This photo is relentlessly hot.
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| Photo: Marc Hispard |
In every sense of the word. Rachel’s magnificent body. The warm oranges and yellows. And you can almost see the Mexican heat glistening off the page.
There’s a palpable relief from the shadow the sombrero casts over her face, which also taps into my mild “thing” about the model’s eyes being obscured.
She braces herself against her shadow and takes on a “cowgirl in repose” position, as if she’s about to hand-roll a cigarillo while waitin’ for the horses to finish drinking at the trough, but that’s just another playful pinup act. Tiny and pretty bottoms in their high 1980s cut, a playful top slung low off her shoulders: The femininity radiates from her absolutely stellar curves.
Rachel was a great one.
9 comments:
great find as usual. But I believe the photo credit here belongs to Marc Hispard, not John Zimmerman. This photo was taken during the segment filmed in Mexico for the HBO documentary.
Zimmerman photographed Christie Brinkley in Africa for the 1989 issue.
Damn, I'm trying to give the photographers credit on these posts (something I've rarely done before) and Getty keeps steering me wrong.
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/model-rachel-hunter-poses-for-the-1987-sports-illustrated-news-photo/81993297?adppopup=true
I think you're right, I just watched the beginning of 25th Anniversary video. Updated, thank you.
I imagine a pic like this couldn't be taken today without it being considered some inappropriate cultural stereotype, but I definitely can appreciate it for being just what it is. Rachel had such a great swimsuit body. Toned and athletic, not too skinny. Great picture choice again!
No worries, I for one very much appreciate your efforts to credit the photographers of these photos, since I'm interested in that side of things.
I hate to play the "I'm a grumpy old man and things were better in my day" card, but since I'm among friends I'll go ahead and do it: This photo of Rachel Hunter, when compared to the one of Esti Ginzburg in the previous post, demonstrates why swimsuit photography was clearly superior in the 1980s/90s. Consider the following:
1) In Rachel's photo, the quality of the (natural sunlight) on the model's skin is way better—it creates that true golden glow that we 80s kids remember so well.
2) There is a place for chiaroscuro, but I prefer the more subtle interplay between light and shadow in Rachel's photo.
3) The background in Rachel's photo is more interesting
4) Last but not least, for those who care about such things, Rachel's photo displays the swimsuit much better (note that this is commercial photography at the end of the day—one of its roles is to help women buy swimsuits).
Rant over! Time for my nap...
One more thing: As a previous commenter pointed out, "Rachel had such a great swimsuit body. Toned and athletic, not too skinny." Both the Rachel photo and the Esti photo are meant to depict more or less the same "leaning against the wall on the left side of the frame" pose. But note how Rachel squares her shoulders toward the camera a bit more than Esti—it creates the long hourglass figure curves of the perfect "athletic swimsuit model"—broad shoulders, narrow waist, feminine hips.
One more little subtlety and then I'm done I promise: Note how, in contrast to the Esti photo, the Rachel photo takes care to display as much of her neck as possible—a neck turned to reveal the cords is one of those secret sex displays that people rarely talk about, but has a huge impact on the subconscious. The necklace is arranged just so, the cord of the sombrero is arranged just so—all these little details serve to expose Rachel's neck as much as possible.
This photo seems like it's capturing a casual pose, but if you look closely it's anything but: There are four parallel lines running diagonally from upper left to lower right:
1) The rim of Rachel's sombrero
2) The line separating her upper and lower lips
3) Her right clavicle
4) And the right yellow strap of her bikini
The overall subconscious effect is one of harmony and repose, as if Rachel was somehow captured at the "perfect moment" she was casually leaning against the wall.
Also, to complement the parallel lines, there are three "parallel" downward-sloping curves:
1) The curve of the back of Rachel's sombrero
2) The curve of the swimsuit top's neckline, from her right shoulder down to the middle of her chest
3) The curve of the outer part of Rachel's right hip/butt cheek.
It's kind of ironic because the photographer, Marc Hispard, was known for his "spontaneity" and for shots that seemingly caught a model "unawares." I guess there is nothing effortless about the impression of effortlessness.
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