Do You Have A Playmate You Feel Would Be Better Represented By An Alternate Photo To The One They Used?

[Gordon3]

Some more superior centerfolds of some classic Playmates that I've found (OP credit)

Jennifer Jackson, looking super awkward, trying to hold the jacket together, for some reason, and hold the tie, to make sure everything is exposed, but appearing as uncomfortable as possible:


Jennifer Jackson, looking perfect, sweater up, and two words: full bush


Karen Foster, trying to cuddle a pool cue stick(?!)


Karen Foster, looking cuter in the first, and her perfect tush in the second


Katherine Hushaw, one of my favorite PM's, in probably the worst, most uncomfortable looking centerfold of all time


Katherine Hushaw, first in her natural, outdoorsy state, then two classics with that cute, pink outfit, the first with her mound in its full glory, and the second in the more traditional centerfold pose

[Gordon3]

OK, last round of some more of my favorites, with some real head scratching centerfolds, if you go back and actually look at the composition (OP credit):

Kym Paige, OK, they're trying to get her to stick out her lovely boobs, but her back looks horribly uncomfortable, in the original centerfold:


Probably a little too sexual for Hefner, but the hay, the barn, her seductively chewing on said hay, dress pulled up, boobs, and everything else exposed


Lisa Matthews, awkward hanging off of an airplane, for some reason


Again, keep it simple, outdoorsy, at a camp site, taking off her long underwear for some snuggling in a tent


Peggy McIntaggart, they're trying to really emphasize the incredible boobs here, but the black coat again, and you can't tell what she's lying on, or if she's lying down at all


Just as flattering on the boobs, but with bush, and less costuming, so you can see her hair and overall shape


Saskia Linssen, they're trying for the natural boob hang here, but the awkward back curve and right arm really look unnatural


From the same photo session, but a more flattering frontal view, but it does need a lot more light and the use of the facial expression from the original


Wendy Hamilton, for a third time, the black costume to emphasize the breasts, but everything else feels obscured


One of my personal favorites of Wendy, great facial expression and an erotic pose, just perfect

[RLWeed947040]

Personally speaking for myself, my personal favorite picture of Jennifer is where she is laying in bed completely nude with 1 arm behind her head, the other arm grasping part of the blanket that she used in this particular photograph.

[Gordon3]

Originally Posted by RLWeed947040

Personally speaking for myself, my personal favorite picture of Jennifer is where she is laying in bed completely nude with 1 arm behind her head, the other arm grasping part of the blanket that she used in this particular photograph.

Well, there's a lot of great choices there, posing with the blanket (OP credit):



I think you're referring to the third one, which is probably the best of these classics.

[Know-It-All]

Kelly Monaco's CF photo is kind of awkward, on several fronts. The second image here is probably my single favorite nude photo of her and would've made a great horizontally oriented fold out.

[proowog]

Nicki Thomas....

Original CF


Alternative CF

[roger74]

cqnew1648 raises some very thought provoking ideas in his earlier excellent post. I guess he is right that a centerfold should be the photo you pin on the wall, more a statement of nude beauty, rather than more explicit. Those more revealing Playmate photos may be our real favorites, but they don't serve the purpose of the centerfold. On the other hand, part of me wants the centerfold too to be revealing, so I guess I see it both ways but mostly agree with cqnew1648.

[jetpacksam]

^
While I do not disagree at all with either of your points, my thread idea wasn't nesa about explicit but a better photo. Some of the choices are just stunningly bad when there were other options.

[roger74]

My contribution to missed a Centerfold would be Tanya Beyer, a great beauty and one of my favorite Playmates.

Actual Centerfold: although any photo of Tanya is lovely, there are better. Her hair is too done up and she looks overly posed. More importantly she is simply wearing too many clothes. We should be celebrating her natural nude beauty and too many objects of clothing make the photo too complicated.




My favorite photos of Tanya are her rear views:





Either one would have made a stunning centerfold.

For a frontal nude some better choices would have been:

In comparison to her rather stiff facial expression in her centerfold she is:
Playful and smiling in appropriately totally nude shot:



Looking vulnerable and sexy:



Nearly nude in nature and in a shot that celebrates the fullness of her tits:





And arguably the best and my pick, again with a vulnerable expression and a photo that really shows her beauty:

[Gordon3]

For me, the centerfold was usually the most disposable single page of the magazine. In fact, the centerfolds were really quite different than the photography that was presented in the rest of the pictorials, which tended to be significantly more erotic than the centerfolds themselves. It always seemed, especially as Playboy became more acceptable in mainstream culture during the 1970's, that Hefner was going for a truly artistic approach in his centerfolds, unfortunately, above all other considerations. The approach tended toward the following "unwritten rules":

1. Use public-implied spaces and non-bedroom home spaces as much as possible. Do not imply sex, or show labia (contorting the legs if necessary), in the centerfolds. The "artistry" of the centerfolds is what Hefner is going to lean on in the sphere of public relations, especially when he's facing 200 middle-aged Christian women on the Donahue show.
2. Pose the model to emphasize the breasts and buttocks, and use absurd costuming to overemphasize the breasts by covering other body parts. Deemphasize arms, hips, and the waist. Again, contort the model to achieve these aims.
3. Make the model look as helpless as possible, while providing the illusion of confident sexuality. To the reader, it must look as though the model is ready for sex, yet vulnerable, but at the same time, compose the photo to make it feel "artsy", again for PR purposes.
4. "Blow out" the photo, washing out as many flaws as possible during the session phase, with excesssive white light. The idea is to present the model, at least in the centerfold/gatefold, as a Roman statue. The lighting also helps to deemphasize the sexuality of the photo for the layman.

Playboy might have had a longer run as a cultural force had they had a more no-nonsense approach to their centerfold/gatefold photography, the show piece of the magazine, by allowing the models to be human, not just a slab of marble to be gawked at. A more realistic, humanistic set of rules might have been:

1. Keep the no-labia rule, so as not to overemphasize the sexuality of the photo, or the model for that matter, but don't shy away from the fact that a beautiful woman is nude and is naturally sexy.
2. As per rule #1, keep the locations romantic & natural, the bedroom, a home or apartment, a campsite, a barn, any fantasy location where two people can get to know each other in a private, intimate setting.
3. Don't be afraid to show a mole or two. Hefner's ultimate problem was that he was too intellectual for his own good. He was always trying to present female perfection, rather than really presenting the "girl next door", at least when it came to the centerfold photography.
4. Keep the posing natural, preferably any pose that a woman could be found in during a normal day, dressing, undressing, going to bed, getting up in the morning, etc. While the pictorials did a great job in this respect, the Playmates were always back to contorting for the centerfold.
5. Keep the costuming natural. Use relatively normal clothing, as little as possible of course, and use the costuming as an implied "transition" (either she's dressing or undressing), rather than making it part of the composition itself.
6. Light the scene romantically as well, using contrasts of light & dark to create an appropriate fantasy. Feel free to be as artistic as you would like in this respect.
7. Don't be afraid to allow the model to express her natural seductiveness and eroticism, especially in her facial expression.
8. Still provide some thought as to composition, background, etc. Back in the Golden Era, Hefner still had to have enough "artistry" to be able to cover his ass in front of those 200 middle-aged Christian women on the Donahue show.