus
Image credits: modelnexus
Image credits: www.instagram.com
Image credits: modelnexus
Image credits: modelnexus
In her video, Megan Mesveskas revealed the photographer charged $950 to shoot “standard” models, but $1050 to photograph curvy models.
Mesveskas told Newsweek that neither curve nor plus-sized have much meaning. “Every woman, regardless of her dress size, has curves. I’d love to see a human being without a curve,” she noted in an email. “‘Plus-size’ is meaningless too. Plus according to who or what? I think these are unfortunate categorizations that are made because the world still finds it shocking to see any woman above a size 2 modeling.”
“So it’s a way for the public to rationalize it ‘oh, she’s not a real model, she’s a plus-size model’,” Mesveskas continued. “We don’t require brunette [models] to identify themselves as such. We don’t ask [blue-eyed] models to sit alone in a category. So I’d love to know why should all women outside of 2 dress sizes be called ‘plus’ or ‘curve’?”
The woman revealed she was a model herself for eight years before starting her agency Model Nexus. Mesveskas said she often comes across brands that charge more for clothing made for “large-sized women,” but this incident was the first time she has seen the same for photographers.
“After speaking with many models, no one has even heard of a higher rate for models with a lot of acne or one who would need exponentially more photoshop retouching — so to see this applied arbitrarily against women who a photographer deems as non-standard sized is really odd at best and discriminatory at worst,” she added.
Later on, model Sixtine Rouyre shared the story and her thoughts on TikTok
@sixtine #stitch with @meganmesveskas another day another shitty photographer in the industry! absolutely disgusting #modelingindustry #shitmodelmanagment @Shit ModelManagement #curvemodels ♬ original sound – Sixtine Rouyre
Image credits: sixtine
Image credits: sixtine
Image credits: sixtine
Image credits: sixtine
Rouyre’s video caught the attention of famous Canadian fashion model Coco Rocha. “It feels like the industry is slipping backwards,” she commented. “Over the last 6 months, I’ve seen more & more signs that what little ground was gained is being lost.”
After receiving backlash in the wake of the video, William Lords told Newsweek that he believed the email, which was written by his studio manager, was taken out of context. Lords explained he charges the extra $100 for curve models because of the time and cost involved in getting “creative and high end” garments that are on par with clothing offered to “straight-sized” models.
“Most of them [curve models] say what they want, and you know what it is? The high-end stuff. They want the stuff that the straight-sized models have,” he said.
The photographer mentioned he has purchased a lot of curve clothes costing around $1,000 per look on his own. The man does this so that models would get the clothes “they deserve” and “$100 is absolutely nothing compared to what I do for these girls,” he said.
Lords added he decided to adjust his rates by making the sessions cost the same no matter the model’s size. However, the quality of clothes will be different — he will now ask models to bring their own clothing. “They are going to have to go out and use their own credit cards to get the best clothes and see how difficult that is,” he added.
Later on, model Sixtine Rouyre posted another video on TikTok reacting to Lords’ words. “He makes it sound like we should be thanking him for giving us the same respect and treatment as he gives standard models,” she said. “Why should that cost us more?”
People seemed to have different opinions about this whole situation, here’s what they had to say
The fact that almost all the comments were OK with this is sick. I used to do photography and NEVER did I charge more for curvy / bigger clients. What the f**k is that?
Right. Like "but it takes more Photoshop..." Um, then charge for the Photoshop.
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I'm a photographer, experienced in Photoshop, and I can say that it doesn't take me longer to edit plus sized models. The requests are what takes longest, but making an "average person" slimmer takes me about the same amount of time as making a plus sized person slimmer.
Why is there an assumption they'll be making them slimmer or touching up more. I thought the point of plus size modelling is to be body positive.
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Morality aside, it's poor business planning to charge people based on that. You'll lose more customers than the extra charge would make up for.
For those of you saying you'd gladly pay more for a photographer with experience capturing plus sized people, that's understandable, but then you're paying for experience, so the rates wouldn't go "down" for more "average size" people. I specialize in photographing darker skin, but I don't charge extra for that or less if someone is pale, as all photos present unique challenges.
LOL That'd be funny. 100 extra. You're too pale.
Load More Replies... Tall people should have to pay more since their bodies take up more film than "regular" height people. Sorry, gonna have to upcharge short people too. Their legs are shorter so it will take them more time to move positions for the shoot. Oh and if you have ing hair its double. People with long hair are always touching it, flicking it back, messing with it and that take time , and I have to photoshop out your split ends.
This is the photographer's explanation on New York Post: "The photographer says his prices are for “test shoots,” whereby he creates a look-book for models to take with them to auditions. The pricing includes access to a wardrobe full of designer clothes, which the models then wear while being photographed. Lords claims that designer threads for ultra-thin models (usually sizes 0 to 4) are easy to come by, but clothing for curvier women is more expensive and harder to source as less of the larger sizes are made. “Getting those clothes is very difficult,” Lords insisted. “I need to charge a bit higher, because it’s hard to find anything. I go out there and buy the clothes with my own credit card for the models to wear as part of our package.”"
And now due to the OP being an A hole he no longer provides outfits and cost is the same across the board. He was fair and up front.
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Well, it says it includes three styled looks and styled hair and everything, is it provided by the person taking the pictures or the person wanting the pictures taken? If it's by the people taking the pictures, understandable cause more fabric and it has to be customized to fit the body type but if it's provided by the person wanting the picture, then no, that's stupid
It also said he no longer provides outfits so prices are same across the board. It blows my mind how many people overlooked the facts given and were triggered like the A hole OP.
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had to creat an account to make a comment. Once I was an inexperienced photographer, charging low prices I have never had different pricing policies for models. Now I actually do. 9/10 times it takes more time to retouch a plus sized model (excluding simple headshots). In comparison, had to shoot a pic for a soap company commercial in which there was 3 lovely ladies in different body shapes - guess which one took the most time out of whole 6 hours to retouch the picture?. All in all, I am all for healthy body positivity, but don't expect to be charged same for more work
I do photography on the side and my retoucher charges by the hour - it just so happens that the better the model's skin is, the cheaper it's gonna be. The less imperfections there are, the less time is spent on editing. You could say a less pretty, ppl with problematic skin are discriminated against cause it costs more to do retouching. It's nothing new but you don't hear people protesting for equal treatment of average looking ppl, those who didnt win the visual lottery - which is basically most of us on this planet. Contrary to everyone's belief - just because it's a plus size model doesn't mean less editing - no, they are still edited. Not to make them slimmer no, but to make even the curves, make them less pronounce where it's unaesthetic. Yes, even plus size photos are retouched, alert the elders. Art especially photography is a sector often underestimated by many - for a lot of ppl it's just pushing the buttons and run some basic auto edit.
No, actually, photographers typically charge more for kids because they won't sit still and it's way more difficult to get them to do what you want. I know because I used to work for a toy company and we'd have to do about 1 shoot every month with kids. It's a nightmare. You should charge based on the time you think it will take to do the shoot. And larger people will take a longer time to set up lighting and photograph. There's nothing wrong with charging more for your time.
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From his biography on his personal website: William's diverse surroundings inspired his unrestricted style. Uff, hypocritical much. His style is just a bunch of skinny models. (It also looks like he blocked all comments on his Instagram now. )
standard is anything that isn't overweight/obese, since that's what people define as plus-size or curvy these days. a standard healthy human body isn't overweight or obese; those are medical conditions & shouldn't be accepted as standard since it literally kills people. however, the photographer isnt charging extra because being fat is unhealthy. he's charging extra because he provides the clothes for the photoshoots & finding clothes for bigger models is difficult & expensive. so yes, it makes sense for him to have a standard price for easy to acquire clothes & an extra cost if the clothes are extra hard to get. he should've explained the pricing in the email to avoid people getting angry at him, but it isn't his fault the clothes are difficult to get & it isn't his fault people are so sensitive about the implication there's something wrong with being fat.
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The one comment trying to reason his bigotry that (oddly enough, sounds like it came from a larger person) says "I would imagine it's much harder to do a photoshoot for a plus sized person because we aren't all shaped the same." Wtf does that even mean? Absolutely no one, except maybe identical twins, is shaped the same.
This is to reply to that Heather chick who said she would be glad to pay extra to a photographer. Well, that's /your/ choice to pay extra. This guy is not giving a choice. He's literally saying that if curvy and plus-size models want to look just as good as 'standard' models, they have to cough up extra. He's telling these women that they aren't normal, they aren't standard women and they shouldn't expect to look just as pretty or beautiful without coughing up more cash.
Their excuse of it takes more to Photoshop is disgusting! Why would you need to Photoshop them in the first place and what's up with everyone and their hatred of fat people. FYI Ipurposely ate until I was fat just to spite you all so F U :)
congrats, you're slowly killing yourself & putting yourself at risk for all kinds of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnea, gallbladder disease, & arthritis. way to stick it to the man. you sure showed society what's what.
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The fact they even assume that people WANT to be photoshopped, but ESPECIALLY plus / curve do, and that because they're bigger they require more is sick, and indicative of a much wider problem. Note they mention photoshop to make them look slimmer and better, not improve the aesthetics of the image. Photoshop is my sandpit, it take barely any more effort if that's what you're going to do, and frankly how about you just tell them they're perfect as they are. Stop making excuses for making people feel like s**t.
I have zero expertise in this, so asked my wife who was a TV producer. She thought it was odd, but did say some interesting things that I never thought about. She would pay higher rates for camera and lighting folks with expertise in shooting black people. Their rates were higher across the board, didn't charge less for white actors. But it had to do with difficulty with lighting folks so that dark skinned actors were visible without washing out light skinned actors. She said rates were always hourly and set by the union based on experience. She did say costume prices varried by material. A slim silk dress cost more than a pair of plus sized trousers.
photography is a hobby for me but in my experience, it comes as hardly an inconvenience with plus-sized models. Wtf is this?
If it's a hobby for you then you wouldn't be providing 3 outfits for clients like he was. It's not his fault that designers charge more for plus size clothing. He was being up front about the fact that it would cost him more and he wouldn't eat the additional cost. Due to the OP being the A hole in this situation he no longer provides 3 outfits for clients. He was up front and fair about it and wasn't going to try being sneaky about charging them more.
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Charging based on that is stupid, but all the stuff about "plus sized women" and "body positivity" isn't much better. Being unhealthy is unhealthy, bar none-- we really shouldn't glamorize it.
Well, gee, when I take photos of outdoors, lemme see, yeah, do I charge more when taking pictures of mountains vs. small hills? Tall trees vs. little flowers? Mansions vs. cottages? I'm not a professional photographer, but no, I wouldn't charge differently for any of that - except mansions, perhaps. If photoshop time or clothing is a different cost, then charege more specifically for *that* - not for the shoot itself. "more than X hours photoshop is $Z/hour; Vera W**g is more than off-the-rack Kmart"
You clearly missed the key facts that the OP posted but also ignored. He did provide clothes. 3 outfits were included in the price. Why complicate billing and have it all itemized when people just want to know how much it costs? Now he no longer provides the outfits and charges the same for all.
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Cause we eat more and that's why we need extra money! *just kidding *
yes, us fat ladies are SO hungry all of the time.
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Clearly you didn't read the article and just fell for the OP's bait. He PROVIDED 3 outfits and now due to her, he no longer does so. Now his prices are the same across the board.
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Hey Eric, why don't you go post some photographs of yourself on BoredPanda so we can all judge you. How would you like that? Maybe you should trim that troll neck-beard first.
Load More Replies... The fact that almost all the comments were OK with this is sick. I used to do photography and NEVER did I charge more for curvy / bigger clients. What the f**k is that?
Right. Like "but it takes more Photoshop..." Um, then charge for the Photoshop.
Load More Replies... I'm a photographer, experienced in Photoshop, and I can say that it doesn't take me longer to edit plus sized models. The requests are what takes longest, but making an "average person" slimmer takes me about the same amount of time as making a plus sized person slimmer.
Why is there an assumption they'll be making them slimmer or touching up more. I thought the point of plus size modelling is to be body positive.
Load More Replies... Morality aside, it's poor business planning to charge people based on that. You'll lose more customers than the extra charge would make up for.
For those of you saying you'd gladly pay more for a photographer with experience capturing plus sized people, that's understandable, but then you're paying for experience, so the rates wouldn't go "down" for more "average size" people. I specialize in photographing darker skin, but I don't charge extra for that or less if someone is pale, as all photos present unique challenges.
LOL That'd be funny. 100 extra. You're too pale.
Load More Replies... Tall people should have to pay more since their bodies take up more film than "regular" height people. Sorry, gonna have to upcharge short people too. Their legs are shorter so it will take them more time to move positions for the shoot. Oh and if you have ing hair its double. People with long hair are always touching it, flicking it back, messing with it and that take time , and I have to photoshop out your split ends.
This is the photographer's explanation on New York Post: "The photographer says his prices are for “test shoots,” whereby he creates a look-book for models to take with them to auditions. The pricing includes access to a wardrobe full of designer clothes, which the models then wear while being photographed. Lords claims that designer threads for ultra-thin models (usually sizes 0 to 4) are easy to come by, but clothing for curvier women is more expensive and harder to source as less of the larger sizes are made. “Getting those clothes is very difficult,” Lords insisted. “I need to charge a bit higher, because it’s hard to find anything. I go out there and buy the clothes with my own credit card for the models to wear as part of our package.”"
And now due to the OP being an A hole he no longer provides outfits and cost is the same across the board. He was fair and up front.
Load More Replies... Well, it says it includes three styled looks and styled hair and everything, is it provided by the person taking the pictures or the person wanting the pictures taken? If it's by the people taking the pictures, understandable cause more fabric and it has to be customized to fit the body type but if it's provided by the person wanting the picture, then no, that's stupid
It also said he no longer provides outfits so prices are same across the board. It blows my mind how many people overlooked the facts given and were triggered like the A hole OP.
Load More Replies... had to creat an account to make a comment. Once I was an inexperienced photographer, charging low prices I have never had different pricing policies for models. Now I actually do. 9/10 times it takes more time to retouch a plus sized model (excluding simple headshots). In comparison, had to shoot a pic for a soap company commercial in which there was 3 lovely ladies in different body shapes - guess which one took the most time out of whole 6 hours to retouch the picture?. All in all, I am all for healthy body positivity, but don't expect to be charged same for more work
I do photography on the side and my retoucher charges by the hour - it just so happens that the better the model's skin is, the cheaper it's gonna be. The less imperfections there are, the less time is spent on editing. You could say a less pretty, ppl with problematic skin are discriminated against cause it costs more to do retouching. It's nothing new but you don't hear people protesting for equal treatment of average looking ppl, those who didnt win the visual lottery - which is basically most of us on this planet. Contrary to everyone's belief - just because it's a plus size model doesn't mean less editing - no, they are still edited. Not to make them slimmer no, but to make even the curves, make them less pronounce where it's unaesthetic. Yes, even plus size photos are retouched, alert the elders. Art especially photography is a sector often underestimated by many - for a lot of ppl it's just pushing the buttons and run some basic auto edit.
No, actually, photographers typically charge more for kids because they won't sit still and it's way more difficult to get them to do what you want. I know because I used to work for a toy company and we'd have to do about 1 shoot every month with kids. It's a nightmare. You should charge based on the time you think it will take to do the shoot. And larger people will take a longer time to set up lighting and photograph. There's nothing wrong with charging more for your time.
Load More Replies... From his biography on his personal website: William's diverse surroundings inspired his unrestricted style. Uff, hypocritical much. His style is just a bunch of skinny models. (It also looks like he blocked all comments on his Instagram now. )
standard is anything that isn't overweight/obese, since that's what people define as plus-size or curvy these days. a standard healthy human body isn't overweight or obese; those are medical conditions & shouldn't be accepted as standard since it literally kills people. however, the photographer isnt charging extra because being fat is unhealthy. he's charging extra because he provides the clothes for the photoshoots & finding clothes for bigger models is difficult & expensive. so yes, it makes sense for him to have a standard price for easy to acquire clothes & an extra cost if the clothes are extra hard to get. he should've explained the pricing in the email to avoid people getting angry at him, but it isn't his fault the clothes are difficult to get & it isn't his fault people are so sensitive about the implication there's something wrong with being fat.
Load More Replies... The one comment trying to reason his bigotry that (oddly enough, sounds like it came from a larger person) says "I would imagine it's much harder to do a photoshoot for a plus sized person because we aren't all shaped the same." Wtf does that even mean? Absolutely no one, except maybe identical twins, is shaped the same.
This is to reply to that Heather chick who said she would be glad to pay extra to a photographer. Well, that's /your/ choice to pay extra. This guy is not giving a choice. He's literally saying that if curvy and plus-size models want to look just as good as 'standard' models, they have to cough up extra. He's telling these women that they aren't normal, they aren't standard women and they shouldn't expect to look just as pretty or beautiful without coughing up more cash.
Their excuse of it takes more to Photoshop is disgusting! Why would you need to Photoshop them in the first place and what's up with everyone and their hatred of fat people. FYI Ipurposely ate until I was fat just to spite you all so F U :)
congrats, you're slowly killing yourself & putting yourself at risk for all kinds of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnea, gallbladder disease, & arthritis. way to stick it to the man. you sure showed society what's what.
Load More Replies... The fact they even assume that people WANT to be photoshopped, but ESPECIALLY plus / curve do, and that because they're bigger they require more is sick, and indicative of a much wider problem. Note they mention photoshop to make them look slimmer and better, not improve the aesthetics of the image. Photoshop is my sandpit, it take barely any more effort if that's what you're going to do, and frankly how about you just tell them they're perfect as they are. Stop making excuses for making people feel like s**t.
I have zero expertise in this, so asked my wife who was a TV producer. She thought it was odd, but did say some interesting things that I never thought about. She would pay higher rates for camera and lighting folks with expertise in shooting black people. Their rates were higher across the board, didn't charge less for white actors. But it had to do with difficulty with lighting folks so that dark skinned actors were visible without washing out light skinned actors. She said rates were always hourly and set by the union based on experience. She did say costume prices varried by material. A slim silk dress cost more than a pair of plus sized trousers.
photography is a hobby for me but in my experience, it comes as hardly an inconvenience with plus-sized models. Wtf is this?
If it's a hobby for you then you wouldn't be providing 3 outfits for clients like he was. It's not his fault that designers charge more for plus size clothing. He was being up front about the fact that it would cost him more and he wouldn't eat the additional cost. Due to the OP being the A hole in this situation he no longer provides 3 outfits for clients. He was up front and fair about it and wasn't going to try being sneaky about charging them more.
Load More Replies... Charging based on that is stupid, but all the stuff about "plus sized women" and "body positivity" isn't much better. Being unhealthy is unhealthy, bar none-- we really shouldn't glamorize it.
Well, gee, when I take photos of outdoors, lemme see, yeah, do I charge more when taking pictures of mountains vs. small hills? Tall trees vs. little flowers? Mansions vs. cottages? I'm not a professional photographer, but no, I wouldn't charge differently for any of that - except mansions, perhaps. If photoshop time or clothing is a different cost, then charege more specifically for *that* - not for the shoot itself. "more than X hours photoshop is $Z/hour; Vera W**g is more than off-the-rack Kmart"
You clearly missed the key facts that the OP posted but also ignored. He did provide clothes. 3 outfits were included in the price. Why complicate billing and have it all itemized when people just want to know how much it costs? Now he no longer provides the outfits and charges the same for all.
Load More Replies... Cause we eat more and that's why we need extra money! *just kidding *
yes, us fat ladies are SO hungry all of the time.
Load More Replies... Clearly you didn't read the article and just fell for the OP's bait. He PROVIDED 3 outfits and now due to her, he no longer does so. Now his prices are the same across the board.
Load More Replies... Hey Eric, why don't you go post some photographs of yourself on BoredPanda so we can all judge you. How would you like that? Maybe you should trim that troll neck-beard first.
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