When I was a teenager, I couldn’t help but feel surprised at so many magazines with Glamour Images on the covers which I frequently spotted when shopping in bookstores and magazine stores. Not only did women-centered magazines like Vogue or Cosmopolitan or Maxim had such covers but I would be amazed to see glamorous ladies showing off their skins in magazines related to Mens Health. I and my mates inevitably ended up looking at those attractive magazine covers and pondering why such images would decorate Men’s magazines. In addition, I was more than amazed to notice that the shelves with such magazines emptied at the speed of light. After I became more knowledgeable about advertisement and plucked up some photographic experience, I have unraveled the secret. It is quite simple - “sex sells”
For many soaring artists sexual context and motifs are a formula of success in Glamorous Photography, as there is hardly a more influential stimulus to be used on the market. The cover of almost any periodical edition is vital for attracting customers, and sexually appealing glamour images provide the right psychological trigger - for men, they perform a role of something desired and irresistible, and for women they become a certain role-pattern or a paragon of glamorous and sexy appearance.
In the past, average women responded negatively to covers with extra glamorous images or with explicit sexual content. However, now with the advancement in electronic media and the ubiquity of pop culture, women have been more glamorized and tend to love covers with such glamour images. Therefore, as photographers, we need to give extra emphasis in trying to create glamour image while doing female shots. If a cover of a magazine has a glamour image of a well toned female in a stunning pose, it will definitely appeal to the people of all ages or sex, and it definitely will have a better value in the market. We all still remember how popular the cover of Vogue go when teenager Miley Cyrus bared almost everything for the shot of the infamous glamour image that caught the attention of the world. So as photographers, need to keep that in mind and try to create sensual glamour image because we know that sex sells.