To: pml1@yahoogroups.com
From: Mark Tomlonson
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 15:13:32 -0500
Subject: [PML1] Classic Centerfold: Holly Witt

Portraying "The Girl Next Door" is the ideal Playboy has used to set 
itself apart from the competition. True, the models in Hustler and 
Penthouse live next door to somebody, but the Playmates look like they 
could live next door to us. In the case of Holy Witt, it's even closer 
than next door for me - she looks enough like my sister to make 
lascivious thoughts uncomfortable. But Arny Freytag has done an 
outstanding job on this November 1995 centerfold - good enough that I 
can get past this idea of kissing my sister and see the centerfold as 
one of Playboy's Classics.

The first thing I notice about Holly is that even for a Playmate, she 
has the biggest pair of . . . lips that I can recall. I've heard rumours 
that Hef's favorite color is red, and he asked that the red printing 
screen be brought out in some of the early centerfolds. Looking at June 
Blair's January 1958 centerfold, it's easy to believe the story. June's 
red lipstick almost leaps off the page. But Holly's lips, while just as 
red, have a more tender, inviting look. Some of it is because of more 
sophisticated lighting, some of it because of a more sophisticated 
printing method, but I'd also like to think it's also the result of a 
more sophisticated attitude on the part of Playboy and its readers as to 
what constitutes an erotic photograph. As Playboy highlighted in a 
February 1986 pictorial, lips are the "portals of desire", and the 
lighting, shape and texture of Holly's lips make for a very inviting portal.

Those luscious lips and Holly's gorgeous face are framed as she raises 
her arms to the clothesline overhead. This also allows her partially 
undone peasant blouse to frame and cup her breasts. Arny Freytag has 
chosen to highlight not their size and shape (as he does in other shots 
in the PMOM feature) but their softness and caressability. At least at 
the time the centerfold was shot, Holly's build was a rare combination - 
large breasts but not a lot of overall body fat. The pursuit of this 
look, which is very popular in the '90's - is what leads a lot of women 
to get implants, as that is nearly always the only way to achieve the look.

Besides a differing treatment of color, centerfolds of the '90's are 
much different in terms of the underlying geometric construction than 
their forebears. The lines of a foldout of the '60's can often be 
sketched with a straight edge, and they form the major element of the 
successful design. In the '90's, the forms are drawn with a French 
Curve, and because the photographers can work much more freely with the 
other elements - color, how much the model is showing, the implied 
situation - the composition moves to a supporting role. This is 
certainly true in Holly's centerfold. The shapes and proportions, while 
well-done and very pleasing (including Holly herself!), are subdued and 
understated. The use of color and pattern is equally well done, and 
equally subtle. The pattern on her blouse matches the painted pattern on 
the porch wall behind her, and a collection of flowers on the porch 
floor echo this same splash of color.

As I de-construct the technique behind the centerfolds for these little 
essays, I am constantly astounded by the skill shown by Playboy's 
photographers. If you can tear your eyes away from Holly long enough to 
look at the background of this Classic Centerfold, you'll see a 
background lit in such a way that it glows, but balanced with the 
lighting on Holly so that it never draws attention away from the model. 
That bra and nylon she's hanging on the clothesline have a more 
important role than just hinting at intimacy - they provide a diffuse 
background that frames and highlights Holly's face and torso. Focus also 
plays a role in this - Holly and the design on her blouse are defined 
sharply, in contrast to the background.

The implied situation has Holly hanging up the wash. Perhaps we, the 
boy-next-door, have just dropped by to offer her some assistance. The 
situation isn't so much to remind us of actual situations we've been in, 
but more an echo of the pin-up settings of the classic pin-up art of 
Petty and Vargas. While it's true that Holly is shown just afterwards, 
sudsy water and a pretty, nearly naked woman just seem to go together. 
For my Grandfather's and Father's generation it was laundry or bath day. 
For mine, it's outstanding cinema like "Bikini Carwash Company, Part II".

What draws my eyes to this centerfold time and again, what makes it a 
Classic, even more than Holly's amazingly attractive form and those 
luscious lips, is the wistful look Arny Freytag has captured on her 
face. Looking at Holly's expression evokes feelings of sweetness and 
tenderness. It's also a bit ambiguous. It's hard to tell if Holly is 
missing a past lover and we are here to comfort her, if she is 
remembering some special time in our own relationship or even if her 
mood has anything to do with an erotic romance at all. The mystery draws 
us into the photograph and provides the hint of personal intimacy that a 
successful pin-up needs.

A stunning woman who looks like she could live just around the corner, a 
photographer who has captured her beauty at its best - a Classic 
Centerfold from November 1995.

Mark Tomlonson
Kalamazoo MI