On the Road With Roarie

With the rise social media, a small, vibrant community has formed of (predominantly) young Americans working as freelance, travelling, often nude models for artists and photographers. They use their online presences to showcase their work and connect with others in the community, in a way that wouldn't have been possible only a few years ago.

However, due to a recent upswing in conservative legislation in the US and elsewhere, the very channels these models utilise to support themselves and each other are becoming increasingly restrictive, putting life of the community under threat.

In the summer of 2014 I was able to gain an insider’s view into this community when full time freelance model Roarie Yum and I spent six weeks together travelling the width of the USA, from Massachusetts to California. Along the way we stayed with other models, photographers, or slept in the car at truck stops or Walmart parking lots. I got to live their life with them for a short while.

I photographed Roarie at every stop, along with other models they introduced me to and intermittent self-portraits, as well as constantly shooting for what I called my ‘road diary’; behind the scenes and candid snapshots taken throughout the trip. I shot the series entirely on film as a means to translate those transitory, ephemeral experiences into something tangible. I ended up with hundreds of rolls, with thousands of images, which over time I eventually distilled into a handmade leporello photo book.

This journey and Roarie themself became pivotal to my development as an artist, at a time in my life and artistic practice when I was still finding my feet. They pushed me into taking more risks creatively, they introduced me to a wide network of fellow artists and models, they kept reminding me to take self portraits (at one point acting as a human tripod when I’d left mine in the car after hiking off trail in a national park), and at every step they fed my creativity with their own.