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Interview with Katja Gee — nude model writing about the experience

Katja Gee is a 26-year old model residing in San Luis Obispo, California.

How would you introduce yourself to our readers?

I was born and raised in small-town San Luis Obispo, California. I’m an only child, and a bit of a tomboy: most of my childhood consisted of climbing trees, building forts, riding horses, and generally finding adventures outside in our rural area.

When I’m not modeling, I’m usually writing—particularly on my website’s blog, where I share a weekly essay on nudity, modeling, art, productivity, working as a freelancer, and self-improvement. I’m also quite a nerd. I read and write science fiction and fantasy novels, and I’m obsessed with Starcraft II. I also compose and play music, dance ballet, and enjoy the occasional glass of really nice scotch.

When, how and why did you first get involved in the modeling industry?

Five years ago, I started out as a life drawing model—someone who poses nude as a reference for drawings, paintings and sculptures. A friend of the family, now retired, had posed for a painting when she was in her early twenties. The painting hangs in her living room, and it makes her incredibly happy every time she looks at it. It reminds her of the “good old days” when she was young and had just met her husband. Her painting inspired me to try posing nude for a drawing class at my local college for the first time.

That first drawing class grew organically into a whole career, and today I work full-time as a freelance model. I still pose for life drawing classes, but now I work as a photographic art model too.

What are your personal and professional goals? Where do you see yourself in five to ten years?

Posing for life drawing classes is something that I can do no matter how many years in the future. Traditional artists need human subjects of all shapes, sizes, genders, and ages to study—it’s not uncommon for models to keep posing into their eighties and even nineties.

Photographic art nude modeling has a bit more of an expiration date. Most women stop modeling full-time in their late twenties to mid thirties. Although I plan on modeling for art photographers for as long as someone will point a camera at me, I’m expecting it to be a viable full-time occupation for the next three to five years.

I plan on expanding my writing over the next few years as well. My blog is certainly a start, and I hope that I’ll be writing full-time within the next five to ten years.

How often are you modeling and what does it usually consist of?

I model full-time. About half of my bookings are photo shoots, and half are life drawing sessions. All of it is art modeling, whether for drawings, paintings, sculptures, or photographs for gallery shows and fine art books. Most of it is nude, although I do occasionally pose clothed for portrait sessions or boudoir photography. During the summer, the majority of my shoots are actually underwater—both the photographer and I will be shooting in a pool for several hours at a time to create this surreal genre of image. And of course, a large amount of my time is spent keeping a freelance business running: emails, scheduling, marketing, booking, taxes, and other paperwork are all “unpaid” hours that are necessary to support my art.

Please tell us about the best and/or worst experiences you’ve had so far in modeling.

The best experiences have been crafting long-term creative, artistic, and working relationships with other artists. I have photographers, artists, and other models that I work with on a regular basis, and have for several years. We have written and published books, organized several art gallery openings, and planned modeling tours together. These people are more than just co-workers and fellow artists to me; they’ve become family.

I’m very lucky that in the years I’ve been modeling, I’ve only had one negative experience with a photographer that tried to push my boundaries. I think that says a lot about how incredible, forward-thinking, and supportive the artistic modeling community is. It’s truly full of wonderful people.

Have you had anything funny, embarrassing or completely out of the ordinary happen during your modeling career?

The most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me modeling occurred during a life drawing class that I posed for at my local college. My foot fell asleep very early into a two and a half hour pose, but I didn’t realize that I’d lost feeling in my whole leg all the way up to the hip joint as well. When the timer went off, I stomped on my foot to get my circulation going again. Unfortunately, my leg had other ideas, and instead I fell over rather spectacularly. That should have been the end of it, except the modeling stand was wheeled so that it could be moved in and out of the classroom. I ended up taking out half the class with the modeling stand, and falling headfirst into the lap of a student on the other side of the room while still naked–and unable to stand up, because my leg still wasn’t working.

Is there anything you would change about the modeling industry if you could?

There seems to be a stigma against nudity in the modeling industry, and a stigma against models that pose nude in particular, that I would change if I could. Most people when they hear I pose nude automatically assume that what I do is sexual. They assume that art nude modeling is equivalent to stripping or pornography. To me, posing nude isn’t any more or less sexual than any other act. Yes, the nude female form can evoke sexuality, or sensuality. But it can also express other emotions—innocence, joy, despair. I think that it’s incredibly closed-minded to think that the human body can only mean one thing without the trapping of clothes. The concept of nudity being artistic—or even normal—is not a common one, but I think we would all be more comfortable with ourselves if we disassociated from the idea that nudity is inherently sexual.

Do you practice any sports and what do you typically eat? Please elaborate on the importance of nutrition and exercise in your life.

I get the majority of my exercise through a combination of ballet and backpacking. Although I also go to the gym occasionally, I’ve always been a tomboy and an artist. I enjoy spending time dancing and being out in nature more than doing reps.

Nutritionally, I eat mostly vegetarian and make a lot of simple green smoothies.

Being strong is more important to me than being attractive, and I value my body for what it is capable of, not how it looks. I care more that I can dance en pointe or carry a forty pound pack for 20 miles a day than whether I look pretty. And I find that when I concentrate on my capabilities, I end up looking better than if I had worked solely on aesthetics in the first place.

Please share something people don’t know about you.

Some people might know that before I was a model, I actually worked as a professional musician—I taught piano lessons, accompanied choirs, and even played keyboard in a short-lived band. Something most people don’t know is that I studied ancient Germanic linguistics in college, and my senior project was translating 110 pages of Anglo-Saxon poetry. I mentioned that I was a nerd, right?

Would you change anything about yourself?

I’m always trying to change and improve something about myself, whether it’s physical or mental. I’m constantly trying to be stronger and more productive, and to be a better writer and model—you could call me a self-improvement junkie!

What superpower do you wish you had? Why?

Shape-shifting, as long as it wasn’t size-constrained. I think it would be incredibly versatile. You could craft yourself wings to be able to fly, or shrink until you were tiny enough to sneak into places without being noticed. Even subtle changes in your own physical appearance would be useful. Imagine what you could do as a model if you could change your body shape or facial structure on a photo shoot!

Visit Katja Gee’s website for more photos and information

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