Notes on life, art, photography and technology, by a Danish dropout bohemian.
When you drink the water, remember the river.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Cameron Russell: Looks aren't everything. Believe me, I'm a model
"Image is powerful. But image is superficial." — Cameron Russell
"Models have the thinnest thighs and the shiniest hair, and they are probably the most physically insecure people on the planet." — Cameron Russell, supermodel
Every time I watch one of these Goddamned TED Talks, I end up watching another, and then another, and then browsing through the TED site or YouTube to find a better one, and I end up wasting half of the FUCKING DAY watching TED videos.
The 'Image is powerful. But image is superficial.' quote should go on the DOMAI site if it hasn't already. You see a photo of an attractive person on the DOMAI site, or on a hard porn site, or in a commercial or even of a public figure in news magazine, and you can stare at the photo and let your own imagination fill in all of the blanks about what an interaction with the person behind that image would be like, but the image and the persona that you create in your mind based on that image might be dramatically, and possibly tragically, different than the reality. Kinda makes one wonder what the personality behind some of the images might actually really be like.
The next TED talk I watched was about 'liespotting'. The combination of the two triggered a memory from a few years ago (and I'll never forget this). I was looking at a set of photos of somebody naked, they were attractive, the photography was pretty good but not excellent, photographed in a believable setting with lighting that looked natural (the photographer did a pretty good job) and the model had a combination of attributes that I can't really describe or try to enumerate, but they worked to push a bunch of my subconscious buttons, and I was really finding this model particularly desirable, and was really getting into a pretty good fantasy. But then I noticed where the photographer failed to properly photoshop out a series of what looked like cigarette burns down the back of her legs in one of the photos, which led me to look at the other photos and discover that he had used the healing tool to make these burns, and other things, disappear, and as I looked deeper I began to feel that the model's smile didn't look quite completely sincere, and the entire person that I had constructed in my mind based on these images changed 180 degrees over about three or four seconds. I can't fully describe what was going on in my mind other than to ask you to imagine the train wreck scene in the movie 'The Fugitive'.
When we see some supermodel, we like to imagine that they are actually superficial and stupid, just like all of the girls we all knew growing up who desperately wanted to be models, but this lady seems to be telling us that models become models largely because of pure luck, and there may be a real personality behind the image that we don't see and are not constructing in our minds. And I wonder if there is something about living the life of a model being physically insecure because of the demands of the business that may change their personalities.
I've known a lot of young teen-agers who wanted to become models, and I have known a few for real actual models (and I have never photographed any of them). This is making me wonder if there is something about modeling that attracts a certain screwed up personality type or if there is something about the psychological demands associated with modeling that tends to screw up an otherwise normal person, or if there is some symbiotic interaction of the two that produces the physically insecure people that Cameron Russell is describing in this TED talk.
-- I did actually have the Image quote up yesterday. I think it's quite powerful, because while it may seem obvious when stated, it's something almost all of us could learn much better. Who isn't at least somewhat impressed by the Image of something?
we like to imagine that they are actually superficial and stupid, just like all of the girls we all knew growing up who desperately wanted to be models, but this lady seems to be telling us that models become models largely because of pure luck, and there may be a real personality behind the image that we don't see and are not constructing in our minds.
They may not be stupid but it's probably better if they are, given what the job is. Anyone with a brain would be very bored.
5 comments:
Every time I watch one of these Goddamned TED Talks, I end up watching another, and then another, and then browsing through the TED site or YouTube to find a better one, and I end up wasting half of the FUCKING DAY watching TED videos.
The 'Image is powerful. But image is superficial.' quote should go on the DOMAI site if it hasn't already. You see a photo of an attractive person on the DOMAI site, or on a hard porn site, or in a commercial or even of a public figure in news magazine, and you can stare at the photo and let your own imagination fill in all of the blanks about what an interaction with the person behind that image would be like, but the image and the persona that you create in your mind based on that image might be dramatically, and possibly tragically, different than the reality. Kinda makes one wonder what the personality behind some of the images might actually really be like.
The next TED talk I watched was about 'liespotting'. The combination of the two triggered a memory from a few years ago (and I'll never forget this). I was looking at a set of photos of somebody naked, they were attractive, the photography was pretty good but not excellent, photographed in a believable setting with lighting that looked natural (the photographer did a pretty good job) and the model had a combination of attributes that I can't really describe or try to enumerate, but they worked to push a bunch of my subconscious buttons, and I was really finding this model particularly desirable, and was really getting into a pretty good fantasy. But then I noticed where the photographer failed to properly photoshop out a series of what looked like cigarette burns down the back of her legs in one of the photos, which led me to look at the other photos and discover that he had used the healing tool to make these burns, and other things, disappear, and as I looked deeper I began to feel that the model's smile didn't look quite completely sincere, and the entire person that I had constructed in my mind based on these images changed 180 degrees over about three or four seconds. I can't fully describe what was going on in my mind other than to ask you to imagine the train wreck scene in the movie 'The Fugitive'.
When we see some supermodel, we like to imagine that they are actually superficial and stupid, just like all of the girls we all knew growing up who desperately wanted to be models, but this lady seems to be telling us that models become models largely because of pure luck, and there may be a real personality behind the image that we don't see and are not constructing in our minds. And I wonder if there is something about living the life of a model being physically insecure because of the demands of the business that may change their personalities.
I've known a lot of young teen-agers who wanted to become models, and I have known a few for real actual models (and I have never photographed any of them). This is making me wonder if there is something about modeling that attracts a certain screwed up personality type or if there is something about the psychological demands associated with modeling that tends to screw up an otherwise normal person, or if there is some symbiotic interaction of the two that produces the physically insecure people that Cameron Russell is describing in this TED talk.
(Sorry I ranted again.)
Indeed.
--
I did actually have the Image quote up yesterday. I think it's quite powerful, because while it may seem obvious when stated, it's something almost all of us could learn much better. Who isn't at least somewhat impressed by the Image of something?
Cry me a river, Cameron.
I actually hate TED a little bit because it seems like people will give greater weight to something said there, that they wouldn't otherwise.
we like to imagine that they are actually superficial and stupid, just like all of the girls we all knew growing up who desperately wanted to be models, but this lady seems to be telling us that models become models largely because of pure luck, and there may be a real personality behind the image that we don't see and are not constructing in our minds.
They may not be stupid but it's probably better if they are, given what the job is. Anyone with a brain would be very bored.
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