TASKS:

1.) UPSIDE DOWN
This first task is a nod to the semifinals wherein Garrett and Reece were in. This has been one of my favorite photoshoots to date, it's tricky but you can showcase a lot. Your only goal here is to look amazing even upside down. Your task is to pick a photo, turn it upside down. Again your task is to present a photo that is modelesque even if it's turned 180 degrees.

2.) RECREATE
This next task is a nod to Taylor and Reece as both of them appeared on their NTM journey.  It's time to go back to the past, your NTM past. It is now time to recreate something you think you could've done better. In a pool of interesting photoshoots you've already done, I believe in some way you think one of your photos could've been better. It's now that time to rewrite the past. Show us another photo that you think would have been that better choice.

3.) INFINITY STONE
This is where Garrett and Taylor shared a common ground. Your task today has something to do with the MCU. More specifically here we are talking about Infinity Stones. There are six infinity stones Space, Mind, Reality, Power, Time, and Soul. Understand the stone and its power and importance. In short, be the stone. NOTE: This is on a first come, first pick basis. No repetition of stones.

4.) MALAIKA
And of course, NTM19 wouldn't be complete without our beloved judge, Malaika. So obviously this is a nod to one of our NTM judges. For your task this week, we will be looking deeply into Malaika's NTM past. More specifically we are bringing back her amazing portfolio. Your task? Your task is to bring your own take and provide a similar element to a photo of your choosing (of course post the link of the particular shoot).
Malaika's NTM portfolio: https://postimg.cc/gallery/jtZbptx

All of this shall be submitted within 48 hrs. Provide explanations for the shoots that need it. Failure to submit would affect you very much since it's the semifinals. Thank you and good luck Top 4!

NOTE:

2.) For Recreate - you can only recreate photoshoots, do not recreate a challenge.

4.) Malaika's tribute is not first come first pick basis.

Anja Rubik

I like to take risks in this game... So I think my definition is: all or nothing. Hope you guys enjoy.

1.) UPSIDE DOWN
Link: https://imgur.com/0P9006b

Explication: My photo represents an inner peace, given that I managed to get far in the competition. In addition, my goal was also to demonstrate a peace through the white tones and the shade of yellow in my clothing represents my optimism and lightness to reach the end of this season. A minimalist photo, cohesive and simple, but with an important meaning and a significant fashion tone. Beautiful at every angle.

2.) RECREATE
Link: https://imgur.com/xWyq1Ua

Explication: I'm recreating the photoshoot I was eliminated in (Photoshoot #6). The goal was to represent one of the Taylor Swift eras, and I chose EVERMORE.

This time, I'm embracing the concept of loneliness and redemption behind the era in question. EVERMORE is about someone who is going through a sadness after a complicated relationship, feels isolated and is in a place alone to redeem themselves. But even with this process of sadness, it is also a time of self-discovery and the search for redemption.

I'm portraying the sadness (and anger) of the end of a relationship that was bad and kept her trapped by her insecurities. However, the tone is one of nostalgia, hope, and acknowledgment that it was good, has come to an end, and will return to being good—with someone else or not (the remote environment represents this quest for understanding and redemption).

3.) INFINITY STONE
Link: https://imgur.com/a/7ewwpEW

Explication: The soul jewel is one of the most difficult and cruel jewels to obtain. In addition, it is one of the most powerful. In order for someone to get this jewel, the bearer must sacrifice what he loves most. A soul for a soul, that's the representation of my picture. A sacrifice of someone I love, with the goal of gaining the power to control souls from the world of the dead and the living. The main focus of this essay is Anja's gaze, which demonstrates a sense of guilt about what she just did to get the powers.

4.) MALAIKA
Link: https://imgur.com/7acE4G9
Malaika: https://postimg.cc/qtNz1GLV

Explication: I chose a photo of Malaika that represents very well the style of Anja Rubik: different, impactful and strange. I believe these two photos could be from the same essay, depicting a suspicious, staring, serial pose in a non-standard location. In Malaika's case, on the beach, with strange objects around her. In the case of Anja Rubik, a road, with minimalist characteristics, in which she is the highlight. In my opinion, this essay would be focused on the pose and look of each model, in order to impact who is seeing the photo.

1.) UPSIDE DOWN
https://i.imgur.com/Ow2hL4a.png

For the upside down shot I thought I'd bring something that we didn't have in the competition that I was looking forward to having, which was the theme of sportswear.
Well, I decided to put the two strands together and make this delivery for you, I hope you like it, I think the two vibes match.

2.) RECREATE
https://i.imgur.com/Cj9SoOk.jpg

For the task of recreating a competition photo I decided to go with the week 7 theme, where we had to deliver a black or white/grayscale photo and give it some vibe.

Well, for this task, my inspiration was the slasher murder movies of the 80s/90s. We can compare the photo with moments in which the murderer or someone from the murder troupe faces the scene where something violent has already happened.

3.) INFINITY STONE
https://i.imgur.com/dO42GKy.jpg

The jewel that gives access to all the power and energy that ever was or will ever be. The user who owns this jewel becomes virtually invincible.

In my view, power is synonymous with domination. In the photo we can see Jackson embracing a sphere, this being the representation of a planet, and the others behind being all the planets already dominated by him.

4.) MALAIKA
https://i.imgur.com/pI0SFmJ.jpg (Inspiration: https://i.imgur.com/uK6Ipr9.jpg )

For the Malaika-inspired photo I decided to go in a direction that represents me, and I decided to look for something in serenity.

We can see both models lying down and enjoying the simple pleasure of being there.

(Jewel of Power for Jackson if its not clear)

V

1)Upside Down
https://imgur.com/RHWLzED

2)Recreate

I’m redoing my week 2 photoshoot.
Portraying Cara Movies : The Face of an Angel
Previous submission : https://imgur.com/a/9zShDQk
Submission: https://imgur.com/cyvBN6S

My focus is the main character Thomas, a movie director who was interested in creating a movie based on a book called The Face of an Angel, based on true murder case.

When Thomas started his work the trial was still going on for the murder of Elizabeth by her problematic flat mate Jessica. However, Thomas and many others believed Jessica to be innocent.

I am portraying Thomas who got too involved in the murder investigation and almost lost himself digging too deep in the wrong directions and suspected his informant and got into a fight with him and ended up getting charged.

I am sitting all bruised up in my hotel room after the whole incident with my informant Eduardo. Even though I got into a fight and got charged, it wont stop me from pursuing the truth as I am holding a newspaper chasing articles about the murder case trying to find the real culprit.

3)Infinity stone
I have decided to pick the reality stone

With reality stone, I am able to recreate a copy of any living entity. However, the downside being that the copy is never 100% authentic. Whenever I feel lonely and sad in this competition, I create a copy of my partner to feel their touch. They come to me wearing their favorite red coat in the image of a hanger.

https://imgur.com/uzRyRpE

4. Malaika

https://postimg.cc/f3SRcRzM
I’m recreating this shot using Malaika’s pose while dressed in one of my favorite attires, a suit.

Submission: https://imgur.com/jVeP0T2

1) UPSIDE DOWN

https://imgur.com/a/OWgEXsd

I genuinely think this pic just looks better upside down, the pose I’m making looks much less awkward and fits better upside down than normal ways!

2) RECREATE

Now the photoshoot that I’ve chosen to recreate is the OBJECTS photoshoot! For that week I chose curtains but I kind of rushed it and chose the first thing I could find and the link between curtains and my pick was a real stretch.

However, while this photo is much more simple I feel it really matches with the object I’ve chosen which is a CANDLE! Like when I first saw this the first thing that popped into my head was a candle! While my curtains photo was a beautiful photo and this is much simpler, it gets the object across much better which is the aim and so I feel like I’ve done a much better job here!

3) INFINITY STONE

https://imgur.com/a/fuTISqw

I have chosen the Mind 🧠 Stone! The purpose of the mind stone is to control others minds and ultimately what they do! In this photo I have used the mind stone to manipulate all these people to worship me and be my followers! However, you can see in the pic how they’re angry and trying to throw things at me which represents their actual mind but the power of the mind stone is stopping them from actually fulfilling those actions due to my manipulation. They will remain under my mind manipulation until the mind stone is taken from me.

4) MALAIKA

https://imgur.com/a/xSQbRf5

I decided on this pic of Malaika’s as she just looks so laid back but in control. Her face looks fierce and her posing gives off female boss energy. I wanted to emulate that in my pic giving a similar facial expression and even scarily similar pose with the same hand up and the legs turned to the right!

Forgot to link AGAIN sorry!

2) RECREATE

https://imgur.com/a/fbg7QHo

REFERENCES:

ANJA
2.) Recreate - Original Photo: https://imgur.com/a/N2S0lXq

JACKSON
2.) Recreate - Original Photo: https://i.imgur.com/wVKUg7d.jpg

V
2.) Recreate - Original Photo: https://imgur.com/a/9zShDQk

RIANNE
2.) Recreate - Original Photo: https://imgur.com/a/osmS2zv

XXCLOSEDXX

Semifinals task judging will be:

Upside Down - Jerard, Garrett, Malaika, Reece
Recreate - Jerard, Taylor, Malaika Reece
Infinity Stone - Jerard, Garrett, Taylor, Reece
Malaika - Jerard, Garrett, Taylor, Malaika

Panel will be on July 13, 6:00 PM EST

Hello everyone, congratulations on the Semi-Finals and I cannot wait to see who makes the final as I see this as anyone’s game. Good luck everyone and let me get to the critiques.

Upside Down:

Anja - This is nice and simple, there’s really nothing much to say about it, I love the bright colors especially the contrast of your yellow outfit to the white background, and I just love the illusion of you floating or hanging on the ceiling, I think I wish to see your shadow a bit more since there’s a lot of white space that makes it seem a bit odd to me, especially with your posing but overall it’s a solid shot, I also love your facial expression and focus.

Jackson - It’s very interesting you use this theme as a way to portray a theme you wished to use which is sportswear. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this upside down shot because it’s definitely unconventional in terms of shots we’ve seen on this before, and I love the perspective of you stepping on the camera. Not sure how I feel about this being an upside down shot it seems like the upside down portion of it is working against the photo but overall I really enjoy the risk here as like I said it’s a bit unconventional and there are elements that I appreciate that work in its own right so I applaud for taking a risk.

V - Again similar with Jackson I’m not entirely sure if the upside factor of this photo is working for this photo, but also I do think it’s pretty unconventional since a lot of the shots we experience with this theme are playing with gravity and looking up, I wish here I had a little bit more of a full body shot so I could see gravity playing mind tricks, and I wish your pose was a bit more dynamic for the theme. I do really love your head and the hand on your head though and think perhaps just something more wide can really take this to another level. Overall it’s a decent shot but I’m not sure if this shot would be semi-final worthy.

Rianne - This is probably my favorite shot for this theme for me, especially as you said it, it looks so much better upside down. My goal for this theme was hoping to see a photo that could be intentionally upside down and I think you really nailed this. I love the flow of your hair and the balancing you are doing on that bean. It just seems like you're holding onto dear life hanging upside down, but you're feeling free doing it. With your posing and everything, it just looks right for me and I really think this is a really good shot. My only critique here is perhaps angling your body so we see either more front or back so we can see more flow with that outfit you’re wearing that strengthens the illusion.

Recreate

Anja - THIS THIS is what I’m talking about, this is how to completely redeem and recreate something from a flop photo. I was absolutely heartbroken seeing you go home because of your photo which was deemed too bright and bubbly for an album like Evermore. This photo is more dark and ominous, and it seems like you’re trying your best to live with what you have but the struggle is apparent in your photo. You are bringing the fight to make sure you hit the finale, and I honestly think this photo should secure your ticket. One critique like always is that I want you to move the hair out of your face so I could have a really pained expression or some sad expression, but I just really enjoy this photo and I’m really happy you took the critiques from the original photoshoot and brought into something wonderful.

Jackson - I’m honestly really surprised that you chose this photo to recreate because I didn’t personally judge this challenge but I do think your shot wasn’t really bad, and I enjoyed the unique perspective of the posing. Onto to this shot I’m not exactly sure how to feel exactly, I love the play on shadows and the shattered glass and I totally get your reference to the slasher flicks from back then but I wish you had that uniqueness in your posing that you had in the original photo, I think maybe a more intense facial expression that looks a bit more crazy, or you playing with levels of depths of putting an arm in front of you like your trying to come in. I can tell you're the murderer but you’re a bit too chill for me.

V - I’m so happy you recreated this photo, I know you haven’t had any major hiccups in the competition, a few close calls, but I don’t honestly think there was any moment I would say you flopped dramatically including the megaleg where you did you best with great photos. This is no exception, the photo you originally provided wasn’t bad. I just didn’t like how you used just the title but I really enjoy how you actually went in depth this time, and went to a storytelling aspect. Do I think I’ve seen photos like this before? Yes, but I do appreciate the effort to really secure yourself a strong recreation. I can definitely see your description here, as just a guy looking at someone who entered and is like “let me tell you what happened” and he’s just over it. My only critique here is I wish it was a bit zoomed in on you in your chair and the ELLE was gone but overall it’s a good photo.

Rianne - Again another challenge I wasn’t a judge on, and I think this is the only photoshoot recreation where I don’t think you necessarily improve by any means. I do appreciate that you used your fiery red hair as the candle flame throughout, but you went from a full body shot to just a face shot which… I’m not entirely sure it was the best move here. Your face looks fierce, and I enjoy the little smile you have (and the duck lips ;) ). I just don’t think you did this recreation justice in my opinion, I feel like with your brand and your portfolio I was hoping for a really strong outside the box item and it just felt safe for this photo which… may hurt you in the long run.

Malaika

Anja - I do appreciate your description here and I have to agree that these could be in the same essay about modeling, I do think if your goal was to match the posing I wish you would have tighten up like how I was showing in the photo, but I really like how these two photos are telling two different stories in a way, but with a similar concept, there’s a lot going on with my side but something simple on your side. The edge of the road? You’re standing also really adds to it. It’s a nice photo, nothing super special but I can definitely see the Malaika references in it, so good job!

Jackson - This is probs one of my favorite shots I ever did (and I think i should have won the challenge last season), and I think you really captured the essence of the emotion and serenity in the photo, I am a bit confused on how the positioning works here are you hosting yourself up? Are you in a zero gravity chamber? Something about this confuses me a bit but the concept is there and I really think this is one of the better Malaila shots in this semi so really good job here Jackson!

V - What I really love about this shot V is how you took the grunge feel of the Malaika shot, took the element of posing and intensity, but shifted it to a more academic vibe and aesthetic which I really love, the challenge wasn’t to recreate but to take elements and make it your own. I think this really could be a good standalone picture but in the addition of the challenge, I think you really did well here. Just a minor nitpick here I would have loved to see a more casual academic look in this photo to match the casual grunge clothing Malailka hard but it’s such a tiny nitpick that it didn’t really affect my score at all.

Rianne - Now I’m honestly amazed at how you were able to really take this bad feminine energy but make it yours. I do wish you weren’t wearing the dress so you could really kick that leg it, but as I look at these photo side by side I can’t help but feel the same energy like I believe this was my star sign photoshoot and I had Taurus, and honestly I feel the photo you submitted could be the submitted for the same challenge which wasn’t something I was looking for but it worked out in your favor. I do think you need to work on the facial expression a bit since it isn’t an exact match and it kinda seems like you’re uncomfy, but just a minor thing good job!