When you work on a collage you really look at images. Like, really LOOK. So, I was working with the cover of George Shearing’s Latin Lace, trying to decide where I wanted to cut it to fit my collage. And after staring at it for so long it occurred to me – Wow, her waist is really small… And that’s when I saw it – a pinky-nail sized shape cut out of her waist. The giveaways are the cut out area is lighter than the rest of the background, there’s a “T” that doesn’t match the rest of the background posters and the left side of her veil is slightly cut off.
I sat there kinda stunned, put my X-acto down and then I remembered of a series of photos I’d seen of Gil Evlgren’s original photos he used for his pin-ups (1940-50s) and how much he altered the models’ bodies to fit the “idealized” female figure. In the early 1990’s it was Photoshop and How will we ever trust a photo again?! and now we’re all swirling in the AI tornado and ya know what? – it’s the same ol’ story. And there’s a comfort in that. An itchy, tight, wool sweater kinda comfort, but a comfort all the same. The only thing to do, still, is Keep Calm and Don’t Panic.
Article: Pin-Up Girls Before and After the Brush: The Real Women Behind Gil Elvgren’s Famous Pin-Up Art (yes, I had to do some creative Googling to find this 😉
