To: pml1@yahoogroups.com From: Mark Tomlonson Date: Mon, 02 Feb 2004 10:14:51 -0500 Subject: [PML1] Classic Centerfold: Tonya Crews Until 1983 when Lonny Chin's Playmate video appeared, all the nude pictures of Playmates produced by Playboy were stills. But in the hands of an artist like Mario Casilli, even a still photograph can seem to be in motion, and further, that implied motion can add to and re-enforce the sensual and erotic appeal of the picture. Do you doubt this? Then consider the Classic Centerfold he did of Miss March 1961, Tonya Crews. The centerfold's color scheme is definitely polychromatic. The background is green, Tonya and the patio are tan, and there are bright splashes of blue and yellow scatters around the picture to provide needed points of balance. The colors are all pretty much in the primaries - easier to reproduce faithfully on the printed page. The background is out of focus, as is typical for so many Playboy Centerfolds. The reasons are simple and obvious: our attention is directed toward the lovely models and a nice, colorful abstract background is provided. The foldout is set on a patio, and it would appear that Tonya is working or is about to work on her all-over tan. It's a pleasant late spring day, the kind Midwesterners like me dream about when that beautiful White Christmas snow turns to Ground Hog's Day slush and ice. The viewer is reclining on the patio with Tonya, judging from the camera height. Or if you'd prefer an alternate scenario, perhaps the viewer is the gardener who has suddenly looked up from his work and surprised M'lady in the midst of her sunbath. Whatever it is we're doing, Tonya doesn't seem to mind that we're there, and perhaps is even hinting that we'll be rewarded if we stay. A sexual encounter is a possibility, but is no more than that at this point. Tonya is a lovely woman, but as some of the other shots in her Playmate of the Month feature show, she can be tricky to flatter with a photograph. The other shots show her in a dance studio dressed in a leotard and wearing a bra that shapes her breasts into no form found in nature. (Will we ever be able to accept women in the shapes God makes them?) Thankfully, Mario has found an angle in her centerfold that is extremely flattering and highlights her outstanding un-molded shape. Mario has taken every chance to accent Tonya's curves. By having her lift her arms, the natural curves of her breasts are defined, giving them a far more pleasing shape than that damn brassiere she's wearing in the earlier shots, and far more flattering than the opening shot in the PMOM feature where she's trying to lift her breasts with her arms while at the same time covering her nipples. The lifting arms also add form and definition to her back. There are more than two things on a woman's torso that can have pleasing curves! In particular, I find the way her spine is delineated to be very attractive. While I'm not a "spine man", seeing this photograph reminds me of the times when I've held women in my arms while their backs are flexing, and I could feel those muscles moving as easily as I can see them in this photograph. Tonya's wearing high-heeled slippers. While those stiletto heels aren't going to be much good for walking around on this patio, especially with the blocks so loosely fitted, they are great for accenting the curves in her hips and legs. As much as women suffer wearing high heels, and as impractical as they are for daily use, a picture like this shows why men invented them. (They're not just a plot by podiatrists!) When the foot is extended, either by having the model pointing her toes or by wearing high heels, the muscles in the legs and hips take on very pleasing shapes and curves. Tonya's physical fitness from her time as a dancer also contributes to their well-defined shapes. The added definition in the legs and hips, as in Tonya's back, makes it easy to imagine them moving and flexing under our touch. But the greatest motion of the centerfold is the way Mario has posed Tonya. As our eyes move up her lovely legs to her face, we are swept along in the amazingly graceful curve of her arching back. She's not leaning so far back that we need to worry about her falling over, and having her legs spread apart adds stability. The curve is what forms the compositional basis of the centerfold. It's a curve that I've seen many times in abstract sculptures, a curve that imitates and evokes a dancing candle flame, again giving a sense of motion. As our eyes sweep up that curve, they come upon Tonya's hands, which are in the process of removing her shirt. Tonya's arms are poised in mid-stroke. Her hands will follow the same curve our eyes are tracing as she continues to remove her shirt. It takes almost no imagination to see her finishing the delightful task she has started. The motion is so easy to imagine it's almost like watching a short video every time I look at Tonya's foldout. For some reason, probably one that's buried deep in my psyche, watching a woman remove her shirt is extremely erotic to me - sometimes more erotic than having the shirt off altogether. To have this motion implied so well is the reason that this Classic Centerfold made it into my personal Top Ten. This graceful curve ends in Tonya's lovely face and eyes. She doesn't have a "Supermodel" face, even by 1960's standards, but it is a beautiful, lovely face set off to great advantage by thick, rich, gently waving, flowing hair. Sure, the hairstyle is straight out of "Happy Days", but who cares? I'm more concerned about getting the chance to run my fingers through it! Unfortunately, I'll never get that chance. Tonya, the first Playmate identified as having a Native American heritage, died in an automobile accident five years after her appearance. But we are all made richer by the work Mario Casilli did in capturing and preserving her beauty in the Classic Centerfold. Mark Tomlonson Kalamazoo MI