ESPN The Magazine’s second annual “Body Issue” hit the stands with more titillating shots of incredible athletic bodies. 
At least one of the photo subjects is presented in a light, so different and new, it makes you appreciate what artistic photography can accomplish. Despite that, some might say it’s all too much information.
Photos were taken of the New York Knicks’ Amrar’e Stoudemire, WNBA star, Diana Taurasi, Team USA goalie, Tim Howard, golfer Camilo Villegas, Dutch wheelchair tennis player, Esther Vergeer and last but certainly not least, the entire USA Women’s Water Polo Team.
More than one cover shot was produced and used, so that you don’t know which one you’ll see when you open up your mailbox to find the magazine. In homage to Playboy there is a full color pull-out of the cover suitable for framing, or just admiring in any way you see fit.
No delicate body parts displayed in full, but it is clear that the photo subjects are completely naked. As with any nude modeling shoot, subjects have been expertly directed how to use their arms, hands and legs to obscure the “money shot” so to speak.
What might shock some is the seeming ease with which the athletes display their many assets without much between them and the camera lens. The athletic bodies are works of art in and to themselves and in at least one case, that of Ms. Taurasi, her beauty is seemingly discovered once she rids herself of a basketball uniform and her on-court ponytail.
“Doing the shoot was something (new), and I had fun with it,” Taurasi claims. We can all attest to the reasoning behind her participation as expressed by her agent, who says that fans and the public will see his client in a new light; no pun intended.
The women’s water polo team is captured in an underwater ballet setting with strategic placing of water bubbles. Amar’e Stoudimire and Tim Howard utilize their large hands to cover their privates and Camilo Villegas executes that unbelievable push-up maneuver to look at break on a green prior to his putts, without anything between him and the grass.
The amazing transformation of Taurasi, from plain Jane hoop star to glamorous photo subject is similar to the reaction to last year’s stunning cover photo of tennis star Serena Williams. Glamorized and lit in the most favorable way, Serena’s body is as sculpted as any classic marble piece of art in a museum. It makes you realize that while in action at their respective sports, we are missing a whole heck of a lot.
The usual critiques have erupted about the message that nude photos send to the many young fans of these athletes. It’s not clear what that message is, other than the fact that these folks got paid for taking off their clothes and the shots are as far removed from “sexting” digital phone shots as one can get.
With the hoopla still swirling about the latest crotch photos of someone who is purported to be Vikings QB Brett Favre, the stark contrast between that kind of nasty stuff and The Magazine’s cover shots is plain for all to see.
Used with permission of the author.
Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.
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