DID VERUSHKA INSPIRE PEETA IN THE HUNGER GAMES?

In the new blockbuster film “The Hunger Games” the character named Peeta grew up in a bakery and decorated cakes. That’s the explanation given for his skill with the body paint. But Feng Shui By Fishgirl suspects that author Suzanne Collins and the art director on the movie were actually inspired by photographs of Verushka.

Some of you will be too young to know the name Verushka. Her real name is Countess Vera Gräfin von Lehndorff-Steinort and she was one of the world’s first super-models in the 1960’s & 70’s. Unlike her peer Twiggy, Verushka was voluptuous and still is.

Even though I was very familiar with her work in fashion I didn’t know about these artistic camouflage photos that Verushka created. However, lucky for me–and my readers!– my bf was aware of them and suggested I look it up on Google after seeing “The Hunger Games“.

Absolutely breathtaking, no? These performance pieces are Verushka’s vision and concept caught on film by photographer Andreas Hubertus Ilse .  The last portraits in the series were completed in 1992-1996 when the model/artist would have been 52-57 years of age. All the more inspiring to women artists of a certain age. Ahem.

See more photos of Verushka in the book Transfigurations that came out in 1986 and can still be purchased through Amazon.com where it has a 5 star rating. What rating do you give it and do you think the film got some inspiration from it?