Jordan Chiles
I like the space she's taking up in this picture, I like that she's in power red, and I am always astonished people can make their bodies do this (I am deeply inflexible). But I don't think this is very flattering of her face, and I think it diminishes the charisma that's on display in the piece itself.
The whole shoot is very DRAMATIQUE in this way, which is discordant when you read the piece and how it documents the joy she brings to her work. A LITTLE joy would have been awesome here. (I don't fault her; there are people directing this stuff.)
I wish they'd found a way to lean into the illusion of her being in midair. Also, it's weird to me that they ordered in rings when that's not one of the apparatuses that women do.
Indeed, this whole gym set feels half-assed. And why cleave to the gym/gymnastics at all? Can't she wear some couture and pose and leap and fly?
Why is she wearing a dust ruffle?
And why medicine balls? Intellectually I get it -- they're tools for a workout -- but just... whoever got the props for this thing really was reaching. Maybe they couldn't get anything and this was a desperate swipe.
We're getting to something here, but surely there's a better setup for a gymnast who is aerodynamically accomplished and is wearing a long denim coat.