Men Want Vargas Girls

We shot a story for a recent Psychology Today called “What Do Men Really Want?” but I soon came to be calling it “Men Want Vargas Girls.” Is there a fatal flaw in shooting young women in the style of Alberto Vargas when the central theme of the text is that men really do care about more than looks? Some would say so, but those people are no fun.

I worked closely with Creative Director Ed Levine concepting, shooting and retouching this set of photos. He had many contributions, some grand, some subtle, but all of them move the photography in a better direction.

The approach that we took was to cast attractive, but still believably normal young women and then photograph them in the classic Vargas style – glammed up styling, pastel colors, flattering lighting and sexy poses. We assigned a role to each girl to bring some visual variety, as well as to adhere to the story’s theme of men being attracted to many different types of personalities.

Top Image: The first round of proofs show retouching notes by Creative Director Ed Levine and myself.

Middle Image: The opening spread image, after retouching. Model: Sarah Vicellio, as the outdoorsy girl.

Bottom Image: Left, model: Bianca, as the arty girl; right, model:Antoinette Robertson, as the bookish girl.