Lisette Model: Coney Island Bather (1939-1941)

Lisette Model was an Austrian-born photographer who created the numerous series of expressive photographs which crowned her enthusiastic career. Being a versatile person, Model spent her early years training as a musician in Vienna; she studied under the avant-garde composer Arnold Schoenberg who introduced her to Expressionism of the early 20th century, a modernist art movement that conveys the world through the lense of subjective perspectives. 

Coney Island Bather by Lisette Model (1939-1941)

Thus, being impacted by the modern Expressionist outlook, she developed a sense of visual aesthetic by abandoning her musical endeavours and beginning her career as a visual artist. Her aim had always been to attain a genuine expression of the daily life. Initially, she became renowned for a series of photograph she completed in the south of France, photographing men and women resting in deck chairs along the Promenade des Anglais. In 1938, Model moved to the land of opportunities, the United States of America, where she continued her career by photographing subtle essences of the street characters, such as reflections of the individuals in the department store windows in New 

Coney Island Bather by Lisette Model (1939-1941)

York City. Due to the nature of her lively photographs, Harper’s Bazaar Magazine commissioned Model to complete a series of photographs on the Coney Island. Thus, the photographer with the great enthusiasm captured generous forms of a plus-size model using a sense of clever social mockery. The Coney Island Bather is filled with sincere expression of subject matter, a woman who is imbued with verve and energy that make her look aesthetically attractive regardless of her extreme forms. The audience adores her openness and sincerity, therefore nods in agreement that the negative social outlooks on the plus-size ladies are overly exaggerated.