In Praise of Healthy Women
Dayli has posted about a television show (she saw it in Israel, but I don't know if it was an Israeli show) about Israeli fashion photographer Adi Barkan. While mentioning a little bit about his life and activities, Dayli noted the following:
In the past couple of years, Mr. Barkan has decided to fight weight disorders such as anorexia. He started a country wide campaign to hire healthy models for his agency. Every model is examined by a nutritionist, and if she shows sign of a disorder, her parents are called for a conversation, she is not hired, and she receives counseling. He took his battle one step further, and decided to sign Israel's major advertisers on a commitment document, that they will only use healthy models in advertisers, approved by a nutritionist.
These models are gorgeous. No, they are not overweight. But they are not heroin-twiggy-skinny either. They are sculpted to perfection, with every womanly curve in place. And statistically, a single man's campaign has significantly reduced the number of sick girls in this country (by 23% in 2 years).
Here's the perspective of the Jewish News of Greater Phoenix:
He is merely a photographer, but to thousands of Israeli teenagers Adi Barkan is an idol, the gatekeeper to fame and money.
They'll do anything to get his attention, to have his camera capture their image. They'll certainly lose a few pounds to do so - sometimes too many pounds....
Barkan has joined ranks with Likud Party legislator Inbal Gavrieli, who has tabled a bill demanding that models not be employed without a doctor's certification that they're not underweight....
"The number of girls who suffer from anorexia in our small country is unbelievable," Barkan told JTA. "Some 98 percent of the girls who came to my auditions reported they were dieting," and nearly 14 percent were anorexic.
So Barkan publicized a small ad last summer in a local Haifa newspaper inviting girls to show up for a modeling competition called "Healthy Look." Only girls approved by the Health Ministry dietician on hand were allowed to compete in the final stage....
Barkan has met all sorts of aspiring models, including some who couldn't climb the steps to his office because they were too skinny and weak....
But Barkan has made it a rule that when an applicant looks too skinny, he sends her home to gain weight....
The paradox is that Barkan himself used to be one of those who sent fashion models away to diet. He now acknowledges that he indirectly contributed to the anorexia frenzy.
"Obviously I'm part of it," he said, "but those were the days when Calvin Klein extended the contract of super-skinny model Kate Moss and everyone was following the so-called heroin-chic style."
Israeli fashion photographer Adi Barkan works with model Moran Sankovsky, on the balcony of his Haifa studio, Dec. 26.
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