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Why do celebrity actresses and models do that pose where they angle their leg diagonally/45ยฐ?
(lemmy.world)
My prevailing theory is it creates a hypotenuse that makes their hypotenuse-leg look longer and your brain generalizes tgat impression/illusion to the other obliquely (and therefore: skinny-er)?
You're on the right idea, but it's got nothing to do with triangles, and more to do with lens tricks and musculature.
The weight-bearing leg is positioned furthest from the camera, allowing lens foreshortening to make the active muscles seem smaller to match the front leg. The front leg is extended without bearing weight to smooth out the muscle fibers, and in this case creates visually-interesting leading lines. Sometimes they're crossed in front too. Same effect, back leg bears the weight.
TOP ANSWER - Fascinating actually. Excellent take here :)
Where the heck did you learn all that?
I used to do photography as a side gig, with an interest in fashion and portraiture. When I was dealing with new models or doing portraits for friends, I had to do a lot of posing with people who don't know how to position themselves for the camera.
Feminine bodies tend to look better on a 45 degree angle, making the entire frame look slimmer. Our stupid brains tend to only see the width in the image. Masculine bodies look more powerful facing the camera straight on, and with the lens higher than the subject, which makes an inverted triangle shape. Broad shoulders, skipped leg day, etc. For young guys, I'd generally get them to crouch, look up, and get up on a ladder, and then zoom in on their head & shoulders. Magic. Old guys can't crouch. Bad knees LOL
High camera can also work well for some women, but tends to emphasize chest size, which isn't always appropriate given what the portrait needs (ie, we doing a business headshot or a sexy dating profile?)
God i love this place