Nude Model Stands Up (and Sits, and Reclines) for His Trade

David Quammen would never be mistaken for Tyson Beckford or any other supermodel strutting the catwalks of Milan. At 67, he was onto his third career when those studs were crawling around in diapers.

But Quammen is just as much of a model as any of them, spending a considerable amount of his time in the buff (even though he admits his physique is far from that), posing for artistic portraits.

In the '70s and '80s, the California native worked in the semiconductor industry in the San Francisco Bay area. He moved to the nation's capital about a decade ago to work as an activist for the homeless. But when the bills started stacking up and he became frustrated with the government bureaucracy involved in changing the system, Quammen tried nude modeling on a lark. He has been at it pretty much ever since.

Quammen enjoys the challenge of striking a pose in front of artists for hours on end and sees the model's role as critical to the finished products. It doesn't hurt that he isn't shy about baring all, a skill that goes back to his long-ago regular visits to a nudist lodge.

In addition to modeling, Quammen started the Figure Models Guild ( http://www.figuremodelsguild.org), an organization for nude models in the D.C. area, the majority of whom earn $15 to $20 an hour. Its goal is to teach aspiring models the trade (they get a booklet with pose suggestions and observe others before trying it) and to connect the models to artists in an organized way. His guild-maintained registry has more than 100 models.

How did you get into nude modeling?

I saw an article about a gal who had been operating open drawing sessions at a bar in Adams Morgan. I had belonged to a nudist lodge in California, so that wasn't an issue. I contacted her, and . . . Halloween 2000 was my first experience. I turned 60 just days before that.

They say for people afraid of public speaking, the trick is to imagine your audience naked. What's the trick if you're the one who's naked?

No matter what, you have to be comfortable in your own skin. And if you're comfortable because you're a female and you have an outrageous kind of figure, a Bo Derek type, okay. Even they have to overcome some thoughts. But once you get into this work, you find that you don't have to be a perfect 10 on the good-looking scale. Once you find that isn't the case, that helps ease you. But it's a process, for sure.

Modeling is one thing, but why start a modeling guild?

The things I heard from all the artists. From the very first time modeling, they told me all the bad things about models who'd show up late, they couldn't hold a pose. And I thought, "If I'm going to do this, I'd rather see some change."

What is the longest time a model will hold a pose?