But for Dutch former model, Viviane Sassen, now 41, passive posing wasn't enough. Fed up with 'the male gaze', she got behind the camera herself and has never looked back.
Since her 1992 epiphany, Sassen has worked with everyone from Missoni to Miu Miu and is now the subject of a stunning retrospective starting this month at the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland.
Striking: A digital colour poster print entitled Delamar shows off Sassen's sculptural approach to fashion
Unique: In Bloom (left) was shot for Dazed & Confused while the Foreplay series (right) focuses on preparation
'I was sick and tired of the male gaze,' explained Sassen in an interview with The Scotsman. 'I found that photographers would picture me and other women in a not-so-interesting way.
'It was one-dimensional, so I wanted to experiment with different ways of showing the nude female body.'
Sassen's own work sits half way between fashion and fine art, with much of it verging on the surreal, faces blurred and the body shown as sculpture.
Her artistic approach to photography becomes clear as you engage with the images included in the exhibition, which focuses on one of her passions - the female nude.
Among the works on show are early images from Nudes: A Journey, a series originally made for independent magazines such as Purple and Dazed & Confused, in which the photographs resemble a record of performance art.
Foreplay: Sassen's cheekily titled Foreplay series refers to the tedious process of setting up a fashion shoot
Perspective: Sassen's work, including this shot for Wallpaper (right) offers a different view of women
Another series to feature is Roxane, a set of 36 portraits of Roxane Danset, the French fashion stylist, which explore a range of styles from the erotic to the surreal.
'I don’t know why, her face is just very intriguing to me, as it can tell many different stories,' says Sassen of Danset.
'Sometimes if you shoot a very young girl, there’s not that much life experience, and I like to make pictures that intrigue or surprise me.
'I’ve photographed Roxane a few times over a few years as a collaboration between us. I find her personality super intriguing and she looks very amazing, like a movie star from the Twenties.
'She’s an interesting, strong character.' The same could be said for Sassen herself.
Viviane Sassen: In and Out of Fashion is at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (nationalgalleries.org) until 9 February.
The artist: Photographer Viviane Sassen swapped modelling for taking control of the camera
Creative: Sassen's work blends fashion with art and has a sculptural quality rarely found elsewhere
Art or fashion? This shot, taken from the series Nudes: A Journey, could quite easily be both
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