Cycle 16 of ANTM is finally over and we have a new Top Model. Brittani Kline ftw! I'm so excited for her and I TOTALLY called it.
this post is a few weeks late because i've been so busy, but i really wanted to post it anyway. i love ANTM and i didn't want to ignore the finale.
Over the years, I think people have stopped taking ANTM seriously in terms of its ability to churn out industry-ready models, but i have to admit that even though this show is a HUGE guilty pleasure for me, it actually has taught me a lot about the message and tone of editorial photography, and what is usually expected. It's also taught me a lot (from a photography perspective) about what a model actually needs to be able to bring to the table on a shoot or job.
I loved this season's competition. The finale between Brittani and Molly was very close, and even though i was rooting for brittani, i was pretty sure that molly would win. the two girls emerged as top contenders fairly early on, and though molly pulled ahead towards the end, brittani eventually prevailed.
these two girls are amazing and talented, and i would very literally kill to shoot each of them. individually they both have so many strengths and they're grown into amazing models. i genuinely believe that molly still has the ability to make it without the ANTM title.
in the end, i'm glad that brittani won, but i think that molly put up a formidable fight. between them, they had some of the strongest shots in the competition and i'm not surprised that they made it to the top two. check out some of my favourite shots from the two models after the jump.
but what do you think? do you still watch ANTM? did you think brittani deserved to win or were you rooting for molly? if you were tyra, what would you be looking for in the next face of italian vogue?
(all photos courtesy cwtv.com; ©2011 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved) 
brittani's strength was in the fact that she inherently had a very high fashion look. between the natural contours of her face and the excellent bob that tyra gave her, she looked like she's jumped off a couture runway. her weakness was the fact that she took critiques too personally and let them affect her performance.
molly's strength was in her posing and the intensity she was able to bring in her expressions and angles. she had an innate kind of power that read very dramatically in her photographs. her weakness was in the fact that she wasn't able to mask her negative emotions on set, and it made her come across and cold and indifferent.these are from the "crazy for" shoot at the universal lot (?). i loved molly's photo here and i thought it was an amazingly high fashion story. i can't remember his exact words, but i think this is one of the shots that andre leon talley wanted to put it up in his salon. i completely agree with him. brittani's shot reminded me of a demented wednesday adams! she looked great, but i thought her shot could have been better and more powerful. here she looks like a blank canvas, but she's already been given a story. she should have brought a little more life to her character.
the shots below are from one of the models' early challenges, where they had to pose with jewelry swarming with bees. i genuinely loved both of this shots immensely. brittani's photograph was dynamic and the lines of her body were interesting and beautiful. the curve in her neck and the way the light hit her eyes was magical.
molly's hot was equally beautiful. she looked clean and fresh and beautiful. my favourite part of the shot is the way her lips are parted ever so slightly, and the shapes that are created with her collar bone. it's a beautiful picture of a gorgeous model. what i loved the most about each of these was the way we're able to really see and appreciate the angles in each of their faces.
these photos were from the blondes versus brunettes group shoot:
I really loved this shoot generally, and i thought that all the models did a great job, but that the blondes did a better job overall. the brunette shot was beautiful because of the angles they created, and they shapes they formed with their bodies. the reason that i loved the blondes' shot better was because it came across as more cohesive. while the brunettes were a pile of beautiful bodies, the blondes were more of a framed picture; it seemed more purposeful and deliberate. i think that brtittani shined in this shoot and clearly stood out a front-runner. molly did exceptionally well also, but stood out less because the other girls also did well.
below are more of my favourite pictures from this season, including the girls' covergirl print ads. tell me what you thought about this season in the comments below. did brittani deserve to win?
