No matter how long you have been modelling or how experienced you are, sometimes things go horribly wrong during a photoshoot. Photoshoots can feel very intimate, leaving you feeling vulnerable and there have been many instances where sometimes those around you can take advantage of you. Having experienced this myself, I’ve been recently sharing a few posts on photoshoot safety, prep and what to do the day of of your shoot to help all models in the industry, but especially newbies, stay safe and be prepared during a shoot. No matter how much you prep or how many precautions you take, sometimes it’s not enough so for todays post, I wanted to share what to do if you do feel unsafe during a shoot.

Depending on your situation, you will need to assess it on your own and decide which form of action to take. It is completely up to your own fair judgement to ask for whatever form of help you need be it emergency or otherwise. The below examples can be adjusted to fit a range of situations but always feel free to escalade the amount of help you need, these examples may not suit the severity of all situations.

Send out a Help Message
This would be best in a situation where you are starting to feel unsafe, not sure if the situation will escalade and want to leave quickly with an excuse just incase. In a previous post, I discussed the idea of creating a secret code system between you and someone you trust so where in the case of an emergency if you send out a text, they can come and help you or get you out of the situation. After sending your initial ‘help’ message code, try to have already have an established ‘call to action’. This can be for example your safe friend calling you saying an emergency has happened and you need to come home now, or have your safe friend call and pretend to be your boss asking you to take an emergency shift starting very soon.
Try to create a situation that you can use as an excuse to leave the shoot straight away without it seeming you want to leave.

It’s worth noting that in any situation, no matter what it is, if you feel uncomfortable and want to leave, you don’t have to make any excuses, you can just leave without giving a reason. I wanted to give and share this example because I understand that having social anxiety can be difficult and even if you are feeling unsafe and want to leave, you may not be able to just do so. This is completely understandable and ok.

Call for Emergency Help
There is absolutely no problem with calling for emergency services and help if you are in a very threatening situation. If you are being attacked or feeling very unsafe with no idea what to do, get yourself somewhere safe with your phone (or a hotel phone; most hotels even have a phone in the bathroom), you can call out for extra help.

This may sometimes feel like an extreme response but it’s completely justified if you feel unsafe. I have personally had a young model friend be attacked in a hotel room so she ran and locked herself in the hotel bathroom and called me using the hotels bathroom phone. Although by the time any security or help reached the hotel room she was in, the photographer was gone but at least my friend was safe if a touch shaken.

Hide Somewhere Safe
Sort of in conjunction with the above thought, get yourself somewhere safe. This can be in a bathroom or a different room, to a car or just anywhere you feel safe to hide. From here, you can either call for help, escape or wait out until the other person leaves. There is nothing wrong with getting yourself out of a situation and somewhere safe if you feel it’s necessary. As soon as you start feeling unsafe, try to have your mobile phone near you incase you need to make a dash for safety.

Defend Yourself
You are absolutely entitled to protect yourself if necessary. This also means that you can get physical if you feel it necessary. I’m not a violent person in any means of the word but I know if I felt attacked or unsafe I would absolutely attempt to get out of the situation however you feel necessary even if it means defending yourself in a physical means.

Just leave
Just that, get up and leave. If you feel you are in a situation where the only thing you can do is just grab your things and go, then just go. I always try to keep everything I brought with me to a shoot in one small space incase I need to grab and go. If someone is making you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, you do not owe them an explanation or politeness, you can just pack up and leave.

Report the Incident and Collect Evidence if Necessary
I know of cases where sometimes the worse that could happen during a shoot happens and that is not the victims fault. Predators can use all the right charm and charisma before making their move to attack, and sometimes no matter what safety measures you take, how much you fight back, assault of any kind can still happen. You’re not alone and your experience should be taken seriously; it’s ok to go to the police to file a report. In this case, take photos of any evidence you have of the attack so you can have as much support in case the report is used in a court of law. Please never feel ashamed of speaking out.

Seek Assistance After an Attack
Don’t go through the experience alone. Reach out to people you trust, seek professional help and heal from the esperience. As a victim, if something happened it was absolutely not your fault and completely caused by a predator who preyed on you.

This article is mainly designed to help a model who has been attacked by the photographer as in many cases, shoots are normally done between a model and photographer and no one else is really around. In some instances, an outside party can attack (such as a random off the street who has assaulted the photographer and/or the model). The above thoughts can still be applied.

Everyone deserves to feel safe when shooting.

Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.