Tony Duran Knew What He Was Shooting

After some distinctly unflattering beach shots of Kate Upton circulated that week, I found myself genuinely questioning the consensus—why is she the one everyone loses their mind over? The question answered itself when Tony Duran’s photos of Emily Ratajkowski landed on my screen. He shot her alongside a few colleagues, and the result is the kind of work where the subject clearly understands exactly how she looks and is completely unbothered by that fact. Ratajkowski has always had that quality: a self-possession that photographs better than conventional beauty.

It’s not that Upton isn’t attractive; she obviously is. It’s that Ratajkowski makes you forget the question entirely. The stomach, specifically. She has the kind of definition that works from across a room and up close, which is rarer than it sounds. Duran knew exactly what he was photographing and shot accordingly.

There’s no argument to make here. Some people just win the photogenic lottery, and Tony Duran is very good at cashing the ticket.