Shoot me!

Hey somebody feed that woman. :) You really have to appreciate this. Original, quirky and amusing. Love the Egyptian-like hand position. Hats off for thinking this one up.

It's not a recent photo, dated back in 2004. Six years are a lot in photographic work, as Igor pursues it. By the way, in 2004 it might have looked more original to the viewer's eyes than in 2010.

I am not clear about the issue of "women objectification", as Pnina puts it. I can see her point, but most probably in photography there is quite some objectifications. For example when reporting suffering, or exclusion, or poverty. We probably can't get around this.

As to the photo itself, it's good all in all, technically very well executed - Igor has a refined technique, definitely - lighting, tones.
One element which strikes me negatively is the huge draped stand for the model. It is really very, very large and prominently comes out of the picture. Maybe it's too large in respect to the other elements in the photo.

I can't add much more than what Jim Adams has said. He's said it very well

Igor is one of my favorite photographer of this site, this one is another great work from him, Congrats Igor for your excelents and honest photoworks!

awesome..

as a woman i dont see humiliation or degradation? there is no sign of gratuitous sex here like a lot of nudes portray....its a pretty ordinary picture though... nothing memorable or to put up for display. the girl is nice looking but not exceptional. maybe the elves are seeing something more than i do?

@Jim Adams: You must be jealous :) He has a bigger camera than you do!
What IS this, folks? The new age of Puritanism? This image can be accused of nothing worse than a bit of cuteness. So the model looks like she's waiting for some doggie-style interaction. Some women like that; some don't. Seems to have been going on since ancient times in any case.
Has anyone considered this as a statement about the relationship between photograpy/media/image and women? This is one BIG powerful camera (20x24?) facing a hapless blonde. It can do what it wants with her. Maybe. Or maybe she is turning the tables and staring it down?

I don't think people who don't like this photo because it's a cliché or objectifying are Puritanical. That would be a very superficial reading of the comments. I, myself, am open to more sexuality and blatancy in images than many others. That doesn't mean that some nudes can't bore me to tears. This photograph, to me, has NO sexuality in it. If it had some genuine sexuality, it would be much better. True sexuality objectifies and also goes beyond that. Pin-ups, in general, are not sexual. They are pretty. Like this picture.

If you separate this shot from the rest of Igor's work, and take it as it is, on its own, and then consider Pnina's position "another use of woman's nude body, as so many others at PN" and combine that thought with the perspective of degradation that has appeared in many comments, what you have here is actually a statement of the history photography and the nude. It tells us that that the two go back a long way. The woman is impersonal, objectified, but isn't that how it is? Igor doesn't to try to personalize his models, they are stand-ins to convey a concept. They don't have names or personalities because they're not meant to. I'm fairly sure the photo is not trying to tell us anything about her character, or what she finds meaningful in life. From that, I don't think it's fair to negatively judge it because the woman is objectified. As a cliche, rather than passing it off as such, one might offer an opinion on its effectiveness at communicating that cliche. I don't have any questions as to why the camera is aimed at the woman, but I'm forever intrigued at what the woman is looking for in the camera.

It's true, but at the same time Igor's women are very, very strong. Strong bodies, strong poses, strong "characters".

No passive attitudes in his portfolio. Involvement with strong objects or in strong activities. All this is sustained by his technical choices: black&white, square format, marked contrasts.

Ok, he doesn't tell us a story about their personality, but he tells us that women are strong subjects in his photos. Subjects, not objects.

I would pose a more general question on whether photographing means objectifying (it's going on in another forum here). For sure, more than objectification, here - and in Igor's portfolio in general - we can see how he produces icons of his visual concepts.

Excellent point, Luca. one would have to be blind not to realize that.

So a few photographers (including ones for whom I have great respect) have suggested that this photo is a bit cliche'. With all respect, I have to say that I disagree. Now, not all photos work for everyone. The world is a better place because of our differences. For me this not just one of my favorite photos on PN, but really one of my favorites ever. I like the interaction between the beautiful model and the beautiful large format camera. I like the subtle symmetry between the bellows and the model's ribs. I like the almost humorous interaction between the camera and the model looking back at each other. It is almost like the first meeting of two alien species. I think this interaction works because the camera is so large and interesting, otherwise the camera would get lost in the photo. I like the careful attention to the lighting. I like the amazing control of densities and contrast. I like the composition in both its balance and simplicity. I appreciate that it might not work for everyone, but for me it is wonderful. Thank you Igor for sharing it with us. Dan

Sooooo, is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

I don't see these women as strong, yet I don't think I'm blind. I see them as posed. I'm not in any way against posing people to create photographs. I do it myself often. But I can see the difference between a photographer's gesture and a woman's character. I actually see the woman in this photo as quite suppliant. In others, I think the photographer is suggesting strength with the poses. Mostly, they are unconvincing due to feeling forced. I also sometimes like overtly forced poses, especially when there seems to be something revealing about the forced nature of the pose. I don't find that in Igor's work.

Don't know who the model is but... I'd buy that for a dollar!

The photo is technically elegant. My emotional response to the image is...
...I am in love. Not with the model although she is lovely. The shot made me remember how much I love the digital age, after carrying around a view camera for twenty years! Admittedly, it was 4X5 and not 16X20.

Having read through the comments on this image and reviewed the photographer's photostream I'm afraid I have to declare the Emperor in his new clothes 'Naked' !
I'm afraid I'm definately not a fan of any of this work.
This is the first ever image that I have expressed any reaction to having previously thoroughly enjoyed virtually everything. Perhaps my perspective went beyond this particular image and embraced the body of work I scrolled through.

As others have said, this photo is technically great...other than that, it is a typical photo which serves no purpose but to feature yet another nude woman. I do not usually say negative things about the work of others, and this photographer has superb technical merit so I am sure I will be bombarded with negative comments about my strong dislike for his work...I abhhor photography depicting violence and degradation toward women (or men or animals for that matter but women are the most depicted in these type of photos). I do not regard such photos as "art" and wish people would think of the effect their works have on others and on society before they share them. Yes, I know, I don't have to look...and I don't, but one can't help it when it is thrown in your face and in this case in the PN newsletter!
Many photos in his portfolio depict violence under the guise of "erotica" and I for one do not see anything artistic or erotic about violence or the suggestion of it. The elves could be more sensitive to this matter before choosing photos of the week that would lead people to look at the other images in his portfolio.

Well done sir!!!

No, shoot me! Really? Posed nudes? No face? This girl must have a face for radio. Tired and boring. Great body though!

No, shoot me! Really? Posed nudes? No face? This girl must have a face for radio. Tired and boring. Great body though!

I have a different view: in first instance the model in this photo seems to challenge the camera. It recalls the cat who ducks before attacking. I don't see her as suppliant.

Maybe we use strength with a different meaning. "Posed" and "strong" are two completely different concepts. I still think that there are numerous photos by Igor which show the strength of the model.

I mean strength in the sense of physical and mental power. The poses are strong. Not necessarily the photos.

Some maybe forced, but that's probably a matter of posing technique.

Luca, I didn't mean to suggest that "posed" is the opposite of "strong." Not at all. I meant that even if the poses are seen as strong, that doesn't lead me to think the women posing that way are strong. These "women" are so far distant and removed from their personhood that I don't think of "woman" at all. I think whatever strength I see in these photos or in the poses seems superficial and simplistic -- simple symbols and one-dimensional, clichéd gestures that are supposed to suggest strength but fall short of going to any really significant rendering of it.

Without the impressive looking antique something out of Dr. Frakenstein's laboratory camera or Edwin Lands', and impressive piece of industrial art at that, the kneeling nude with hidden face behind mop of blond hair would be just sort of ordinary,nice but kind of ordinary. With the camera, it becomes a sublime joke to any of the photographically inclined with a sense of the classic. And a litle ennuie for sprawling over the top nudes in wild limb sprawl or hanging from chandeliers....
Overall, I would say much better than average on offer, and something one could look at and enjoy with pleasure after more than one glancing shot. It is in short, a piece of art and a composition that was thought out, reflecting that thought And a bit of fun,which pops out right away and kind of thumbs the nose at current nude cliches. (Why do I must look at Igor's other work to render a comment/personal regard for it, well, it always beats me. (POW means picture, singular. But have it your way, since we all get to vote and this has become a staple in the POW commentary).
I think this one shows a talented mind at work. I would like it in my portfolio for sure, not because it is a nude, not because it has good monochrome quality, but it is a non cliche nude, those deemed 'sensuous' or artsy or erotic.
This photo shoots for higher artistic ground and its age, could have come from the thirties, is irrelevant. Good work, Igor. Nice one.
And nice arch of the model's lovely muscled back and quads. Strong, dynamic- but not too dynamic to the point of unnatural- pose.. background, ah, just like something out of a studio shot from the thirties, unassuming and just right for the foreground.

Excellent, and so creative!! Love the tone!