Thread: using BODY cut outs without face for ads

hey all

i just had a photoshoot a few days ago.

as my danceschool and company is increasingly not only about "me me me", but encompasses the dancing and teaching work of several professional and semi professional dancers, as well as cooperations on bigger projects with out of town and international artists; i'm looking for advertising material that does not scream "me me me" and "hire artemisia", but is a little more, eh "general".

so i asked the photographers to come up with some "cut outs".

below is the example they just send me.
on the one hand i LOVE it. and for the upcoming Leuven festival, i think this just might make the flyer; but thats an event "for bellydancers"

on the other hand, for GPadvertising, doesnt this kind of pic scream "boobs" and "almost naked woman".

what does bhuz think?



thanks lauren, fixed typo

LOL so it's boDy cutouts, not BOY cutouts? I thought you were trying to make your advertising more gender-neutral, but this is sort of the opposite.

I agree with you. This photo is gorgeous, and would work fine within the industry, but maybe not for the GP for exactly the reasons you stated.

ha you sacred me there for a second

i personally would love to see the whole picture, i'm not a fan of cut out ones though

I used a torso cutout on a poster for a restaurant since there were three dancers (but I didn't have photos of the other two). It was a professional, artful shot. The (Egyptian) owner asked, "Why did you cut off your head?" He didn't put up that poster.

The lighting on this particular shot really does highlight the skin more than the costume. It looks like an artful nude that just happens to have a BD costume in some areas. i think it's absolutely breathtaking as a work of art (and a tribute to your beauty) but maybe it's a poor choice for advertising.

thanks!
dont worry, they took plenty of "normal" shots too!

i think i might use it for the festival flyer and add some to the gallery. but the original idea (to get pics for the general part of the website) probably not so much.

OMG... love this shot. If i had one like that i would use it for something, but i definitely agree with lauren but man i would definitely find an excuse to use it somewhere

hey khuzama

thanks! the first one they took with this light was actually an accident; we had added extra side light, and then the main studio flash (wich is on a motor and needs to recharge in between each shot) hadnt gone off. so the pics came out like this, but we liked it so much, that we then played with it some more.

so it's basically shot in a studio with a little natural light and one side light. the whole series is beautifull, though not so usuable for full body pics as you always have some part of the body (usually face) with not enough light, and some parts (everything that sticks out including my nose) that got too much.

but i'm really happy with them

It is a gorgeous shot, but it wouldn't be my first choice for advertising because the "headless torso" look tends to give me the creeps (probably because I 'read' them as focusing on the body and associate it with selling either sex or underwear).

I am less bothered when the torso is drawn/painted, but would prefer either a full-length shot (from behind if it needed to be anonymous-ish) or an even smaller cut (like the hip only or hands holding sagat).

It's a great art shot but I don't think it would be good for gp advertising.

This particular shot I agree I wouldn't use for GP advertising because of the effect of the lighting, as Lauren mentioned.

I've considered this issue myself, however, and the conclusion I've reached is that, while I prefer 'dancers dancing' images for advertising performances, figure photos may have a place in advertising classes. The lack of identity, to me, can suggest "this could be you!" to the viewer.

I would love to see the full photo, the lighting is just amazing. If your face was in shadow as well that could give you a suitably anonymous look (photoshop time?). I think that would take the focus off your body and make the picture look less "naked".

I'm also like Mahsati, not a fan of headless torsos in advertising.

There really IS something creepy about disembodied torsos in advertising. It kind of creates this impersonal, disengaged and sometimes overly sexualized effect.

Maybe if you want to show your head without staring the viewer down, pick an image where you're looking somewhat away from the camera or at a 3/4 profile angle, with or without your eyes closed. Or use a dynamic shot involving a veil or something, so the focus is on the movement and the shapes rather than your bod.

I also like the idea of a nice shot of you teaching a class, preferably with your students smiling in the background.

It’s a pretty photo, but I would crop it down just a little bit lower so more of the upper torso is missing. The cutoff point is a little too high and it makes it look kind of decapitated.

Obviously we took some of all of me but this particular one is the actual photo. So cant oblige with the full shot! But I'll post when they send me more!

its a beautiful shot, bellydancers will definitely "get" this image. but for the gp, a softly smiling face included in the image might get more of the response you are looking for.

So what kind of material do people use for events and such when you can't or don't want to use a pic of just one of the headliners and also don't want to cram it with x small photos. I'm talking nice postcard flyers and such.

If it were a small-chested woman, I think it would be fine for the GP. But the light/shadow really highlights a well-endowed bust (lucky you!) so I don't think it's the message one would want to send to the uninitiated.

Originally Posted by artemisia_danst

So what kind of material do people use for events and such when you can't or don't want to use a pic of just one of the headliners and also don't want to cram it with x small photos. I'm talking nice postcard flyers and such.

We used an image of a dancer for the Intensive this year that was shot from her backside; however, ultimately we opted to place a photo of a headliner on the ads as it's a better "draw". While it's hard to choose just one headliner image for an ad, I still think it's better to do so. I always make it clear to everyone that our choices are based on composition and not favoritism.

I have a couple of pics like this from previous shoots. I LOVE this kind of pictures but I haven't used them for advertising or my website or stuff. The GP would definitely get it the wrong way, I think.
That being said - the pic is gorgeous! Can't wait to see the rest of them!

Last year I asked about using a torso shot for advertising on this board, and on a non-BD board I'm a member of. The overwhelming opinion on both boards was that is was either a) creepy or b) uncomfortably sexual.

Originally Posted by artemisia_danst

So what kind of material do people use for events and such when you can't or don't want to use a pic of just one of the headliners and also don't want to cram it with x small photos. I'm talking nice postcard flyers and such.

You could try purchasing stock photography. You can get some decent pics for about $5-15 each.





Send me a PM with your e-mail address if you decide to use stock stuff. I have referral codes.

There are ways to get the whole dancer shots that still read as generic but not chopped that are worth thinking about when doing a shoot...like veil-obscured, shot from behind, backlit..
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I'm with Ozma on the generic dancer picture. I used a torso shot before but received mixed comments on that one. We used a (free) paintshop brush to create a dancer silhouette for our flyer last year and it worked way better then the group picture/image with all our faces that we wanted to do three years ago.

Breathtaking, delicious, etc but it doesn't say 'Hire US' to me. Hey, who needs a CD cover?

I think I would like it if it were cropped in closer. As someone else said right now it looks decapitated. Body shots that are cropped in closer look more like a beautiful form as backdrop. I would probably also scream "almost naked women" less if it were not cropped right above the cleavage.
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I like the idea of silhouettes and action shots with the back turned, like the photos Andalee posted.

The dance studio logo where I teach uses silhouettes and everyone seems to love them. One of the figures is actually me and the studio owner just made my photo into the silhouette. I think there is some easy filter or trick you can use on photoshop or some photo editing software to do it.

The only time I've ever liked a headless torso shot is if it is faded in the background behind a full shot of a dancer. Otherwise it is hard to relate to and yes, creepy.

Originally Posted by crystalllized

The only time I've ever liked a headless torso shot is if it is faded in the background behind a full shot of a dancer. Otherwise it is hard to relate to and yes, creepy.

agree. I think you can use Gimp to do that. GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program

Interesting that so many people don't like the idea of a headless torso shot...I used one for years to advertise my classes and thought it was really good! I think mine had a different feel - it was front-on, showed little cleavage, showed a bit of swishy movement and was brightly lit. So I don't think appeared overly 'sexy'. I think that you can use such a photo, but perhaps lighting and cropping make all the difference.

For Artemisia's shot, my personal view is that it would be fine for a bellydancer event flier, but perhaps a little too sexy for GP ads - the lighting is sultry and draws focus to the cleavage. I think if you cropped it closer (like in the example Mariyah posted), it could work better.