When a photographer asks you to be his muse, what exactly does he mean?

Inspiration

He’s trying to get laid.

He wants to photograph you.

According to dictionary.com 2. muse
a. A guiding spirit.
b. A source of inspiration.

Though a photographer would n-e-v-e-r ask me to be his/her muse, I am a photographer, specializing in fashion and journalistic portraiture for the past thirty years. I’ve never once asked anyone to be my muse. And the reason I’m still in business is because I’m not in it to get laid… I’ve seen many a competitor come and go because they can’t separate business from pleasure.

Check his portfolio and see if it’s the type of pictures that you want to have taken of yourself. Ask for references from the models in his current book and see if they have any interesting tales to tell. If he doesn’t give you the references from his past “muses”, then he’s probably hitting on you. If he does give references freely, then you are probably his current fascination… he see’s something in you.

Don’t fret. Next week he’ll have another muse, and you will be forgotten soon enough.

He wants to see you naked.

Or he wants to photograph you with clothes on. But usually he wants to see you naked.

T&A

I find it funny how nude photography is simply so the photographer can see chicks naked. Of course it has absolutely nothing to do with art or beautifying the human form.~

@boots I’m just talking in probabilities

@cockswain We know nothing about the photographer so there’s no reason to assume that he’s in it for dat ass.

@boots but he probably is

@boots The human form as a general lovely thing has been know for millennia. There is nothing new or groundbreaking or shocking about that.

Getting a particular person naked before your eyes is always a new challenge and a treat.

@cockswain If you say so.

I’m just kidding around, sorry

All right, my earlier answer was moderated as unhelpful so I’ll spell it out. If he ASKED you to be his muse, he doesn’t know what “muse” means… BECAUSE, according to our friends at Merriam-Webster, a muse (noun) is “a source of inspiration; especially : a guiding genius.” Therefore, unless you’re a more experienced photographer who can “guide” him, he wants you to inspire him. And he doesn’t need to ask your permission to be inspired by you. So maybe you should ask him exactly what it is he wants you to do – pose for him, sleep with him, read classical poetry aloud, critique his portfolio, bake cookies, etc.

They want to see you naked.
They want to get naked with you.
They want to see you naked with others.
They want to see your image in all they find beautiful.

If we were to give the photographer the benefit of the doubt with respect to his integrity as a human being, then being his muse might, in practical terms, entail going about your business until he sees a composition.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies I don’t suppose that you teach?

I don’t understand why many of you went straight to stereotyping the photographer assuming they want to see the person naked in a sexual sense. If the OP was a male and the photographer was female, would your responses be the same?

I’m ignoring the technical definition because most people use that expression in a different sense than the definition represents. You won’t know exactly what it means until you question him. He could just want to get into your pants, sure, or he very well may see something in you that is artistic and he has a clear vision. I would consider it a compliment for someone to ask me the same.

I spit out my beer when I saw @cockswain answer. But I completely agree with @RealEyesRealizeRealLies. Like him, my dad was a professional photographer, and he never had a muse. He did his job, and did it well, and it really had nothing to do with “inspiration” and everything to do with hard work, understanding the nuances of lighting, portraits, and framing, and always delivering the pictures on time and within budget.

@Rarebear Indeed, writers are encouraged to stop relying on the muse early on, and learn to write whenever.
Muses are too fickle, anyway, and they can grow lazy: I’ve lost track of how many times they’ve left after providing a measly smattering of information.