Esti is one of the great underappreciated models of the past decade.
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| Photo: Riccardo Tinelli |
This might be the first image that comes to mind when I think of her.
Most of her photos in her three-year career showed off her kewpie-doll cuteness, tempered with her endearing, slightly crooked smile. But this photo turns her into an intense Caravaggio painting, chiaroscuro caressing the contours of a magnificent bikini body. The carved abs, the lovely breasts, the thumbs inching the bottoms down from both hips.
Most thumb-hook shots feature the girl looking directly at the camera, usually with a smile or a glare of seduction on her face. Thumb-hooking is an action born from playfulness; the model is deliberately teasing you, the viewer.
But Esti here doesn’t even seem to be aware that we’re here. Is she alone, lost in thought, absently fiddling with her suit? Is she doing this for the benefit of some other viewer, off stage left? Or is she just a magnificent sculpture of an Italian sex goddess, in keeping with the statue theme of her Naples shoot?
I remember being surprised when she was back in 2010 since only the one photo in 2009. But then I was surprised she wasn't back in 2012. She still looks gorgeous. There is something very youthful about her face.
ReplyDeleteShe's also one of those SI girls that did many issues yet never really seemed to be that huge of a model in the US. Not sure if she was ever based here. But to me she's like Sarahyba, and maybe Gomes, where most of the career remained back in their homelands.
There seem to be certain countries out there—Brazil, Argentina, Israel—that are surprisingly "provincial" for fashion modeling. Given Israel's size and middle-income status, you wouldn't necessarily think a top fashion model would concentrate her career there, but it tends to happen.
ReplyDeleteMy parents are Israeli and I can tell you that Bar Refaeli and Esti Ginzburg were actual household names in that country—literally any person you met at random, no matter how young or old, would know who they are. It's the classic case of preferring to be a big fish in a small pond...