#jess thomas

JESS THOMAS with Leonie Rysanek & with Birgit Nilsson. Color by El Palco de la Prima on Instagram.

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Jess slayed this photoshoot so hard! She’s really connected with her surroundings as if she’s some sort of nature deity, and her face is so dreamy and serene. She worked the dress super well, and the relaxed elongation of her body and all of the angles she created with her limbs resulted in her overall pose having such an exquisite silhouette. This picture of Jess is a straight up fantastical masterpiece! 

Jess has other shots that are stronger from a purely technical standpoint, but I can help but adore this one! Her face is just so captivating, even with one eye blocked by her hair she manages to draw the viewer in. The awkwardness of her pose actually works too since it’s really fitting for the candid brief. Jess hit the nail on the head with this one!

Jess was a clear standout in this cycle! I absolutely adored her look; her elf-like features were so editorial and high fashion, and her dyed red makeover elevated her even further. All of that translated beautifully on film which resulted in a terrific and versatile portfolio overall. I only gave Jess one FCO for her transcendent Persona picture, but she was still able to stay in the top half of my rankings for the majority of the competition. Her Portrait, Swimwear, Raceway, and After-Party shots were some of the other highlights in her book. I was continually impressed by her performances on set and nearly all of her photos (even her weaker moments) were memorable in some way. She had a few low points, but her hiccup in the Gaultier shoot was the only time she fully disappointed me. Her Fight Club and New York shots were heavily flawed as well, but the former was at least super interesting while the latter can be blamed on blatant sabotage. As much as I hate to admit it, the primary knock against Jess is that she completely failed the go-sees challenge, which was a fairly justifiable reason to eliminate her. However, I still think she should’ve advanced to the finale based on the entire season and she didn’t deserve to be treated as an afterthought by the panel near the end. Jess’s unique look and stellar portfolio made her one of my favorite models in the cast and one of my top picks to win!

So this was clear sabotage right? Jess was doing a ton of amazing things on set and there had to be better options to choose from. I think twisting her torso more to the side would’ve brought more shape to the clothing, but otherwise her pose is solid and I like how she sold the shoes. Her icy eyes are fantastic, but there’s something slightly off about the angle of her face and how the light is hitting her. It’s not a bad shot, just a boring one. I can see why Jess was eliminated since she screwed up the New York go-sees so badly (she was 15-30 minutes late to both appointments and stumbled twice when demonstrating her walk). However, based on the season as a whole I think she should’ve been in the Final 2.