“On the Road With Roarie” book project by Selina Mayer
May 21, 2020Back in 2014 Selina Mayer & I took a cross country road trip from Boston MA to San Fran CA that had all sorts of adventures. Below is a link to some of the NSFW images Including some rather goofy ones I really adore. Not often that side of me is shown.
Selina M also included this excerpt in the hand made book they created. i found it to be insightful about the community and endearing as a reflection of our time together <3
“With the rise social media, a small, vibrant community has formed of (predominantly) young Americans working as freelance, traveling, 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 utilize 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 traveling 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 her life with her for a short while.
I photographed Roarie at every stop, along with other models she 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 herself became pivotal to my development as an artist, at a time in my life and artistic practice when I was still finding my feet. She pushed me into taking more risks creatively, she introduced me to a wide network of fellow artists and models, she 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 she fed my creativity with her own. ”
See more of the work on her website: