How to Pose with Attitude

Posing with Props

I’ve always been curious about why people love posing with props in photographs. This leads me onto wondering why people want to adopt these poses and, by doing so, what they are saying to us readers. I was surprised that the great Blogging Queen Caitlin Moran had used the ‘finger under chin’ pose, a huge favourite, in her Sunday Times magazine column.

My favourites, as shown below, are

• People on the phone
• People drinking tea
• People with their hands on their chin.
• People posing with guns.
• People ‘doing the finger’ and why humanity has allowed hand gestures to become so offensive.

Here are some examples.

Firstly, the mysterious ‘hand on chin’ gesture:

Seems to suggest a fight or flight tendency in the subject

Hand gesture used to convey 'serious thinker ready to provide'

Here, the hands to chin pose seems defensive/self protective in nature

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pensive cat: don't mess with me, I'm the Godfather

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to go straight to the 'oh I'm so serious' message....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, people drinking cups of tea, including…..

 

Tony Blair

I have important decisions to make so an Englishman needs tea to think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posing with this cup of cold tea is much more important than engaging with reading public.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Always Be Clinking - the first rules of giving off Prime Minister graveness airs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for some real ‘Attitood’

Google Images had nothing for 'middle finger' gesture except this cute little chap

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every other image returned from search for 'people doing middle finger' were like this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Does my hand look fat in this?” – quote that makes me laugh everytime from Texan comedian Jojo Georgiou.

People posing with guns. You have to get the hip thrust.

The sunglasses and 2 guns look. Of course I'd never pull a trigger, so what am I doing?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The smoking gun...leads me to the suspicious that is dry ice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From blow your brains out to blowers. It’s for me! Look, I’m on the phone.

You heard me. You're fired. Hold though while we get an executive shot for the brochure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you see I'm on the phone? Good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See? It's real.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course if that’s all too much, then say this:  

 

 

I don't need a prop. Just talk to the hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

There you have it.