Tampa Photography Blog

After writing numerous blogs about famous people doing crazy things for photographers, I’m convinced magazine covers are the best publicity tool in use today.

Just ask actor James Franco who decided to dress in drag for this month’s cover of Candy. Candy is “the first fashion magazine ever completely dedicated to celebrating transvestism, transexuality, cross dressing and androgyny, in all its manifestations.” So, it’s not a shock that someone is in drag on the cover, just that James Franco happens to be wearing the dress. This doesn’t help rumors that Franco is gay but he still denies them. I wonder why he decided to do this?

And ESPN the Magazine is unveiling their 2010 Body Issue—an issue dedicated to nude portraits of athletes. These portraits are stunning because of the light and strategic composition of the athletes, so they don’t expose anything more than their muscles. One of my favorite portraits from this year’s series is of PGA Tour golfer Camilo Villegas. His signature pose is balancing on one leg to see the best putt from the ground view. In this cover photo, he’s obviously naked but without showing too much, you can see every muscle in this avid-cyclist’s body. He’s only one of the multiple covers created—others include New York Knicks star Amar'e Stoudemire, 2009 WNBA MVP Diana Taurasi, wheelchair tennis player Esther Vergeer and the USA Women's Water Polo team.

Magazine covers are meant to stir up emotion and whether you like them or not, get you to open the magazine and buy it. ESPN has done an excellent job with this year’s Body Issue—showing just enough to be sexy and revealing but also showing the athletic prowess of these amazing stars.

*Photo by Darren Rovell*