@theovercoat: I'm sorry. Are you saying people from Pennsylvania have a distinct look? Or just a certain part of Pennsylvania? That would make tons more sense.
@Samanthrax: I think it's a matter of growing up here and also that I just see it. It's not necessarily distinct and exact, but a certain vibe. But i could be just seeing something that isn't there.
And actually, I think I did specify the town by saying the people I grew up with.
That Harlem Renaissance editorial is fucking awesome, I think. And, I actually do like the composition of the Campbell photo with the elephant--kind of like a modern spin on that Avedon photo. The monkey thing.....I don't really know what to do with that.
I'm wondering whether successful, established models like Campbell have any input when it comes to creative direction. One would think that she could have declined to do this job if she found the primitivist tropes offensive, but do models have any say in how they are posed, what they wear, etc? Would it have been possible for her to compel the photographer to do a shoot that didn't marshal tired motifs of Black women as fetishized and animalistic? Perhaps someone with more knowledge of the modeling/fashion industry than I could shed some light on this.
Without the other images in the set, I kind of like the picture of Naomi Campbell on an elephant. She looks happy and like she's having a good time and elephants always make me smile. If it had been in a piece on, say, out of the way tourism and the other images had been in the English countryside and a Japanese fishing village it would be an absolutely adorable picture. In a spread that features her skipping rope with monkeys and racing a cheetah, it's absolutely loathsome.
@Dodai: I don't even get this. Are magazine editors and photographers seriously that unaware of the history of race and race relations? Do they exist in some sort of ahistorical vacuum where nothing is in context? How could someone possibly approve a photo like that?
@NellMood: well, as Jenna said, the photographer is the same one who put Grace Jones in a cage with the words "Do Not Feed The Animal." His book was called "Jungle Fever." So *he* knows what he's doing.
Amazing timing! The girlfriends and I were having pedicures
when we decided, here's what we know! So believe it: we are launching a site for 30-something LA-based
male former drama majors from Florida who put out one song about STDs, enjoy drawing on photos and
who say yes pleeze! to hair color (think gels! no matter WHAT!). Daily hot tray of unretouched photos (can u
say sheepshoulders and chocolate mustaches! LOAO!) Fashion and: ho-man Fighting Thursdays! As it
should beez! Take note! Our Cad Cameras see through pants! (Peetays alert!) Why do all the Miami boys
love last year's shoes with 80s colors? We'll tell u! No failure to launch: on Miss Magnfidonna's birthday!
Oh my. I felt compelled enough to pop my Jezebel-commenting cherry (thus adding to the lady leakage, I’m afraid) to mention that in-keeping with Perez’s better-late-than-never theme, the bull semen conditioner experience is not new news. I think my BFF Cosmo was suitably shocked by it many a month ago. Ironic, seeing as there was a beautiful juxtaposition with some reader’s comment about how she loved it when her boyfriend came in her hair ... ... I may have made that last bit up. I’m not entirely sure. But it’s believable, non?
Ah well, I guess the recession -is- encouraging people to recycle.
08/19/09
Also, I love to watch Cindy Crawford's Meaningful Beauty infomercial. It is so...over the top.
08/19/09
08/20/09
And actually, I think I did specify the town by saying the people I grew up with.
In any case, she definitely has the accent.
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08/12/09
08/12/09
It's loathsome and I can't believe he thought no one would pick up on it. Seriously, would it kill him to come up with something original for once?
08/12/09
when we decided, here's what we know! So believe it: we are launching a site for 30-something LA-based
male former drama majors from Florida who put out one song about STDs, enjoy drawing on photos and
who say yes pleeze! to hair color (think gels! no matter WHAT!). Daily hot tray of unretouched photos (can u
say sheepshoulders and chocolate mustaches! LOAO!) Fashion and: ho-man Fighting Thursdays! As it
should beez! Take note! Our Cad Cameras see through pants! (Peetays alert!) Why do all the Miami boys
love last year's shoes with 80s colors? We'll tell u! No failure to launch: on Miss Magnfidonna's birthday!
08/12/09
08/12/09
08/12/09
Four for you!
(And nond for Gretchen Weiners)
08/12/09
Ah well, I guess the recession -is- encouraging people to recycle.
08/12/09