Round One: Legs

Marco Reichert vs. Olaf Martens

We all love legs.  Not only are they incredibly functional, but they can look pretty damn sexy too. Here are two images I found that crop legs so that they become the main subject of the image.

What I like about the first image (Reichert):

It’s a painting and is painted well.  I love the socks.  They stand out as the other tones of the image are similar, so contrast is used well.  The knee-high socks also add an erotic element (as it is somehow sexy if a girl wears socks, but another story if a guy does it).  What is shown of the woman’s skin is quite reserved, and the artist makes great use of cropping to frame the legs well.  The touch of the elbow accompanied by a few strands of hair adds femininity to the image and suggests just enough to keep one titillated without being too vulgar or giving too much away.

What I like about the second image (Martens):

I think the highlight here has to be the cat (I wonder if the cat is almost too central though?).  I love how it is positioned on the figure, but also how menacing it looks.  Definitely not the type of cat I would want to run into.  The legs are positioned well to cover any ‘rude’ parts of the woman, and in doing so she appears naked but covered.  As you cannot see any other parts of her, she almost appears like a mannequin – or simply a part of a mannequin.  Her legs are totally disconnected from a figure.  I remember reading something a long time ago about this objectifying women as it encourages body parts to be seen and sexualised in isolation from a person.  But, I don’t think this is of concern here, and personally find the legs to be less sexualised than those in the first image.  The image has a creepiness to it which is something I like.  Is the cat protecting her (the feminine) or is it a threat to her, about to pounce and damage her?

Conclusions:

Despite Martens’ image having arguably more interesting aspects going on through the cat, I am going to award Reichert as the winner, simply because I find the aestheticism of the image so much stronger.

Do you agree?  Let me know who you would crown winner.