The Missing Pinup (2009)
The great seductresses in history knew that it isn’t just about trying to look sexy or pretty; it’s an art and one becomes skillful in it when she realizes that there are all these conflicting elements that all come together to make something magical. —Dita Von Teese
I like pleasant surprises, even when they’re rather embarrassing to admit. This set of pictures is one such surprise. As I was going through files last week looking for an image suitable for a particular project, I clicked on a folder with a fairly specific label. I wasn’t expecting much, but as I scrolled down I was totally surprised to find this set of pinups which, even now, I don’t remember shooting. I immediately kicked myself, hard, for not having paid attention to these when they were first shot.
The mistake was simple enough. As often happens, when we schedule a shoot around a specific concept, the prep and makeup takes quite a while but the actual shooting time is so brief as to almost seem insignificant. So, it isn’t terribly unusual for us to tag on another complimentary set or two so that we feel as though all the prep time is justified. That is exactly what happened in this case. The pinups were an add-on, probably last minute, to help justify all the preparation.
Unfortunately, in this particular case, the primary concept was so incredibly time consuming that we were only able to finish a couple of the images. The vast majority of raw photographs remain untouched and completely forgotten. When I see the folder, I think of the primary concept and its challenges, so we’ve gone six years without paying any attention to the final set, or even remembering it was shot.
A lot has happened in the waning years. The model is married and has a significantly different look (still incredibly attractive, mind you) and life. The facility where we shot no longer exists. Support staff has moved on to other ventures. These shots are truly gems snatched from the digital dustbin. I’m actually rather surprised they weren’t accidentally deleted to save space.
So, here they are, all twelve poses, processed and published for the very first time. We hope you enjoy them.