If you were in Paris right now, you could find yourself surrounded by nude, but broke, art models. No kidding. As the Guardian reports, in 2008 the Parisian nude models have had enough of BS and were demanding increase in pay as well as higher respect for their work.
“This is a craft that should be respected, not just anyone can take their clothes off and hold a pose”, said a 28-year-old woman
Students in a life drawing class, Paris. Photograph: Bernard Annebicque/Corbis. Credit: Guardian
referred to in the article as “Deborah” and who was said to be one of the strike leaders. “It is artistic and physically demanding work”, Deborah concluded.
If it happened anywhere else, I think it would’ve only caused a ridicule and a couple of extra bucks for journalists. But for Paris this is a no joke. As a home of Louvre, Parisians pride themselves in being a center of the most famous art. It was Paris that nurished grand minds such as Claude Monet and Paul Cezanne and by no means will Parisians let you miss or forget that! Oui!
So when you have a crowd of nude (literally!) models standing in front of a Holiday Tree outside Paris city hall’s culture department and protesting, it’s a serious business. And you better pay attention.
After all, the rest of the world is.
Tech Pop 