Fashion photographer 'exploiting young girls'

The fashion world is reeling after one of its most renowned photographers, Terry Richardson, has become the target of sexual misconduct claims.

The claims, which surfaced earlier this month after accusations by Danish supermodel Rie Rasmussen, have been supported by other models who have told US media about being pressured to perform sex acts on modelling shoots.

Rie Rasmussen reportedly confronted Richardson, whose "soft porn" style of photography often contains graphic sexual imagery, at a party during Paris fashion week, the New York Post reports.

"I told him what you do is completely degrading to women, I hope you know you only f**k girls because you have a camera, lots of fashion contacts and get your pictures in Vogue," Rasmussen told the newspaper.

Rasmussen told the newspaper Richardson, 44, fled the party after she confronted him but later called her agency to complain.

The bi-sexual former model said Richardson –whose photos have featured sexual themes such as group sex, spanking and lesbian trysts - often took advantage of young girls during his shoots.

"He takes girls who are young, manipulates them to take their clothes off and takes pictures of them they will be ashamed of," Rasmussen said.

"They are too afraid to say no because their agency booked them on the job and are too young to stand up for themselves."

Richardson has not responded to the allegations.

But another model, Jamie Peck, has come forward with claims against Richardson. Writing for The Gloss, Peck said she was left feeling like she needed "two showers" after a nude photoshoot with Richardson.

Peck claims Richardson suddenly stripped off his clothes during the shoot and got her to perform sexual favours on him before giving her a signed photograph print as payment.

According to women's issues website Jezebel, other people in the fashion industry have also made complaints to them about the way Richardson works.

"I think for people in the fashion industry, the way Terry Richardson works has been an open secret for a long time," Jezebel's fashion editor Jenna Sauers said.

"A lot of people tolerate it in public because of his extraordinary power within the industry. In private I think many are very disturbed by his history of behaviour with many of the models he works with."

Richardson has previously told how his photoshoots have ended with models performing consensual sex acts on him.

He has also revealed how he will sometimes get naked and allow models to take nude shots of himself before the roles are reversed.

"I don't like to exploit anybody, that's not my bag ... everyone has fun on my shoots," he told an interviewer in 2005.