Always wanted to write for a magazine... |
Call this my audition piece. I've been a writer for as long as i can remember. I am someone that is not often self motivated, so i have to run with any creative idea that pops into my head and stays there. This blog is hopefully an entertaining one, and a showcase of some sort of talent. The magazine industry is hard to break into, i had to do something to get noticed. Fingers crossed... |
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The Alty for cover of the year goes to…
EL WOOD!
I haven’t interviewed El Wood I’m afraid. I’d love to though, and maybe one day soon she’ll have some free time for a little chat for my blog. I will continue to message her and bother her incessantly I assure you. The first Alty of the night goes to El for her outstanding work on the cover of Bizarre magazine from September 2011.
There was only one winner of this award from the moment I saw El’s appearance on the front cover of Bizarre magazine issue 181. I said back then that this would become an iconic cover, and for me it already is. I see this cover every day, as my copy of the issue is framed in my office. It’s an achievement that really speaks to me, and a real thing of beauty in so many ways. It’s work like this that just makes us fans smile.
Photographer Christian Saint has a remarkable gift of making his subjects the centre of the universe when he takes their picture. I guess that’s a photographer’s job to some extent. In many other examples of Christian’s work, he has the uncanny ability to make his models “pop” for want of a better word. His choices with El’s cover image are sublime, from composition to colouring. I strive through my blog to learn more about the photographic process from a wide range of photographers at different stages in their careers. I’m no expert, but I know what I like, and I adore Christian’s work on this issue of Bizarre.
El of course looks amazing. Her alabaster skin against the pale blue background makes her leap off the page, and the hue of the blue mirrors her gorgeously colourful ink perfectly. I’m not sure how much post production magic was used to get such vibrancy, but for me everything works in this cover image. The pose from El is a microcosm of sexuality and attitude. The playful yet rough tug on her hair, the sultry way she sucks a finger, and what finger is it? The “fuck you” finger. Her make-up and her eyes invite you into the magazine, and I for one couldn’t turn to her feature quickly enough.
The entire set is wonderful, and there is a fluidity and sense of story that pulled me through the pages, and made me return again and again. I’m not surprised there is a clamour for pints from the shoot, as in every picture El looks shockingly dazzling. I say shockingly not because I’m shocked by El’s beauty. I’ve know El is an elegantly edgy goddess for a long time now. But I’m shocked at how mesmerized I am by the imagery she and Christian have produce in this issue of Bizarre. It’s a watershed picture for me in my admiration of artistic expression in publications. I’ll remember it for a very long time, and it will resonate with me into next year and beyond.
The Alty for best cover of the year goes to El Wood for this sparkling showing, and I can’t wait to see what she produces in 2012. Thanks El and Christian, and everyone involved in the shoot. Very well done!
