Go ahead - be a free lancer. If you don't work, they make nothing. Each of you must do your own job in your partnership. Agency is like a bridge between models and clients. A real good agency will guide you and help to avoid a lot of problems in your career.
Some agencies can loan money to new models with a great modeling potential, but it is so rare.
Modeling is a business. If you do not want to make necessary investments in your own business it is almost impossible to become a successful professional model. The information that agents always will pay for your photos or other professional expenses is absolutely false. Let's talk about turns. To understand turns on runway you must understand the whole nature of runway.