America’s Next Top Artists

While even at a young age the feminist in me spurned America’s Next Top Model for its blatant perpetuation of social beauty standards and stereotypes of female behavior, the prevailing artsy side of me left me planted in front of the TV for hours on end as the Fashion Network replayed entire cycles back to back. Sure, the fights were entertaining and the judging scenes were always oozing with dramatic tension, but my favorite part was always the photo shoots. With at least a dozen episodes in every season and now 20 total seasons, how could they possibly come up with so many drastically different brilliant ideas for these shoots? For some reason the models get all the credit for “working it” (or not) when really the part that I’m stunned by is the product of an incredible makeup team, photographer, and the person who comes up with all of the themes. The art of storytelling is such a crucial part to each photograph that I could never change the channel, knowing I had to find out what they would do next. Some of my favorite shoots include ones where the models were entirely submerged under water, had paint splattered across their faces, and of course the crazy range of modeling with animals from crocodiles to elephants. Despite my initial hesitation toward the values the show  promotes, within a few seasons they began accepting one to two “plus size” models. It truly was so kind of them to let one or two girls into the competition that, like the majority of the female population, are bigger than a size 2. However, this doesn’t stop the judges from their ruthless comments about women looking “too old” “too commercial” “too sexy” or just too flawed to win the competition. All in all, I say it’s the behind the scenes crew that should win every season. So, without further ado (or ranting), I present some of my top favorite photo shoots from America’s Next Top Model:

Okay, I had to throw that one in there. She doesn’t look very plus sized to me. But, I believe the other photos have illustrated my point on the artistic brilliance of very creative minds that create this beauty, and because of this, I’ll continue to bite my tongue and throw away hours on this show that is so artistically stimulating.