Must wear Professional Undress

So the other day at work one of the local authors handed us a advance copy of one of their books and on the back like most books they had the author's portrait. The difference between the person we saw on a regular basis was startling.

One of the jokes we have at work is his how authors always seem to be giving the Literary version of “Blue Steel” whenever they pose for their book jackets. The poses, how they are dressed, and how they look at the camera, all seem to suggest that they are as well acquainted with GQ Magazine as they are with any Thrillers, Mystery, Science Fiction or High Culture Literature. Our local author was not an exception to this rule.

What becomes striking when you witness this transformation is how certain professions or parts of a profession such as book jacket photos, are such departures from the everyday appearance of the person. Ironically the place where I first noticed this transformation is in a profession with the least amount of clothes Porn.

A couple of years ago I came across 30 Porn Stars portraits by Timothy Greenfeld-Sanders a famous portrait photographer. After the initial 12 year old reaction (Hehehehe nekkid people, OMG they are so big.) I began to notice a very true thing having to do with their state of undress. A lot of the portraits of porn stars in the nude were more done up than pictures of them with clothing.

Ironically it was never more obvious to me than observing a profession that requires very little clothes how much clothing/presentation are a part of any occupation. Whether your job requires no clothes, casual clothes or conservative clothes you're always putting on a costume, Whether you're a porn star or a Drag Queen or a author (In fact there is a famous quote by a drag queen that I'm paraphrasing, that basically everyone wears drag its just a question of when and what type.) This practice has made me question the old adage “Never trust a Book by its cover.” especially since book companies, authors and other people involved with books pay it no heed.

Clothing sells the type of book being offered. While Tom Clancy could probably pull off one of Danielle Steel's Ball Room Gown's it would send the wrong message about the type of military/spy books he writes. If you were writing an Academic book and just happened to be built like a Adonis on Steroids your book jacket would still not be of you showing off the muscles. You can even tell what mode a author is in by what they are wearing

Its quite easy to tell by my lack of fashion that I don't spend a lot of time contemplating what people wear or don't wear for that matter, but looking at Book Jackets all Day makes you think about it. But its always amazing to notice how transformation is especially when we witness it in action.