Music

Artists will occasionally ask that I bring music with me for while we're working. I suspect I might be the only model on the planet that feels this way, but I would much rather listen to whatever somebody else has on hand than any of the music I could bring with me. I don't own CDs, and my ipod hasn't been updated in two years. I am sick to death of everything that's on it, and it serves only as a last-ditch option when I'm driving through the areas with exactly three radio stations, one of which is country, and two of which are hell-and-damnation talk radio. And ya know, sometimes hell-and-damnation talk radio makes for some pretty decent entertainment.

It's also the case that I find it fascinating to hear what music people like creating to. For some, it's all classical, all the way. For others, jazz rules. I've posed to everything from the chants of Gregorian monks to swing. Others still turn the radio to a widely agreeable station, but ultimately seem to have no investment whatsoever in the background music.

When I'm shooting self-portraits to music, I generally put on one of my favorite two Pandora stations. I don't follow the current music scene, or individual artists, and Pandora makes it easy for me to find music that I like without actually, well, looking for it. If I'm mostly shooting headshots, casual, or figure studies, I generally opt for my Feist/Metric/Lily Allen/Sia inspired station. If I'm shooting something darker or moodier, it's my Razed in Black/She Wants Revenge/Wolfsheim/Apoptygma Berzerk/Neuroticfish inspired station. As often as not though, I'm quite happy to work only to the tune of my own thoughts.