#phntmc2week1

Jan already had a big advantage from the other girls due to being from an athletic background but even with that, this photo is breathtaking! I gasped when I first saw it, it’s one of the best underwater photos in any NTM. Her pose is simple yet executed perfectly. I live for the dramatic bend of her back and how she nailed the laid back pose. The silhouette of her body makes her look about 6 feet tall and shows off her body and the fabric well (it was captured at the perfect time too, I love how it looks like blood slowly draining from her!). The lift of her leg with the stretched out arms makes the pose so dynamic to look at. Jan’s profile isn’t her best angle but the calmed serene look on her face matches with the dramatic pose. This was a well deserved FCO from the judges!

I’ll repeat myself from the AsNTM rankings but Adela on this show was an unstoppable force to be reckoned with, and you’ll see in the upcoming weeks how Adela was pretty much nerfed to the ground when she modeled in AsNTM C6. This and my FCO were one of the few successful shot where they told a story while looking calm and relaxed. Adela’s pose has a lot of flaws to it, mostly the weird hand to the camera and the way she snuched her body (making herself look shorter than she actually is) but I actually love the photo because of the flaws. She looks like she’s drowning but in a beautiful way. The inhale alongside her soft expression adds a corpse-like feeling to the shot. The point to the camera is quite dramatic but it works for me! I do wish it was taken at a better angle since Adela’s shot could benefit from that but the flaws of the shot make it for what it is. 

If it weren’t for the missing arm, then this could’ve rivaled Adela’s and Jan’s shots as one of the best of the week. I love how she moved with the fabric and incorporated it into the shot, like some sort of dance in the water. The bend of the back makes her pose stand out more, than Kim who just kept it simple and straight, with the bend of her back, Sarah was able to make the shot more unique and less tryhard. Being the shortest of the group at 5’4, she did the best she could at elongating herself and even if she does still look short, she did the best she could! Her face is quite impressive considering how hard the pose looked like to execute. She looks calm and the determined look in her eyes is admirable. There are some flaws with the shot though, obviously the fact that she looks very short here and how she missed half an arm here. The hand also looks very claw-like as well. I admire Sarah’s determination here and she did the best she could!

Aivie looks like she’s drowning but fashionable. It’s the equivalent of Yoanna’s Underwater shot from C2 where she looks dead but happy at the same time. It’s obviously also a polarizing shot, I for one like both of these photos. Aivie’s pose is very basic and seems lifeless but she moved around the water well. Her pose tells a nice story, like Angela, it looks like she's falling rather than drowning, even if Angela executed it better. It’s simple but sweet, her body looks great and she spread her limbs out well enough so it doesn’t look tense like the other shots below. Her face could’ve been tweaked a bit. I do like the theatrical expression with her closed eyes and lifted head but it does look very pained. Even with that major flaw, I kinda dig it for how much she looks like she’s slowly dying and enjoying her last moments (the black water also adds to it, a lot of people don’t really like it, personally, I love it). Aivie started off pretty well.

Angela’s only up this high due to her body. It’s one of the best poses of the week. She made herself look much taller than she is and the overall feeling of falling in the shot is a nice idea. She did lose one of the lengths of the leg though. Because of the shadow around her, it barely looks like she was struggling with the posing, like she’s falling rather than being underwater, it's a really nice illusion personally. However, her face drags the shot down for me. She showed off her bone structure well but the closed eyes alongside the snarl makes her look very uncomfortable and scared. Angela had a great pose but her face drags the shot down to third for me (Aivie was originally my 5th spot but the flaws of Angela’s face overpowers it).

Blaise went for a more action-focused shot more than the others. It’s admirable but there are some big flaws with the shot. Mainly, it’s how she hid her body and the awkward positioning of the legs. However, the rest of the shot is pretty decent. I like the curious expression on her face and the dainty way she’s holding her hand near her jawline. I also have to give her props for doing something more different than the rest of the girls. She doesn’t look in pain and she did take a risk. Even if it isn’t the best shot, Blaise’s shot is certainly very memorable to me.  

So fun fact about Janny, she’s bisexual so it’s nice to have some representative in the cast (a lot of the cast is very diverse in looks as you can tell). Janny has a great face but her pose is.. bad. It’s super stiff and even if we ignore the fact that she’s cocooning herself in, she made herself look shorter than she already is (5’5). However, I like her face here. The determination and anger in her eye is great and her bone structure was shown off nicely here. Also, now I think about it, I prefer the reflection of her more than the Janny herself. It’s a decent start for one of my favorite models of the cycle but I wish she had a better start than this.

Spoiler, this will be one of Ann’s better photos so that should set up how bad her portfolio’s going to be. This is especially a repeat of Jennifer from BNTM’s underwater shot, same pose and everything but with a different face. Like said shot, it looks so stiff and uncomfortable. She lifted her legs too far up so she looks very short and the overextended arms are way too stiff for my taste.  However, I can give her some props for going for a more commercial vibe with the shot. Her smile does look tight but I do like the joy in her eyes, plus the closed eyes was executed pretty well. It’s a meh shot but it’s one of Ann’s best in hindsight.