I have been working for a number of years in photography and with a mixture of fear and pride I find that my 17 year old daughter is wanting to enter the business. She shows talent and I am encouraging her to give it a go.

She would like to shoot some artistic nudes with some local models but was curious about the legal aspect of being under age and being BEHIND the camera?

We have looked throughout the net and cannot find anything regarding this, at least nothing that clarifies the situation. So my question is, if my daughter works a TF* with a model (over 18) and wants to shoot some artistic nudes, is it legal for her to do so since she is under age? She has parental consent that that is not an issue.

Her MM number is 556114 in case you would like to see her work.

This has been discussed on MM a few times before.


As long as you don't start any drama, there should be no issues.

I wouldn't think that there is any age "requirements" for shooting nudes really, my guess would be if the model is ok with it and since you the parent is ok with it, there shouldn't be a problem. Some people may have issues with it, but regardless of the situation there is always going to be at least one person who has an issue with it.

Best of luck to your daughter!

That's amazing.  This thread has gone for almost two hours and nobody has told you that you are going to burn in hell!

i shot my first nude when i was 17..

It's probably not a legal issue that comes up much so research would be difficult, obviously it is technically legal but if I were you I'd call the art department of a local University where the art students draw live models that are nude and ask them about their policy about students under the age of 18 drawing nude models. It probably has come up there and if there is a problem in your jurisdiction they are likely to know about it.