I know this thread hasn't been commented in awhile - but in 2006, I found myself with enough cash and a big house to buy a high end dSLR camera (a Canon 30d) and lenses. I literally wrote individual emails to college athletes in the town that I lived near asking if they'd be interested in posing naked. I hit up soccer, lacrosse, XC runners, and swim/dive/waterpolo teams.
Much to my complete shock and surprise, I got a few responses (the lacrosse and XC guys were probably the most eager).. I considered it an expensive hobby, I set rules: 1) Never touch the models 2) Never release to the public or post online without their specific written permission which includes a signed statement with the exact images they are good to make public . 3) Store images on encrypted media at all times once unloaded from the camera.
The #2 above was not because I was posting the images, but because the model wanted copies of the images for themselves to use which would make it uncontrolled after I sent it to them.
As trust was built, I ended up getting word of mouth referrals for a few of the athletes. On reflection the sessions were exciting, relaxing, and yes even slightly titilating. It was like for once I was doing something that I wanted to do as "work". And I considered it a huge honor to be able to photograph these amazing guys naked.
Unfortunately I ended up not doing very much than the ~10 models because:
1 I was paying them about $300 for a 2 hour session (which was probably OK in 2006) so it really was an "expensive" hobby
2 I was paranoid about causing scandal or trouble for either of us - particular since this was before NCAA NIL rules.
Because of #2, I ended up wiping the drive that held these images after a few years despite being on encrypted media. I still kick myself mentally for that, but it's probably for the best.
I have since learned about photographers like Ewoud Broeksma who photographed dozens of Dutch Olympic athletes naked, and even some of the photographers that did work for G magazine where Brazilian national athletes were photographed naked, an even in hardcore ways.
Lastly, I used to muse to myself about if it mtight be possible to write something like a 75 year rule, such that the pictures could eventually be made 3rd party licensable after a long time. Maybe there would be some value in that.....Unfortunately these things have ways of going wrong for the model and the photographer.
