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Getting naked in a room full of strangers is the stuff of most people's nightmares.
But others make a living from it, getting their kit off and posing for hours in the nude in life drawing classes.
So how do you become a life model? What's the best part of the gig? And what itches first?
A good challenge
Ali Gracian, who had been a contemporary dancer, started life modelling around 10 years ago, inspired by a housemate who did it professionally.
"Even though I did a lot physically I was really just uncomfortable with my body… so I thought this would be a good challenge," she says.
She's continued modelling through many life changes and finds the adaptability and flexibility of the work attractive. It works well around her job as a full-time mum.
"I modelled right up to two to three weeks before giving birth to my baby and came back not long after," Ms Gracian says.
She says being a life model has made her look at herself "in a completely different way" that's far from how she'd ever see herself in a photograph or mirror.
"There's something really beautiful about modelling because everyone is here to appreciate and see their own thing, they're focused on their art," she says.
The experience of stillness
Megan Crowley started life modelling in 1986 when she was "seriously broke".
She contacted the University of Melbourne art school and lied, claiming to be an experienced model.
Life drawing classes usually involve 20 minute blocks of short and long poses, but Ms Crowley didn't know that at the time.
Luckily the students were happy to help.
"I knew that I had to strike poses and take my kit off, but they just explained about the timing issues and away we went!" she says.
Thirty years later she's still a life model.
"One of the many reasons that I love doing life modelling more and more as I get older ... is that you get a very strong sense of your own body and what its limits are," she says.
"Sometimes the simplest pose can actually be incredibly powerful."
It's not all empowerment and mindfulness, though. There are challenges — like getting an itch.
"Everyone seems to think it's the nose that gets itchy before anywhere else, not always true. It varies, it might be your bum or your sole of your foot," Ms Crowley says.
Nothing sexual about it
John, who preferred not to provide his last name, has been life modelling for more than five years.
An actor and voiceover artist, he started life modelling for extra income after doing a nude scene in a short film.
He says he's learned how to work with the artists around him — a big part of why he loves life modelling is the opportunity to work with creative people.
"I always walk away feeling like I've spent a couple of hours doing something really special and really worthwhile for myself and artists in particular," he says.
John wasn't interested in revealing his last name because he's worried about the misconceptions people have about life modelling, particularly that it's a sexual experience.
"I think people have this idea that it's a bit kinky, a bit weird ... so you just have to be a bit discrete about who you disclose to about that side of your work," he says.
Erika Gofton is a visual artist and director of The Art Room in Melbourne, which runs an annual life modelling workshop for the increasing number of people who want to become life models.
As well as teaching poses, the class deals with health and safety concerns and addresses frequently asked questions.
Ms Gofton says the main question that comes up is "am I going to be able to sit still for that amount of time?"
But there's also: "What happens when you've got your period? What happens if you get an erection?"
The answer is quite simple.
"You excuse yourself because everyone is human. That's the beautiful thing about life drawing, it's not a sexual thing at all ... at the heart of life drawing it's really about empathy," Ms Gofton says.
"It's quite a different experience than drawing a bowl of fruit to drawing a human being that you can relate to, and you can take on that sense of what it feels like to actually be in their body to a certain degree."
Ms Crowley agrees: "When I'm modelling I get this extraordinary sense of connectedness, not just me feeling connected to the artist, but I feel like everyone is connected."
Topics: arts-and-entertainment, visual-art, melbourne-3000, australia
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