Expert: Kitty Kavey - 6/1/2007

Question
Becuause a modeling agency  never gurantee a model to work, can a model  negotiate on fees for the composite and photos?

Answer
The photos and composite cards are paid for generally by the model, and should have nothing to do with the model's agency.  In fact, in several states that is illegal (as it's a conflict of interest).  If an agency is earning hundreds of dollars in income from photography and printing services (or kickbacks/referral fees from those businesses), it isn't likely that they will exert much effort in seeking out modeling work for those same models, which could literally take weeks or months to book one model on one single job.  Hence they have enacted laws to protect models from that kind of shenanigan.  
You can certainly shop around for the right
photographer(s) for you, and negotiate with them directly.  You can do TFP (time for prints) work, in which case you wouldn't pay for the photography.  You may even be able to trade with a makeup artist and/or hair stylist.  Unless you have a friend who was in the printing business, getting the composites for free might be more difficult.  I went over to a photography school on several occasions to get a photographer for a specific shot I wanted.  I met a very good photographer there, who became both a close friend, and also a well-known, published photographer.  So I'm all for utilizing the services of a student photographer or a professional who is testing something new (equipment, makeup artist, etc.) to get free photos, as well as practice in front of the camera.  It's usually a win-win situation for both.
Good luck to you,
~Kitty