Some Thoughts on Sex Appeal… as it pertains to photography

I’ve posted about this topic in the past and now that I’ve got my hand a little deeper into the subject I thought I’d do some more musing. I know, you’re thrilled.

I’ve been pondering the evolution of sex appeal and what it means to be sexy. Way back when, women couldn’t show their ankles or their hands. In some cultures women still can’t expose many parts of their bodies, even in today’s media saturated, image obsessed society. It’s almost implausible to consider.

The Geisha made sexy into an art or maybe they made art sexy. Either way Geisha spent years honing an array of skills all aimed at entertaining men. True Geisha weren’t prostitutes, but rather masters of arts and culture which required dedication and practice. And really Geisha showed very little skin, but they’re held up as some of the most intriguing and beautiful creatures in history.

For ages women have been depicted in art. Nudes from the renaissance to Penthouse in modern culture. Yeah you might not think of Penthouse as art, but a lot of work goes into those photographs. I know first hand. It takes a lot of work to make a woman look flawless, but we’ll get to that shortly.

And then there are the classic Pin-ups. From male artists like Gil Elvgren to female models like Bettie Page the iconic female form of their era was a lot different than it is today. But even Elvgren’s images presented ideals that were beyond reality. I mean what chick goes skiing in hot pants and falls down look perfectly poised yet surprised that her bum is now showing!?

Gail and I are delving into the world of the female form and I did a little practice on myself. Below is a before and after shot of an edited image vs. the raw out of camera file. I’m wearing a ton of makeup AND fake eyelashes. Who wears fake eyelashes every day?! Point being it takes a lot of pixel pushing, makeup, lighting & what not to make Jennifer Aniston look flawless in GQ or whatever magazine she recently wore only a tie in.

BEFORE

AFTER

I didn’t even bother with the real creepy work that goes on in Photoshop to perfect a woman’s form. Like manipulating the shape of the body to thin limbs and faces. The difference is clear and all I did was soften the hell out of my skin tone so it looks even and flawless and then sharpen the whole photo back up so it didn’t look quite so painfully fake.

So that’s my 2 cents. What’s yours?