Poses

Fashion editorial:

In this picture we see a girl (model) sitting on a chair with her head laid on a book. She doesn’t seem to be wearing clothes as only her front part is covered with fur. I found this picture inspiring as the model looks rather dead, cold and frozen; not what we see in everyday life. Her makeup is very plain, suggesting she is rather ghostly, similar to the skull placed next to her. There isn’t much variety of colours in this picture either as all we see are dark shades such as grey, black and white. The model is staring outside the window (a natural pose) and seems quite upset. She has no sort of expression on her face. She looks unruly, imperfect and human which is what makes this image stand out from other fashion editorial images. Other images I looked at, the poses seemed quite forced and unnatural. Most poses were of a model staring directly at the camera with quite extreme levels of makeup. I personally think a lot of thought and work has been put into this image. The background and lighting go very well together as it’s created a sort of dreamy/ghostly theme. 

(no date) Available at: 
http://favim.com/image/167983/ (Accessed: 7 December 2015).

Beauty advertising/campaign:

I chose this image from a ‘Dove’ advertisement. It’s quite different to what you may see on everyday magazines/TV as the model is naked, old and rather curvy. In today’s society it probably wouldn’t make sense to hear these three words in a sentence together which is what makes this image so inspiring. The model seems very happy about her appearance which encourages other women of her age to be more confident about their size and wrinkles. Personally, I think despite the models age she still looks very good. Her hair, makeup and nails are done, just like any other highly favoured size 6 younger model. Even though the model is naked, she doesn’t seem to be shy or anxious about it as she is happily smiling using her arms to cover her bits. We also see both her hands in the image, to suggest she’s not afraid of embracing her wrinkles.  Just by looking at her, you’d get the impression she’s been modelling from a young age. This image, to me gives a very positive vibe as it’s real and open. I believe Dove did a great job of standing out against their competitors by using models with flaws in a confident manner. 

Macleod, D. (2007) Dove pro-age women. Available at: 
http://advertisingforadults.com/2007/02/dove-pro-age-women/ (Accessed: 7 December 2015).

Beauty editorial:

I chose this image as it stood out a lot to me. The use of special effects makes it highly different to other beauty editorial images. I couldn’t exactly find out where this image came from, however I think it may be to do with abuse. Through the use of makeup, it’s trying to get a thoughtful message across to its audience. The models pose is very serious, suggesting abuse is a serious matter. She is looking directly at the camera, with only her face in the shot. The photographer may have chosen to do a close up shot, to remind people they should look deeper into the issue of abuse towards women. Also if the photographer was to do a body shot, the scar on the model’s face wouldn’t have stood out as much and it may have been difficult to understand the message behind the image. Makeup wise, I personally think the scar has been placed on her mouth to suggest that she is unable to speak up for herself or express how she feels towards being abused. The makeup on the eyes is quite dark (smoky eye) in order to relate with the theme of the image. The background is black, preferably to suggest this is a dark matter. Recreating this pose, personally for me would be difficult as I find it extremely hard to be serious, especially in front of camera. 

Special effects makeup (no date) Available at: 
https://www.pinterest.com/explore/special-effects-makeup/ (Accessed: 7 December 2015).

Famous painting/contemporary fine art:

This is one of Andy Warhol’s most famous portraits of Marilyn Monroe, called ‘Turquoise Marilyn’ produced in 1964. In this painting, we see the famous blonde smiling similar to nearly all her pictures. It is quoted “Marilyn’s unforgettable smile was a

lways half-open lips as if she was going to kiss, lipsticked bright and shiny, and revealing wonderful pears of her teeth. The slow smile accompanied with throwing the head back and languid glance of her eyes drove men mad.”  

In this painting we only see a few shades of colours such as yellow, turquoise, violet, red and black shading. This close up shot is only of Marilyn’s face. Personally I think she looks rather tired, or as if her lashes are too heavy for her eyelids. The way she’s smiling also looks quite forced as in other images I viewed of her, she was smiling with such passion you could tell it wasn’t just for the sake of camera. It probably isn’t one of the best shots of Marilyn, however it’s still inspirational as despite all the problems and obstacles she faced in both her career and personal life, Marilyn yet continued to always wear a smile. 

Marilyn Monroe’s beauty was artificial? (no date) Available at: 
http://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/14-06-2007/93326-marilyn_monroe-0/ (Accessed: 7 December 2015).

Andy Warhol. Marilyn Monroe. 1962-67. Museum of modern art, New York city, in the ‘Screenprint’ section. 65 x 65 cm: Andy Warhol: * FAMOUS PAINTERS *: Reproduction: Paintings: Art: IBay pro shopping mall e-shop Lichtenstein (no date) Available at: 
http://ibay.li/product.php?productid=17342 (Accessed: 7 December 2015).

Unposed image:

This has to be one of the best pictures I’ve seen on the internet. This baby gorilla can pose better than most want to be models without even trying. It’s inspiring how shots of nature can be so beautiful, without all the hassle of finding a model, doing their hair, makeup, designing an outfit etc. All you require is probably a good camera, knowledge of how to use it and yourself. What fascinates me most about this image is that the gorilla looks like he is fully aware there’s a camera on him. I’ve seen so many images on the internet of models trying to act out this exact same pose and still fail to look this good. I don’t know what possibly this gorilla could have been doing, but he seems so relaxed and in a world of his own. Recreation wise, it’d probably be the hardest thing to act out as I don’t think you’d see many people standing with eyes closed, and heads to the side on a daily basis unless they’re sunbathing elsewhere. 

Illustration/cartoon:

Similar to other real life models, the lady in this illustration is laying down, looking away from the camera with hardly any clothing. We see a lot of red in this image which can be associated with love and femininity. The lady looks rather seductive and highly revealing which is different to what you may see on most cartoon illustrations. You’d think that cartoons are just something aimed at younger audiences, however looking at this illustration can completely change your mind which is what makes it so inspiring. Personally, I believe adults are entitled to enjoy cartoons/illustrations as much their offspring as its part of the human condition. If one was to recreate this pose from this illustration, they’d probably have to be an experienced, confident model preferably in the fields of glamour or lingerie.