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Julie Bell

The Huntress (Lenda)

1996

This cover image for the 1999 publication Soft as Steel: The Art of Julie Bell features the eight-time Ms. Olympia winner Lenda Murray, one of history’s most decorated Black female bodybuilders. With the title The Huntress, Bell invites a comparison between Murray and the Roman goddess of the hunt, Diana, while incorporating the familiar imagery of fantasy painting, with dragons soaring across the sky in the background. In addition to this combination of classical and medieval tropes, Bell clads Murray in sleek high-tech accessories, giving her subject a futuristic, almost cyborg-like appearance.

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