To: pml1@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [PML1] Classic Centerfold: Sandy Johnson
From: Mark Tomlonson
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2003 16:24:06 -0400

This is probably the most intimidating Classic Centerfold critique that 
I've attempted to write. It's not because the Centerfold isn't up to my 
self-imposed and somewhat arbitrary standards for naming a Centerfold a 
"Classic". It's because I have such an immediate and visceral reaction 
to the June 1974 Centerfold of Sandy Johnson. It's hard to separate my 
emotional assessment of it from my appreciation for the artistic tour de 
force of Mario Casilli and the Playboy production staff. Mario Casilli 
was one of the photographers that helped create the Playboy Style, and 
this centerfold shows how that style can bring out the best in the 
models and the settings.

The underlying artistic framework of the centerfold is absolutely first 
rate. Sandy is standing up, legs apart, and leaning forward ever so 
slightly onto a baseball bat. A vertical line is formed with her head, 
torso and left leg and continued in the lattice of the dugout wall. A 
triangle at the base of the line formed by Sandy's right leg, the ball 
bat and the ground adds stability. Color creates yet one more major line 
to the composition: a green arc formed by Sandy's socks, her leather 
jacket hanging on the dugout fence and her hat. Very subtle, very well 
placed and very true to the excellence and taste of the Playboy Style at 
its best.

Color is extremely important throughout this centerfold and the use of 
color makes this one a Classic. The green of Sandy's uniform is a 
wonderful and delightful compliment to her light tan skin and flowing 
red hair. The white dugout wall gives lightness to the mood, the bat 
echoes Sandy's skin tones and the black shoes give a perfect accent. The 
shoes also add a sense of weight at the bottom of the centerfold. The 
bat is a textbook example of the attention to detail for which Mario 
Casilli was known. It's turned so that we see just a hint of the black 
trademark imprint. If the imprint were turned full towards us the black 
would be too much, throwing the colors out of balance. If it were turned 
completely away the bat would seem to be less three-dimensional. Even 
the tape on the bat has a role to play, providing a tie to the dirt 
floor of the dugout and Sandy's lovely skin tones.

Mario knew how to flatter his models. He posed Sandy so that she's 
turned just slightly towards the camera from a profile position. She is 
not by any stretch a heavy woman, but the other pictures in her PMOM 
feature show her to be very full-chested. By turning Sandy, Mario made 
her look many, many pounds lighter and several inches thinner. In a very 
subtle way this plays up her breasts. It is unusual for a woman without 
a lot of body fat to have large breasts - breasts being fat more than 
anything else. Sandy's pose takes pounds off her torso while leaving her 
breasts alone. The result is the appearance of large breasts on a skinny 
woman, which is very rare in the natural world.

But even beyond this, the pose does wonders for Sandy. The right foot is 
set in a way that puts just enough tension in her hip to give it a very 
pleasing line. And by moving it back, the pose has just the right amount 
of sexual invitation. The pose brings out Sandy's fitness, her youth and 
by extension, her desirability as a sexual partner.

The invitation is more forcefully stated in the look on Sandy's face. 
Having the model tilt her head down and then cast her eyes up is one of 
the oldest tricks in the Glamour Photographer's Handbook. (It's right up 
there next to having her wear high-heeled shoes to make her legs look 
good.) But what can I say? It works for me.

Boy does it ever!

Sandy has just the right combination of cute and sophistication. It's 
the look Playboy has almost patented as "The Girl Next Door". Sandy's 
eyes are caught at their brightest, her smile at its most attractive, 
her face at its most appealing. We see a young woman in the photo who 
has met up with us in a time and place we didn't expect, and is now 
ready to treat us in ways we can only hope for. And here's where 
esthetics leave off and emotion begins. For reasons I haven't analyzed, 
the look captured on Sandy's face speaks directly to my Id, racing past 
the censoring mechanisms in the Ego and Super-ego.

To have such a look combined with the absolutely first-rate efforts of 
Mario Casilli and the Playboy Art Staff, throwing in the unaffected 
beauty of Sandy Johnson, makes this centerfold a Classic.

Mark Tomlonson
Kalamazoo MI