Model's Film Bares Industry's Secret Sex Assaults

By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 7, 2009 6:27 AM CDT

Naked photographers, orders to strip for no reason and sex assaults are a troubling part of the modeling business and involve some of the top names in fashion, according to a new documentary by a popular model. "Every girl I have talked to has a story," model Sara Ziff tells the Guardian. "It's all under the radar because people are embarrassed and because the people who are doing these things are much more powerful, and the model is totally disposable."

Ziff spent two years on the documentary Picture Me with her filmmaker boyfriend Ole Schell. The Guardian deems it "one of the best films about one of the few unregulated industries." The "predatory nature" of the business is growing worse as ever-younger girls are involved, according to Ziff. "When you pair a 15-year-old girl with a 45-year-old man who is trying to create a sexualized image, you are asking for trouble," she warned.
(More model stories.)

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