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Esther Baxter

Very Good Documentary on Video Vixens

This one is a classic. A V H - 1 documentary on video vixens at the apex of the genre, from a few years ago, and the best I've seen. Just about every perspective is represented here, and represented well for the most part. Perhaps my only gripe is that Karrine Stephans is the center piece of this show.

Notwithstanding that, this one should be mandatory viewing for any woman considering doing this. The points made are all still valid considerations today.

This probably won't stay up long, but it's very difficult to find, so I'd suggest using something like Download Helper to save it to disc.


Documentary on Video Vixens by Putney-Swope

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"Video Girl" - Meagan Good Gets Her Video Vixen On... (Movie Review)

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"Video Girl" got a lot of things right - acting, cinematography, and direction are all notable. I always say we need to see more movies about African Americans just living life and doing things everyday people do. This is one of those movies. It tells the story of Lori Walker, strongly played by Megan Good, who moves from her small town to Los Angeles to pursue music video modeling. You can tell that the people involved with making this movie knew the business, because they got the nuances right, like the atmosphere of a music video set. Lorie's submergence into the world of music videos also felt true to real life, as did the interaction between the key players. Good brought her considerable acting experience to bear in this movie, taking it up several notches.

There needs to be a separate mention for cinematographer John Barr, who was camera operator on Capote and Frost/Nixon. This guy knows what he's doing, and he gave the movie a professional, self assured look that is rarely seen in independent African American films. People may not notice small things like the lighting on the golf course music video scene, but as a photographer I certainly did. Bravo John.

Melyssa Ford has a nice part as a bad influence on Lorie. Esther Baxter also has a small part in the movie, as do Suelyn and Angel Lola Luv. All of the supporting cast is fairly good, and particularly La'Myia Good as Lorie's sister (La'Myia is Meagan's real life sis) and Haylie Duff (Hilary's older sister) as Lorie's "friend." (Haylie is uncredited in the movie for reasons unknown to me.)

The first half of the movie is enjoyable in a low key way. If you don't already like Meagn Good, you probaby will after this movie: she apparently has no bad camera angles. The problem comes with the third act of the film, as Lorie succumbs to the fast life in Los Angeles. This part of the movie feels overwrought and drawn out. Additionally, Lorie's sudden cocaine abuse problem feels cliche and dated. (It probably should have been an oxy or vicodin addiction.) But the main issue is that we aren't shown any of the real problems an aspiring video vixen might encounter (e.g., being a single parent, homelessness, rape) in a meaningful way. Success actually comes pretty easily for Lorie, except that "Shark," the music video director who takes her under his wing, becomes overly possessive. There's some back story about issues at home leading to Lorie's unraveling, but it also seems cut and paste.

Despite this, "Video Girl" is still a pretty likable movie. It's not everyday you see a quality black, indie like this, and I suspect that as word gets around, this will become a favorite in the community. Kudos to all involved.

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The History Of XXL's Eye Candy

This history of XXL Eye Candy, which starts with issue number 4 somewhere around '97-'98 and goes through 2006, gives you an idea of the evolution (or perhaps the devolution) of the urban eye candy genre. As you can see, it started off with celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Traci Bingham. This was back when BlackMen magazine still featured women like Tyra and Beyonce on the cover of their magazine.

We also see that Melyssa Ford was an Eye Candy as far back as August 2000, which means she's been in the game nearly a decade now. Notice there is a lot of repetition in those early years, because there was a dearth of name brand eye candy models. People like Gloria Velez, Sincerely Ward, and Pasha were all featured twice.

And then between 2004 and 2006, urban modeling hits its stride, with models like Vida, KiToy Johnson, Summer Walker, and Esther Baxter. Too bad that's where it ends. It would be interesting to have seen the years between 2007 and 2009. (Click to enlarge)

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Which TWO of These Things Does Not Belong With The Other?

This editorial in BlackMen from 2006 typifies the blurring of the line that started to happen between “models” that were known strippers and models who had never been involved with that side of the business. (Esther is not a stripper.) I can’t even think of the white analogue to the model/stripper in the urban market. Who has Maxim of FHM (repeatedly) featured on the cover who was an admitted stripper?

Anyway, I think these type of features were the beginning of the end for the urban market. This and glamorizing girls like Angel Lola Luv who were obviously not the genuine article.

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Esther Baxter - Free Willy!

One of my favorite Esther sets because of the colors and playful theme. Come to think of it, I haven’t heard much from her these days. 39

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Esther Baxter in J'Adore

Check out Esther Baxter in the new issue of J’Adore magazine. (Click to enlarge)

Esther B - JAdore


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Bria Myles, Melyssa Ford, Esther Baxter, etc. - J'Adore Anniversary Issue

J'Adore's Anniversary Issue is about to drop and it features some of the hottest video vixens in the business. Check out a behind-the-scenes video here.

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Esther Baxter - Beautiful With or Without Clothes

We're starting to see more top urban models take more conservative pics. Melyssa Ford has also gone in this direction, as swimsuit photos from her have become increasingly rare.

Thanks to Wasabi for these pics.

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Black Men Magazine - Esther Baxter - Digitial (A Brief Review)

So BlackMen mag has finally made the sensible and inevitable leap to digital. While it's no SHOW Girlz Exclusive yet, it does provide some extremely high quality images from many of your favorite BlackMen issues, such as this SSX issue of Esther Baxter from a couple years back (pre pregnancy).

The downside is that, unlike SHOW, BlackMen is not giving us raw, unedited outtakes from these shoots. So you don't get to see how these models look pre-Photoshop. The upside is that what they are giving you is top-notch quality images of top eye candy models. BlackMen has always had printing issues, so these direct images show just how good some of the photography, styling, etc. was on these shoots. The fact is, BlackMen is probably ahead of SHOW where it concerns creativity on their shoots (SHOW's shoots are boring and repetitive) and that's really revealed in the images membership buys you. You also get some behind-the-scenes videos, but those are fairly low quality Flash files.

Whether membership is worth it to you depends on how die-hard a fan you are of some of these models (there are Melyssa Ford pics). Let's just say that at $4.95 for a trial membership, I didn't feel cheated. HappyYou can check it out here.

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Esther & Friends By The Pool - KING 2006 Outtake

This pic speaks for itself. Esther, Bria, Tiara, Nikki B (and an unknown model) during a break at the KING shoot for their July 2006 issue. Doesn't get any better. (Click to enlarge)

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