Bodies We Want. All The Athletes In The Buff from the 2011 ESPN Body Issue.

above: Athletes Blake Griffith and Hope Solo pose au naturel for ESPN's Body Issue

ESPN The Mag’s 3rd Body Issue, went on newsstands yesterday, Friday, October 7 and features over 22 athletes in the buff, revealing their physiques while tastefully concealing their other assets. Athletes who span the world of sports including the four cover athletes below: Hope Solo, Gretchen Bleiler, Blake Griffin, and Jose Reyes.




The much-anticipated issue is a celebration and exploration of the wide variety that is the athletic form demonstrated through creative photography, in-depth interviews and a variety of features including “Bodies We Want,” where The Mag once again celebrates the strength, grace and perfection of the athletic form featuring 22 of the sleekest physiques in sports.

Celebrity and portrait photographers Francesco Carrozzini, Alex Cayley, Jeff Riedel, Luis Sanchis, Peter Hapak and Alan Clarke shot the following 24 photos for the issue and the four covers. The following images are grouped by photographer and some have been cropped for this post. The athletes and their corresponding sport are listed at the end of this post.

Apolo Anton Ohno by Francesco Carrozzini:


Gretchen Bleiler by Francesco Carrozzini:

Jose Reyes by Francesco Carrozzini:

Alicia Sacramone by Francesco Carrozzini:

Julie Chu by Alex Cayley:

Ryan Kesler by Alex Cayley:

Jeremy Campbell by Alex Cayley:

Vera Zvonareva by Alex Cayley:

Sylvia Fowles by Jeff Riedel:

Jon "Bones" Jones by Jeff Riedel:

Ryan Hall by Jeff Riedel:

Belen Mozo by Jeff Riedel:

Stephanie Gilmore by Luis Sanchis:

Hope Solo by Luis Sanchis:

Natasha Hastings by Luis Sanchis:

Helio Castroneves by Luis Sanchis:

Steven Jackson by Alan Clarke:

close-up:

Louie Vito by Peter Hapak:

Suzy Hotrod by Peter Hapak:

Kelly Kulick by Peter Hapak:

Sergio Martinez by Peter Hapak:



Athlete / Sport
Alicia Sacramone: Gymnastics
Apolo Ohno: Speedskating
Belen Mozo: Golf
Blake Griffin: NBA
Gretchen Bleiler: Snowboarding
Helio Castroneves: Motorsports
Hope Solo: Soccer
Jeremy Campbell: Discus/Pentathlon
Jon Jones: MMA
Jose Reyes: MLB
Julie Chu: Ice Hockey
Louie Vito: Snowboarding
Kelly Kulick: Bowling
Natasha Hastings: Track & Field
Ryan Hall: Running
Ryan Kesler: NHL
Sergio Martinez: Boxing
Stephanie Gilmore: Surfing
Steven Jackson: NFL
Suzy Hotrod: Roller Derby
Sylvia Fowles: WNBA
Vera Zvonareva: Tennis

Also in the Body Issue, “Nude Awakening,” documents one brave reporter’s account of turning the tables while he interviews L.A. Kings goalie Jonathan Bernier and enforcer Kevin Westgarth, with nothing but a notepad and tape recorder in hand; and “Chasing The Miracle Cure,” a deeper dive into how athletes constantly push the edge of science for an advantage and are stem cell injections the new frontier?

The Body Issue:

The Body You Don’t Want
The scars covering driver John Force are a map of his brutal career. The 15-time NHRA Funny Car champ details one of his crash-filled voyages. As told to Ryan McGee

Pass Interference
Peyton Manning’s gift is his ability to control the game. But learning to let go might be the only way he’ll get back onto the field. By Seth Wickersham

Nobody Walks Alone
A bullet in the back left basketball star Mike Williams paralyzed from the waist down. The help of an old teammate is getting him back on his feet. By Brandon Sneed

images and info courtesy of ESPN Magazine

See videos of the photoshoots and behind the scenes here at ESPN/bodyissue

The Super Sexy Body Painting of Joanne Gair

It dawned on me that I really couldn't mention the talented work of Joanne Gair in the context of a post about body painting without showing you some of her amazing work, so now I've decided to do just that.

Joanne's work is especially sexy in addition to being impressively detailed. She's done the body painting on many famous models for issues of Sports Illustrated over the years, including painted on swimsuits and sports jerseys.

Many a red-blooded male will be very happy I chose to share these with you, as you will soon see.

Painted on Swimsuits for Sports Illustrated:

SI 2009
Brooklyn and Julie:

Irina and Jessica:


SI 2008:
Jessica:

Quiana:

Tori:

Sarah O'Hare and Marisa Miller:


SI Pre-2008:

Rachel Hunter and Heidi Klum:

Yamilla:

Rebecca Romijn and Noemie:

Petra:


Painted on sports jerseys:



Painted on Rock Concert Tees:



Heidi Klum Painted on Pin-Up Series:



and a few more of her amazing images from various projects and editorials:




Joanne Gair :: The Art of Illusion (from her site):

Joanne Gair is an artist and image maker who has emerged as the premiere make-up artist/body painter in the world. Originally from New Zealand, Gair had a keen interest in art photography and exploring different mediums, which is what eventually led her down the path as an illusionist and to the United States.

As a make-up artist and body painter, Gair has worked worldwide with the top photographers, directors, super models and celebrities. Her work spans all media, with many memorable editorial covers and layouts, fashion campaigns, advertising, music videos, commercials and motion pictures to her credit.

Gair’s extensive work with editorial (Vogue, W, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Playboy, Black Book, Harper's Bazaar), fashion campaigns (Donna Karan, Versace, Victoria’s Secret, Guess, bebe) and cosmetic companies (L’Oreal, Maybelline, Revlon, Oil of Olay, Rimmel), has established her as a fixture in the Fashion Industry. Her editorial work spilled over to a two year stint as beauty editor for New York based Black Book magazine.

Almost everyone has seen the August 1992 issue of Vanity Fair, featuring Demi Moore wearing nothing but a suit of body paint. This cover earned Gair worldwide recognition and put her at the pinnacle of the body art genre. The brilliantly painted swimsuits in the 1999 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, featured a twelve page layout using six models as the canvases for Gair’s art. The bathing suits (replicas of original designs) exemplify Gair’s close attention to detail and sense of realism that have made her the master of the art of illusion. Her work has now become a yearly fixture in the SI Swimsuit Issue.



Gair’s first book Paint A’ Licious was released in October of 2005 and featured over 40 new photographed and body painted images. Her second book Body Painting Masterpieces By Joanne Gair, a retrospective of her career to date, was published in 2006. Sports Illustrated released a collection of Gair's body painted swimsuits in the 2007 book In The Paint - The Art of Joanne Gair.

Joanne Gair continues to drive herself to explore and experiment in her work, in an effort to bring something new to a project every time. In an industry besieged by trend followers, Gair has established herself as the trendsetter.

Buy books by Joanne Gair

Joanne Gair website