Thanks very much for these recent pictures, E-DF. I am beginning to think that Lily may have discovered the secret of eternal youth - she never seems to age like the rest of us!
Among the greetings on the occasion of Lily's birthday, I was intrigued to find one by her Maryland-based photographer, Richard Curtis, complimenting her on a 'very sexy 21st birthday photograph.' This is a witty reference to Lily's youthful looks in a picture by Philippe Claes, which is at least two years old.
As a photo manip artist, I have become suspicious about a small number of Lily's pictures which appear to have been photoshopped prior to publication. I hasten to add that this does not apply to photos by E-DigitalFantasy, who always presents his subjects in a perfectly natural condition, which is consistently appealing.
A comparison between two versions of the Claes picture, published two years apart, reveals modifications to Lily's nose and mouth. If you switch between these two detail images, you will see what I mean. This confirms that the picture has been altered, and in fact neither version presents an accurate portrayal of Lily's distinctive profile, unfortunately.
We know that Lily does not have this kind of pointed nose, and in fact, one of her most charming profile attributes is the way the natural shape of her nose compliments her chin, both features being distinctively rounded.
I used another of Philippe's pictures for one of Lily's latest birthday celebration manips. The scene on the liner's grand staircase uses an excellent 3D recreation of the First Class staircase aboard 'Olympic', which was almost identical to 'Titanic'. I added the rear view of Leonardo Dicaprio from the movie, since he appears anonymous and is unlikely to breach any prohibitions on the use of celebrities in manips with erotic models.
The portrait of Lily is derived from Philippe's Antwerp session of 2012, in which she models a costume which appears appropriately inspired by Edwardian fashion trends. Coincidentally, the low viewpoint, which allowed me to include the cupola above the staircase, is almost consistent with the angle at which we are seeing Lily's face in the photoshopped picture. To test the extent of the modifications, I decided to try and restore Lily's original nose and mouth. Sadly the lighting is completely different, although it does reveal the extent of the alterations to the photoshopped picture.
I think it is unfortunate that many of our favourite models are subjected to these subtle 'improvements' in their pictures, mostly by fashion editors. Perfectly attractive photographs are frequently photoshopped to conform with expectations of the ideal figure, which rather devalues the model's natural looks. Lily looks quite different with the wrong nose, and whilst I take delight in using her in my own manipulations, I would not wish to change the characteristic features and charming idiosyncracies which make her so distinctive and recognisable.