Is it more common for a photographer to initiate contact with a model vs. the other way around?

It always seems to me that the photographer has to do the leg work and find the models that are quietly waiting.

I'm in the same minuscule Universe as raveneyes.

Most models who contact me for TFP/CD, I don't work with since there is no gain for me to work with them, however I do notify them of my rates. 

If I find a reason in the future, I will work with them on either a concept or paid by the client basis.

But to answer your question, it depends on the photographer.

If you’re looking to add to your book and build your portfolio, then the photographer contacts the model.

And unless a model comes along that you can’t resist and your book is healthy, ask for payola.

As someone not quite in the same rareified universe as you guys, I rely on TFP quite a bit.  I am usually the one to contact them first, though occassionally it's the other way around.  I think that, on sites like this, the models are besieged with offers and often lose motivation to go out and seek work with photographers, except perhaps with well-known pros.  Regardless of who contacts the other first, I've found TFP a mixed blessing.  It is anything by "free" for me by the time I'm done retouching and making prints.  And I have found there to be a pretty high rate of no-shows because models basically have nothing to lose except, potentially, some nice photos.  In addition, I sense a fair amount of paranoia from models meeting unknown entities on the internet and I feel I have to go out of my way to be reassuring.  Finally, I've found that the models most eager to shoot TFP are often the least experienced and talented.  Though one can find a diamond in the rough, sometimes there is no gem at all.  Still, it has helped me meet a few great people and hone my skills.

Yeah, I live in a tfp friendly universe as well.  And it's a 2 way street with me contacting photographers at times and them contacting me at times.  If a photographer contacts me for something I don't find artistically interesting then I quote them a rate.  If I'm interested enough I'll do it and do tfp.  Needless to say, most of the photographers who rant on about the evils of tfp aren't artists that I'd care to work with anyway so I don't think I am missing out on much unless I want to do uninspired glamour or fashion images.

hrm...sounds like most of us live in the same universe, just have slightly different perspectives on it.  LOL

I hope this doesn't turn in to yet *ANOTHER* is TFP/CD good or evil debate.  TFP is really all about two people who want to do work and both happen to want to do the same type of work at the same time...sometimes that happens, sometimes it doesn't.

They contact me.  I feel a little odd about contacting someone out of the blue and asking for free stuff. I've done it only a few times, usually when I already had some sort of indication that that person would be interested in working with me.