Photographing Women

CHAPTER 2

Body Types

Just like face shapes, we all have different body types. Some women are taller than others. Some women have larger hips than others. Some women have larger shoulders than others. All of our bodies are different (Figure 2.1).

In my previous book, Photographing Men, I discussed how William H. Sheldon, an American psychologist, proposed that body types determined behavior, intelligence, and social status. We now live in a time where we know this is completely false. While psychological profiling based on anatomy is no longer considered to be reliable, as a photographer, understanding that there are different body types does make a difference. For example, photographing an inverted triangle (a woman with larger shoulders) from ...