Theres a lot of hair in this bookmajor,majorhair.
Connie Fleming inBombshell: Your image is your own: It isnt cast upon you.
When Ethan photographs you, its very empathetic and instinctive.
Bombshellfrom Ethan James Green stars the likes of illustrator and model Connie Fleming.
Its not taking you, the model, the subject, out of the equationit is inclusive.
[ForBombshell,] Ethan gave me the choice of my interpretation, my inspirationwhat I wanted to portray.
Its a little subversive.
Photographer Ethan James Green said in an Instagram post thatBombshellwas “made in the spirit of exploration and playfulness, inviting friends to perform their ideas about archetypes like ‘the bombshell’.”
It is my Blackness, my love ofFaster, Pussycat!
Kill!that Russ Meyer [portrayal of] powerful womenthe idea that femininity is not weakness.
All of these women broke out of that vice, and their power came from that.
Connie Fleming inBombshell: “Your image is your own: It isn’t cast upon you.”
Your image is your ownit isnt cast upon you.
[Viramontes worked on Jacksons cover art forControl.]
So we started with Viramontes.
Bombshell, says Marcs Goldberg, sprang from she, Green, and hairstylist Lucas Wilson doing a hair test.
It was very fluid; we wanted to try what we all loved.
I was always Black Bettiethat was my character.
The shoot was very empowering.
Writer Devan Diaz wrote the terrific introduction toBombshell.In it, she says: “I am a picture, which is to say, I’m being looked at. And there’s a possibility for pleasure in that.”
I refused to let it shame me in any way.
At the same time, I was looking at a couple of blogs, one beingLa Petite Melancolie.
Because of that, it forced us to shoot more nudes than, I think, anyone really anticipated.
“I kept getting stacked with multiple wigs,” says Dara Allen. “I’d never seen myself with that much hair!”
Lucas had brought all these crazy wigs, like crazy Dolly Parton stuffwigs for drag queens, basically.
And that forced a certain silhouette with the face and with the hair that was accentuated by the posing.
Its my understanding that after that day was done, Ethan felt inspired to continue.
The images dont feel as reachablemaybe because of the satirical approach.
And theres a possibility for pleasure in that.
I was blonde for nine months of my life, and Ethan captured that.
I had just ended my relationship, moved out of my apartment, got a new job.
The incubation period [for the book] was during COVID.
Thats what Ethan captured.
That, to me, is what sexiness is: when someone embraces who they are.
Its not about empowerment, because empowerment feels external.
I kept getting stacked with multiple wigs, says Dara Allen.
Id never seen myself with that much hair!
Oh, my goodness.
A bombshell is not clumsy, and I feel like I am quite clumsy [laughs].
I always imagine I could pull it off if I just had the right clothes.
Theres a performance to itno onereallylooks like that; everything about it is put on.
Its not for everyone, but its available to anyone who wants to be that bang out of girl.
Lucas did my hair [for this image]this amazing, big hair.
I kept getting stacked with multiple wigs.
Id never seen myself with that much hair!
Ethans sensitivity is so apparent when he photographs or makes art: hes doing itwithus.
What happens when youre emboldened and want to indulge yourself in sexuality and beauty and joy?
What does that look like as you mature into yourself as a person?
I think thats what this book explores: What it means togrow upin New York.
Bombshell,by Ethan James Green, is out now fromBaron Books.
