Please share the feeling, reaction, sense are you trying to bring out in the viewer with the choices you've made in your outfits, poses, locations... you know, the total image.  Conversely, what do you feel when you are making that image?  I have one photo in my portfolio here that steps into the Scene and many more that I no longer show from the Lifestyle.  But I do admit I like to glance into that world now and again just to see what others are doing.  (The image in my portfolio I'm talking about is called Olivia Doll, the one with the teddy bear wearing the hockey mask and handcuffs.)

i dont do specifically goth modeling but my port is definately very alternative.  i incorporate a lot of music that i identify with into my shoots, meditate on lines of poetry that reflect what im trying to express.  I work a lot of my own clothing into shoots and comb thrift stores and yard sales for stuff thats different.  making my images resonate and pull the viewer out of their everyday lives is what i constantly strive for. if i bring them to a happy place thats great, but thats not usually where i am so thats no usually where my pics go either. And if i bring them to a darker place, well so be it, a person can learn a lot about themselves in the dark.
void

The devil makes them do it. LOL

Studio36

For me the clothing i just adore.  I feel the most comfortable in it.  And as for the images i create i do what i do because i feel the need to express myself that way at that time.  Whether its sorrow or boldness i will try my best to protray it throught my modeling and mostly through my poetry.

"Gothic Models - what drives your imagery?"

Hearses?

I've worked with many Goth & former Goth models over the years. This may have changed over time but all had a fascination with death, negativity and sadness etc.. It seemed dying was the way out of whatever. The one's who were seriously into the Goth mindset were always in a somewhat depressive state of mind and with no direction in life and saw no future in it.

They seemed to have the thinking that they were outcasts of society and needed others like them to enjoy their misery together.

The Goth thing is big today and I believe many are in it for various reasons now, much of it is entertainment. A good friend who helps me out here is a total Goth and into the S&M thing. Yes, he is quite strange, to me anyway, but he is one of the nicest and caring (about others) people I know, he's also very honest and extremely polite.

I believe the true "death Goth" is a minority now and what drives "today's Goth" and what they portray in their images is a mixture of what was and what is todays new Goth.

But then I can be totally in left field here, lol!


Many years ago I suffered thru severe clinical depression. If there is a true hell, that's it.

I think some people have the goth culture all wrong. It is not all death and disaster and sadness..some people portray that aspect of it, yes, but trying to fit the whole culture into a thimble and saying it is either one thing or the other is ludicrous.

This comes from goth.net and explains what goth is...open your minds,not the coffins. I'm an 'ethnic' goth...and there are far and few of us. I didn't get into the culture because of the morbidity, or the coffins, or the black, but because of the wonderful people I met that were totally cool about being who and what they were, freely...and weren't afraid of self expression. (and black lipstick)

---From goth.net.....
"Please don't get obsessed by fitting the label, truth be told that many people who are Goth or who associate themselves with the scene don't call themselves Goths because they find it too limiting or find that others stereotype them based on that one label, rather than seeing the sum of the parts. Too often there are people that try too hard to fit the label and completely pass by the fact that being Goth is as much about being yourself and finding your own path rather than rigidly trying to fit the stereotypes."
~ goth.net

WHAT THE HELL IS "GOTH"?

This is probably the hardest question any goth could try and answer, one may as well ask 'what is society?' as it has so many facets it defies any definitive explanation.

Goth in its simplest form, is a subculture. A group of people who feel comfortable within each others company. There is no specific thing that defines what you need to do or be to fit into the goth scene (except of course the implied black clothing). People in the goth scene all have different musical tastes, follow different religions, have different occupations, hobbies, and fashion sense.

Why do people become goths?
Most goths become goths because they have been spurned by 'normal' society because the way they want to live their lives does not fit in with how most people are told to live theirs. Goths are free thinkers, people who do not accept the moral rules of society because they're told 'This is just how it is' or 'This is what God says!'. Rather goths tend to listen to what you have to say, and make up their own mind. This kind of free thinking and rejection of dogma earns only rejection in todays society.

However because of this rejection from 'normal' society, goths have banded together to associate with other free thinkers. This has a beneficial effect on both the individual and society as a whole. For the individual they have a sense of belonging, and friends they can associate with. For society it removes one more misfit filled with rage from society's streets.

This of course is not the case for all goths. Many goths today are goths for a variety of other reasons. They like the music, or the clubs are better, they have goth friends and joined in with them, or they just like staying up late nights and goths are the only ones awake to talk to.

The gothic stereotype
Many stereotypes of goths exist these days. It seems everyone has their own way to define 'what is goth'. From the stereotypes based on clothing to music right up to the stereotypes of all goths being satanists or part of some kind of cult. Categorically, all of these are false.

The goth scene is just as widely varied as society in general. There are many different professions represented in the scene, from highly skilled professionals like doctors and lawyers, to tradesman, to technically minded people to clerical workers. Many different musical tastes exist (and not all of them goth, there is a HUGE 80's following in the goth scene for some reason). The fashion varies vastly from goth to goth from the traditional flowing victorian style garments to the buckled and studded style regalia (also called industrial style, which is often closely related with goths, and have come to an understanding of co-existance, if uneasily at times).

How do I get into goth?
This is the simplest part of the page. Go check out our Community section over on the left, and use it to find out whats going on in your local area. Goths tend to be accepting and open minded. Just turn up to a club or event wearing all black and your already in the goth scene. You'll pick it up as you go along (just a hint though, lay off the vampire comments!).

The gothic sense of humour is highly developed, and often leans toward the satirical. Quietly laughing at the more idiotic and less tolerant factions of society that seem to think yelling out of cars at us makes them cooler. Goths have learned to laugh at themselves and see society in a much different light. They have had to, and it is a trait most would not give up.

Goths have for the most part (not unanimously of course, but mostly) dropped all forms of prejudice. Noone is afraid within the goth scene to come out as being gay, and noone has to hide their religion for fear of scorn from their peers or zealots wanting to convert them from the arms of Satan. In fact because of these facts (and the general lack of prejudice) the goth scene has a large proportion of gays/bisexuals, and followers of non-mainstream religions and views. This of course is the most important aspect of gothdom, and why most goths became goths in the first place, tolerance.

But they think weird!
Ah, but this is the beauty of goths. Most subjects that are taboo in 'normal' society are freely discussed and debated about. Death, religion, magick, mysticism, and many other topics that are only roached carefully outside of the gothic community. Most goths have realised that fear is only a reaction instilled in us by dogmatic propaganda, and once you realise there is nothing to fear from the topic, whats to stop you discussing it?

Goths often revel in the fear given to them by society as a whole. Often the behavior exhibited by society to them based on society's perception of them from stereotypes, rumour, etc are a constant source of entertainment. Of course, most of the rumours are totally unfounded, goths are people like everyone else, however when you already have a reputation, going for the shock factor is often far too tempting to see how much society at large is willing to believe (or deduce) with only a little encouragement.

This does not totally fall away once you get inside the scene unfortunately, and goths are all too often tempted to try for the shock factor within the scene (which turns out more tacky than shocking). Goths when you get down to it can be a rather pretentious bunch, trying for those extra 'goth points' on the gothier than thou scale, but it adds to the enjoyment.

History of Goth
Modern goth (ignoring where the name itself originally comes from) started in the early 80's as part of the punk subculture (which is itself was a rejection of most societal values, and anything considered part of the 'norm'). The phrase was coined by the band manager of Joy Division, Anthony H. Wilson, who described the band as 'Gothic compared with the pop mainstream'. The term stuck, and as punk eventually died, Goth survived and became its own subculture. The punk clothing and hairstyles mellowed, and the core 'rejection of society' attitude alone lived on in the gothic subculture. Over time this itself has been modified to be more of a 'no more blind acceptance of society's values' as opposed to rejection because it was there to be rejected (and because you could get away with it!).

Movies such as The Crow, and bands such as the Bauhaus helped establish the gothic image as dark, depressing, and even evil. As more and more 'dark' movies came out, numbers in the gothic subculture expanded, and there is now a gothic community in almost every major city around the world, and quite a number of towns have their own representative contingent. Nowdays there are more goth bands around than ever, and it has turned from an 80's phenomenon into a 90's way of life for many people. Unlike the punk subculture that it spawned from, there even exists a class of mature goths, still following the scene around even past their 20's and into their 30's and beyond.

  -- PreZ

(from goth.net)   
Please note that the above is the opinion of the author, and that there is no definitive answer to the question "What is Goth?", so opinions and answers will vary.

© 2000,2001 Preston A. Elder

The above answer to the question "What is goth" is from goth.net

Hope this answers your questions. As far as what inspires me, LIFE...and the drive to tell a story with my photos, not 'fluff' glamour for the sake of looking cute and posing in a photo. But it has to have SUBSTANCE. Plus, yes, the clothes rock.

I agree with Makala, excellent post indeed by Sun Karma.

I'm mainly in the "perky" category myself, disposition-wise, but when I model, I like to pretend to be different things when I shoot.  Badass, sultry, etc-- things that I don't normally get a chance to have in my everyday computer programmer life.

Due to email I occasionally get from them, the message I feel my photos send to younger women is that you DON'T have to have a stick figure to feel confident or attractive.

Beyond that, I really don't have any grandiose artistic "vision".  I just want to make cool images with talented photographers. :p

Thank you, Sun.  Although my post was on a similar note, your post has brought things out in a way I never could. I hope others read this to give them a better understanding.

Stereotyping is basically everywhere. Just look right here, models and photographers are very stereotyped. It's easier for people to stereotype than look at each individual for who they really are.

As another non-goth, but alternative model, I feel that the urge to create something out of the norm is the main drive.

Who wants cookie-cutter images all the time?

Gothic photography is my primary focus and as an active member of gothic community and goth myself I have a first hand feel of what it's all about. It puts a smile on my face seeing people say that goths are filled with negativity and such. I don't have any polished definitions on hand but in general goths differ from the rest by significant tolerance and respect. It's no longer a matter of your outfit or make up. When you stop looking at people the funny way because they dress up different, act different or like different things - you're goth. That's why so many gay people are goth. Many of my friends who keep gothic scene going never dress up nor put make up on - they look like anyone else. Yet in their hearts they have peace - not war and that drives them to be with us. The exact opposite is a prep. The violent ones who mock others and dedicate their lives to go from bar to bar picking up girls for sexually abuse.

Yes, the truth is that we share the liking of things from beyond, we like industrial music and enjoy finest things in life (S&M) but to say that goths are always sad and filled with negativity is anything but true. Mind you, there are many, way too many wanna be goths but these are in no way associated with real goths. We call them terror cookies and you can spot them at any mall wearing Korn hoodies and The Crow make up, they're typically under age and come from a small town. They scare old ladies and are nothing but ridiculous. Terror cookies are not goths.

If you're a photographer who describes goths as the ones who don't see no future in their lives, or the ones always sad and depressive then you failed as the photographer. Photographers are known to read between the lines and see deepest feelings sitting at the very depth of the person. If this is what you could see when you look at goth people then you failed cause you can see nothing or what's even worse, you see exact opposite.

uhm.... Goth is a music style... started in the late 70´s early - 80´s when punk bands slided in to a spooky kind of punk. Then came the subculure around it and eventually it became connected with dark och gloomy poetry, graveyard picnics and those kind of things. Nowadays people thinks Marilyn Manson is goth artist. He´s not!

In photography it is the melancoly, and slighty scary beauty of sadness. For me, at least.
In my portfolio I have to (for me) gothic photos, one is named "chased in haunted woods" and the other one is a full figure portait in the same serie. Take a peak.

I always thought of "goth" as an adjective and not a noun.  It is a tasty spice, but people online get way too caught up in the label thing.