We never get to see those photos juxtaposed against a picture of that same person looking unflattering.
there speaks someone with a Stage IV case of Pauline Kael Syndrome. Really? There are whole mass-circulation magazines that do not much else! The world's highest-traffic news website has a whole sidebar of just that!
Boy, if that's a fair sample, a lot of men don't have much of an idea of how to pose themselves flatteringly. The women all have effective poses worked out -- the men are largely standing there, or standing there slightly differently.
Actually, on going through them again, a majority of the men think that an alluring pose is "Arms crossed defensively over my chest to hide my nipples." It's a wonder the human race has survived.
First reaction: it's astonishing what a difference you can make with a hairbrush. Not all of them, of course- some are bald or shaved, but in some cases I think they could rock the right hand posture with the left hand hairstyle.
4: Maybe it's because they don't have a brush for their chest hair?
Left hand picture is flattering, right unflattering.
I see. I didn't look at the link because I am at work.
1 reminds me of the argument that Maxim, FHM etc. were far more acceptable from a feminist point of view than their counterparts Heat, Closer etc. because both largely subsisted on photos of female celebrities not wearing very much, but at least FHM was saying nice things like "Isn't she GORGEOUS" while Heat was saying "She's too thin! She's too fat! Look at that belly! That cellulite! That flab! Is she on drugs? Is she bulimic? I bet she's pregnant! Isn't she HORRIBLE?"
See also every R&F before and after picture.
4 Wait, it's not? How is that not alluring?
I agree every woman shows practice at some point in posing, and probably nude because most are making the most of their features. And by-and-large the men are not doing that. I can remember posing while an adolescent, and occasionally even now when assessing myself, but not while nude in either case.
This is why the left-side pictures are more interesting to me than the right, even though the point they make is well-taken.
Boy, if that's a fair sample, a lot of men don't have much of an idea of how to pose themselves flatteringly.
The surprising part is that women DO have an idea of how to pose themselves flatteringly. Where do you learn that?
There are many different flattering poses but in almost every case the "ugly" pose involves putting your head way down to give yourself as many chins as possible.
The surprising part is that women DO have an idea of how to pose themselves flatteringly. Where do you learn that?
Seriously? Every magazine, media article, friend, instagram, etc.
Every female I know under 40 knows exactly how to pose. Chin on a shelf!
I assumed the photographer largely controlled the poses.
And has a crippling fear of man nipples.
I have no idea how to pose. I blame the patriarchy.
I gather from this that visible necks are important.
WOULD THAT THE ROMAN PEOPLE HAD ONE VISIBLE NECK.
THOSE EAGLES AREN'T SO SEXY ANYMORE ARE THEY.
Is this a representative sample? There are a lot more nipple piercings than I would have expected.
If there is one thing we learn from this it is that throwing your shoulders back makes you look hotter.
24. Never been to a porn site, eh?
I assumed the photographer largely controlled the poses.
My assumption as well (and certainly had control wrt lighting). My main critique is that 2/3 of the right-side poses were unnaturally hunched-forward. Like, I don't think the point was that "anyone can control themselves into looking awkward," but that someone who looks very elegant when posed/lit for that purpose will look unremarkable (at best) when not-posing under poor lighting.
I mean, slouching is surely a way to make almost anyone look worse, but the models were practically trying to get their collarbones to touch.
Then the photographer intended the posed women to look better than the men, as LB and I and others have observed.
There's still skill/practice/experience in posing well. To the extent that women in our society are more familiar with how to pose for best effect than men are*, then you're going to get better poses from women unless you do extensive work with the men.
That said, she could have done better than folded arms for so many.
*famously, women in group photos tend to turn to accentuate their figures, while men just stand squarely facing the camera, possibly sucking in their guts or flexing their arm muscles