The Photo Review is a critical journal of international scope and readership. Publishing since 1976, The Photo Review covers photography events throughout the country and serves as a central resource for the Mid-Atlantic region. With incisive reviews, exciting portfolios, lively interviews, the latest in books and exhibitions, The Photo Review biannual journal has earned a reputation as one of the best serious photography publications being produced today. Our writers — including A.D. Coleman, Stephen Perloff, Shelley Rice, Peter Hay Halpert, Barbara L. Michaels, Jean Dykstra, and Mark Power — have weighed in on subjects as varied as the posthumous publication of work by Diane Arbus, women in photography, the growth of digital media, the historical movement from Pictorialism into Modernism, etc., etc. In his ongoing series, “The Censorship Diaries,” Editor Stephen Perloff was in the forefront in covering the controversy over funding for the NEA and censorship of the arts.
The Photo Review has earned a reputation for lucid and incisive writing aimed at an intelligent and informed audience, but free of the cant and jargon that infects much contemporary writing about art. Thus, both arts publications and the popular press have looked to us for interpretations of what’s happening on the photography scene. Articles have been reprinted in such publications as Afterimage, To, Photography in New York, American Photo, and others.
Editor Stephen Perloff, a respected writer, educator and photographer, has been interviewed for The New York Times, The Toronto Globe & Mail, The Wall Street Journal, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Photo District News, and the New York Observer. He has received two critic’s fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Colin Ford Award for Curatorship from the Royal Photographic Society.
.
Wasteland. Photo: Tony Ward, Copyright 2024. Available at Auction on October 26, 2024.
Beauty at a Cost: The Dark Side of the Modeling World
.
The modeling industry has long been associated with glamour, beauty, and the pursuit of perfection. From the runway to glossy magazine covers, models are celebrated for their ability to embody an ideal of elegance and allure. But beneath the surface of this high-profile industry lies a disturbing reality: the pervasive pressure on models to lose weight, often to dangerous extremes, leading to the onset of eating disorders such as anorexia.
For decades, the fashion industry has promoted a narrow standard of beauty that equates thinness with desirability. Models are often expected to maintain an extremely slender physique, which many fashion houses and agencies believe complements their clothing designs and appeals to the industry’s aesthetic sensibilities. As a result, models—particularly women—face relentless pressure to stay slim, sometimes to an unhealthy degree. While the fashion world publicly touts its commitment to diversity and body positivity in recent years, the deep-seated demands for ultra-thinness persist in many corners of the industry.
The pressure to conform to these standards can have devastating consequences. Many models resort to extreme dieting, exercise, and even dangerous practices such as starvation or the use of appetite suppressants to achieve and maintain the desired weight. In some cases, agencies and designers directly encourage or even force models to lose weight, placing their careers on the line if they don’t comply. The relentless pursuit of a certain body type can lead to a host of physical and psychological issues, with one of the most severe being anorexia nervosa.
Anorexia, an eating disorder characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted body image, affects many individuals in the modeling industry. The condition is marked by extreme food restriction, leading to significant weight loss and severe health risks. Those suffering from anorexia often experience a range of complications, including malnutrition, weakened immune systems, bone density loss, cardiovascular problems, and in some cases, death. Mentally, the disorder can lead to anxiety, depression, and a pervasive sense of inadequacy, as individuals struggle to meet the industry’s unattainable standards.
The fashion industry’s fixation on thinness has drawn widespread criticism in recent years, with many advocates calling for systemic change to protect models’ health and well-being. Some countries have even introduced legislation to combat the issue. In France, for example, a 2015 law requires models to present a medical certificate attesting to their health, and digitally altered images in advertising must be labeled as such. These measures aim to reduce the glorification of dangerously thin bodies and promote a healthier, more realistic portrayal of beauty.
However, these efforts are only part of the solution. Changing the culture within the modeling industry requires a fundamental shift in how beauty is defined and represented. Designers, agencies, and media outlets must embrace a broader spectrum of body types and promote a healthier, more inclusive vision of beauty. This includes valuing models of different shapes, sizes, and ethnicities, and rejecting the harmful notion that extreme thinness is synonymous with attractiveness or professionalism.
The industry also needs to provide better support for models who are struggling with eating disorders or the pressure to lose weight. This includes offering mental health resources, promoting body-positive initiatives, and fostering environments where models are valued for their individuality and talent, rather than their adherence to unrealistic body ideals.
Ultimately, the issue of forced weight loss and anorexia in the modeling world is not just a problem for the individuals affected—it reflects broader societal pressures around body image and beauty standards. As the fashion industry evolves, it has the power and responsibility to lead the way in promoting a healthier, more diverse definition of beauty—one that celebrates all body types and prioritizes the well-being of its models.
Only by addressing these deep-rooted issues can the modeling industry move forward into a future where health, confidence, and true beauty reign supreme.
In The Moment: The Art & Photography of Harvey Finkle
About the Exhibition
The work of the Philadelphia-born photographer and activist Harvey Finkle offers an intimate view of the hardships, sacrifices, and joys experienced by members of the diverse communities and political movements he has engaged with over the course of his career. In the Moment explores photography’s ability to interrogate social inequities, arouse empathy, and inspire political action. Consisting of photographs that Finkle has taken over the past half-decade, the show surveys the multiple and sophisticated ways in which his work forges meaningful connections with its audiences. Guest-curated by Antongiulio Sorgini, categorical groupings take us through Finkle’s journey, chronicling the stories that shape our collective consciousness.
Behind The Scene: With Kasheem “The Dream” Peterson
.
This shoot brought back a lot of memories. It started with a text from a very good friend of mine that recommended that I take a call from a guy who he thought I would find interesting to photograph. His name is Kasheem Peterson. I said ok I’ll respond should he try to contact me. Sure enough he did. Within minutes after responding to my friend’s recommendation Kasheem did indeed reach out. He said that he needed some new photographs and that he was in the adult film business. That statement was what brought back the memories of decades past when I was producing content for Penthouse and other high end adult magazines. Kasheem was well up to the task and made the transition from clothed to unclothed in the blink of an eye.
He arrived ahead of schedule. Which is always a good sign. He was polite, friendly, confident and ready to rock the set with a body that was defined by years of conditioning, discipline and lots of work in the gym. Instead of making him feel comfortable, he made the crew feel at ease while we produced some fabulous photographs for an industry in which he has become a Star.
The TV news has been full of stories about the simultaneous emergence of two different broods of periodic cicadas. One brood emerges after thirteen years underground, and the other after seventeen years.
My original training and occupation was as an entomologist, an insect specialist. I worked in that capacity for the Smithsonian Institution in the 1960s. Cicadas were not my main subjects of study, which were Indo-Australian butterflies and tropical beetles, but I did read a lot about all insects in my studies, including cicadas. It is interesting and puzzling that all periodic cicadas have life cycles that are prime numbers, numbers divisible only by themselves and one. There has been much speculation as to the reason for this, but no one really knows the answer.
One piece of misinformation that I’ve heard over and over on TV is that the deafening noise male cicadas make is to attract the females. That’s nonsense. Cicadas, male and female, are deaf. The earsplitting noise is much more likely intended to fend off predators. If the females could hear, there’d be no need for such loud noises. Crickets and grasshoppers get along just fine without such volume.
Cicadas are mostly harmless. They cannot bit or sting. It is true that female cicadas cut deep slits in branches to lay their eggs. This can damage and weaken branches so they break off in high wind or loads of snow. But it is sheer nonsense, as one TV ‘talking head’ reported that their ovipositors (egg layers) are metal! I don’t believe any living creature, at least on Earth, has metal parts, although one wasp does line its nest with a polymer, a plastic.
If you want to know the truth about an insect, ask an entomologist, not a TV news reporter.
.
About The Author: Bob Shell is a professional photographer, author, former editor in chief of Shutterbug Magazine and veteran contributor to this blog. He is currently serving a 35 year sentence for involuntary manslaughter for the death of Marion Franklin, one of his former models. He is serving the 15th year of his sentence at Pocahontas State Correctional Facility, Virginia. To read additional articles by Bob Shell, click here: https://tonywardstudio.com/blog/bob-shell-the-usps-is-destroying-freedom-of-the-press/
