Recently, I stumbled upon Paradis, a french men's magazine. It is a little different than the average magazine that offers men the opportunity to look at naked women, reigniting the argument of naked versus the nude. Early issues bear the subtitle;
A magazine for the contemporary man, above suggestive cover images. It features articles on the arts and although I have not yet seen an issue in the "flesh" yet, I think it is a magazine one could believably buy for the articles.
I think I had seen some stray photographs on the internet of Daisy Lowe that had appeared in the magazine before, she has lovely soft looking womanly breasts. However, it was the photographs of model/actress Lily Cole that really grabbed my attention. I was surprised to learn that such a credible model would pose for a lad's mag, however, the editorial has a entirely different feel than expected.
Shot by Juergen Teller, they appeared in the magazine in 2007. Old news now but I think they are spectacular. They have an incredible natural and real feeling. I love that the hazy light and harsh flash bouncing off lily's white skin is reminiscent of disposable cameras before a digital era, before girls learned young to pose by staring an LCD screen. They look as if a boyfriend took them, that they are personal and we should not be seeing them. Which makes it all the more sexy. As if I have found them, unexpectedly, while illicitly sneaking through someone's things. Of course they remind me of some of the original pin ups like Botticelli's Venus and even Millais' Ophelia, when the world loved the reds.
Images copyright of Juergen Teller/Paradis Magazine.
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