One of the things my daughter did when building her portfolio (she's a makeup artist) was to sign up for, and participate in, ModelMahem.com. She was able to connect with mostly local models and photographers, and become a part of local "trade for print" and "trade for CD" shoots. At least some of the photographers she worked with were pretty new and working to build their portfolios too.
Here's a link to
her portfolio on ModelMayhem. It might be worth considering signing up (I think you have to submit some portfolio images to get in) and then sending messages to models and photographers in your area to see if you can get some trade work to build your own portfolio. One thing to note about her page: she didn't know any of the photographers or models she's worked with when she started on ModelMayhem; but now a year later she's got a good network of local models, photographers, stylists, etc.