#cycle20week10

It was Jeremy’s time to go this week, and while he had a solid run, the fact he managed to outplace Nina is the most confusing moment of the series. This shot looks good, but Jeremy doesn’t really bring much to the photo. His body looks good, but the pose and face feels incredibly flat. His energy level needed to be brought up, as his looks are selling this shot, not his skills as a model.

After all this chatter cycle long about how Cory is this androgynous brilliant model, but we have never had any evidence of that. Even this isn’t necessarily pure androgyny, but it still is what Cory should stick to. He can do masculine, but he can’t do it as well as others can. The blend of femininity in the relaxed nature of the pose, along with the still harsh features on his face creates an incredibly fascinating editorial image. The whole thing feels like a mix of classic images, with a modern twist. This image is incredible, and deciding the top 3 was near impossible for me, so I can’t exactly pin point why Cory is lower than the other two; it just feels right to have him third.

This was also my favorite photoshoot of the cycle! The clothes were mostly awesome, the setting was stunning, it produced quite a few stellar photos, and it perfectly embraced and utilized the international destination.

This is Renee at her best! Her face is so glorious here. Her skin is glowing and she found her money angle to highlight her bone structure. The wistful look in her eyes tells a story of someone wishing for a better life away from the rice paddy. I’m still confused why Kelly thought that was a bad thing? Even though she’s doing a similar pose to Jourdan and Nina, hers looks so much more effortless. The dress is absolutely stunning on her as well. I lowkey hated Rob as a judge, but I’m glad that he gave Renee credit where credit was due. This is a spectacular photo of Renee and the peak of her portfolio!

While Jourdan wouldn’t be my pick for FCO, I’m glad she stepped up her game this week and I wasn’t upset with her placement at all. I like the dainty partially crossed legs and symmetrical angles of her arms, plus the dress looks lovely on her. The pose might be just a hair overdone, but her face saves it and establishes a connection with the setting. There’s a wishfulness in her expression that I love, and her features have been captured flawlessly by the camera. Jourdan was back in frontrunner mode with this shot after a couple of off weeks.

A case could be made for any of my Top 5 to receive the FCO this week, all of them did an amazing job! I’m surprised that Chris pulled off such a strong picture since he was a catastrophe on set, but I’m glad he gave us one more shining moment. This feels so natural, candid, and caught in the moment. The simple pose is perfectly selling the garments. This is also one of his best headshots ever, his bone structure looks great and I love his inquisitive expression into the camera. I personally think Chris was the right person to round out the bottom 3 and I would’ve eliminated him over Nina, but based on this week alone he deserved a place in the Final 5.

Nina had one of the weakest shots out of the remaining contestants but it’s still another good showing from her. While she over-posed a bit, she kind of had to with that bulky dress; if she had done a simpler body position I think the styling would’ve overwhelmed her. Her face is gorgeous as usual, but I wanted more. Her pouty lips have been somewhat of a signature for her recently but they don’t quite work here, and her eyes are bordering on looking sleepy. Based on the week to week sudden-death style of the social media cycles, Nina’s elimination made sense. However, I think her cut showed a major flaw in the scoring system since a frontrunner could be sent home based on one bad week without having their previous work taken into consideration. 

Alexandra finally delivers a shot that impresses me! Her soft, almost slightly melancholy expression is beautiful, and the 3/4 profile angle is definitely her sweet spot. The relaxed sitting pose is nice and works well for the outfit, but I think she could’ve improved things by leaning back further. This is still Alex’s best shot to date and one of my favorites in her entire portfolio.