The human form. It can be shaped and proportioned to be

one of the most beautiful subjects on earth. At the same
time, the body can be arranged in a such way that it makes even the
most attractive person look disfigured.
Further complicating this arrangement of the human form are
all the different shapes and sizes of people that we, as professional
photographers, must work with. It is one thing to make a perfect
model look good during a test session or seminar—but use the same
poses on a good portion of our average customer base, and you will
end up with an unsaleable portrait.
So, what is it that makes one arrangement of body parts look so
graceful, while another arrangement looks so awkward? That is the
subject of this book. But before we look at the mechanics of posing,
there are a few other things to keep in mind if we hope to success-
fully work with our clients and sell our images. These are detailed
below.

Salable Posing.

Salable posing is much different than artistic posing. Show a larger
woman of today a portrait of a larger woman painted by one the old
masters and she will say that it is art. Take a portrait of that same
woman of today in the exact same pose, and she will say she looks
like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. As you can see from this example, cre-
ating a salable pose is a complicated issue.
Obstacles to Salable Posing. The first thing to understand is
that you must select a pose based on the needs and tastes of the indi-

6 POSING FOR PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION.

What is it that makes one

arrangement of body parts

look so graceful, while another

arrangement looks so awkward?