Saxophonic

To me, this picture displays a musician’s love and dedication to her craft.

Her hair is slightly unkempt, consistent with someone who has been task-oriented, but who is not a slob. Her eyes are in front of her, aware of her audience, but concentrating instead on either the sheet music or the director. The lack of colors conjures up an intensity that has blotted out irrelevant distractions such as skin-tone or background. The position of her fingers, angle of her back, and the way she’s holding the saxophone are all elements that can’t have been comfortable to hold for an extended time, giving credibility to the authenticity of the scene. A lazier model, or someone who is just a model would but corners to make things easier.

Lastly, she is naked, but isn’t embarrassed, posing, or flaunting. She simply is nude. This is one of the purest nude scenes I’ve seen in a while. It’s common to see images like this where the woman’s body is positioned so that her breasts and treasure are strategically shielded by arms, thighs, and nearby objects. Having them visible to us suggests that she is aware of the option of modesty (since it’s been done so many times), but that taking it would compromise her musical ability by a tiny amount, but even that tiny amount would cost too much concentration.

Yes, I’m aware that a slightly different angle wouldn’t give us this visibility; this direction was selected to include exposing her, a detail that adds a lot to the scene. Kudos to the model for maintaining this mood and pose, and congratulations for being selected for the front page.