Four Your Eyes Only: Caroline Brasch Nielsen Tests Dominance in ‘Glory’ Fashion Story

Red Cross Nurse (credit: Models.com)

Photographer Greg Kadel turns symbols and body language on their head in the April 2017 issue of King Kong Magazine.

In the fashion editorial “Glory Hole,” Kadel tells the story of a provocative woman, played by model Caroline Brasch Nielsen, who hits spots around Lower Manhattan. She flaunts her sexuality and challenges the idea of control.

Caroline and a thuggish-ruggish-styled man sit on a bench with their legs open. This sitting style is eyebrow raising because she’s wearing a hiked up mini dress and wearing a nun’s habit. Also, a cross is embroidered on the crotch of her dress. Visions of Reagan from The Exorcist spring to mind. Now Caroline and the man have equal power.

Contrast that with another bench scene where Caroline shares a bench with a heavily tattooed older man. In her tight pink jumpsuit, her legs are again wide open, while the man has his leg crossed away from her. She holds the power.

Blind in an Elevator (credit: models.com)

Phallic imagery is usually used to show a man’s power, but the provocative woman uses it to show her own power. Caroline plays a Red Cross nurse with blood-red latex opera gloves that cross over her body imitating the Red Cross on her tiny apron. Her red-gloved hand is inserted in her mouth simulating oral sex. Then there’s that stool that hits squarely on her crotch.

It’s rare that Caroline’s provocative woman is not powerful, but when she's not powerful, you wonder if she’s playing a trick. In an old elevator car, she sits on the floor with her legs spread. Her spiky goggles act as a blindfold, while a man’s hand hits the elevator’s buttons. He’s in control, or is he?

Another shot features the provocative woman in a park, but her body shrinks in submission as a tattooed, muscular young man stands dominantly above her. Instincts tell me that she’s going to sucker punch him. The photo that exemplifies this notion of deceptive power is one of her with her wrists bound. However, the front of her body is facing away from the camera, so she holds the power because her face isn’t visible to tell what emotions she’s feeling. She’s dangerous.

Visual signs of dominance are multifaceted when it comes to women, and deceptive power works to a woman’s advantage. People like Caroline’s provocative woman are dangerous, sexy and cool.