The Farrah Photo

• Lori Palminteri
• Uncategorized
• July 21, 2026

Why recreate the Farrah photo? Well, why not? In a digital age that rewards thirst traps, why not recreate the OG thirst trap, the most printed poster of all time? I don’t really enjoy taking “sexy” pictures unless there’s something fun or weird about it. Paying homages to classics falls in the fun category. So I hit up my photographer buddy, the talented Ryan Brook, and my friend Sarah Culmo for hair help to try to re-create the image.

The red bathing suit I ordered on Amazon, and luckily it fit perfect and was almost a complete match to the one Farrah was wearing. For the backdrop, I ordered (also from Amazon) a Mexican blanket that had a similar pattern and we were to shoot in the very small confines of my studio apartment.

The pose is rather awkward and hard to hold, to be honest. It’s not a natural pose. But we got the shot rather quickly with our combined efforts.

Of course, the male audience obviously loves any pictures that reveal my body. But you might be surprised that some of my biggest supporters are actually older women who say, “I wish I took more pictures of myself when I was younger.” It’s the championship of women who support a sexy picture that encourages me more than men. At 36, I’m able to pull off that shot mostly due to very lucky genetics but also pretty strict exercise and diet routine. Like everyone else, I’m getting older every day, and even though I often hate how I look in pictures, I know if I make it to old age, I’ll look back and go, “wow, I was pretty damn cute.”

There is one thing photoshopped in the picture. Can you guess it? I’ll give you a minute…

It’s the nipple. The nipple is photoshopped (haha). Research taught me that models used compressed air (like to clean a key board) to spray their nipples hard (I wonder if Jennifer Anniston did this on “Friends” who’s nipples were constantly showing through her tops on that show? Or maybe the studio was just freezing?). Even though spraying my nipple with cold compressed air did have a diamond effect, the fabric on the bathing suit was too thick to show it. So that was our one and only post production touch up.

Upon examining the photo, I did consider asking Brook to photoshop out the laugh lines on my face, or make my right arm a little skinnier, like Farrah’s. But I quickly decided against it. Fuck that, I said to my insecure self. It’s a great shot. Damn near the original. Those laugh lines are part of your mid thirties face! I hate all the plastic surgery and botox and filters. It creates a fake world of shallow people and diminishes true natural beauty.

I am sharing this because all women, including the good looking ones, are frequently insecure about our images. Often, it’s not the men that are shaming us, it’s ourselves. We can be our own worst critics. This summer, I implore you to compliment people more and criticize less. There needs to be more positivity and less shaming in this world. And there needs to be posters of Lori imitating Farrah Fawcett! There doesn’t, really, but someone did ask for a signed poster… how much should I charge for that?

For people who asked… the tattoo on my inner left wrist says, “non fui, fui, non sum, non curo.” The translation is, “I was not, I was, I am not, I do not care,” and it’s an Epicurus philosophy I live my life by. The other tattoo on my left arm near my elbow is a famous Lewis Carroll quote, “we’re all mad here.” And the wrap tattoo around my right arm is from Edgar Allan Poe, “I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.”