Playing with Playboys

Playing with Playboys is a playful yet provocative tribute to the golden era of glamour, reinterpreted through the modern, surrealist lens of Council of Mischief. This series invites models to interact directly with one of the most iconic pop culture artifacts of the 20th century: the Playboy magazine.

More than just a nostalgic object, the Playboy magazine represents a layered history of sexuality, rebellion, controversy, and idealized beauty. In this series, the models are not merely passive subjects surrounded by these magazines—they’re collaborators in an aesthetic power play. Each image explores the relationship between femininity, media, and perception.

The concept is simple on the surface: beautiful models posed with stacks, spreads, and covers of vintage Playboys. But beneath the gloss lies something deeper. By placing contemporary women in direct contact with these relics of past male fantasy, Playing with Playboys becomes both homage and critique. Are they reclaiming the imagery? Subverting it? Flirting with it? The answer changes with each pose, each expression, each carefully framed shot.

Some models pose draped across piles of magazines as if lounging in the spotlight of retro stardom. Others flip through the pages with winks of irony, mirroring or mocking the poses inside. Some crush the magazines under their heels, hold them up to conceal or reveal, or use them as playful props—fans, blindfolds, armor, wings. The magazines become more than background—they are extensions of the models’ characters and moods, symbols to be toyed with, studied, or dismissed.

The visual styling of the series mixes vintage and modern aesthetics. Soft lighting and warm film tones recall the golden age of print erotica, while minimalist backdrops and editorial styling push the images into the realm of fine art photography. Latex, silk, denim, lingerie, and leather all make appearances—each model styled to contrast or complement the iconic pages they pose with. This fusion of old-school gloss with contemporary edge gives the series a unique visual tension—sexy, humorous, defiant, and sometimes haunting.

Above all, Playing with Playboys is about agency. It’s about women engaging with the visual language of an era that was obsessed with them—on their own terms. There’s an inherent contradiction in seeing a woman pose with a magazine that once defined “the ideal woman.” And it’s in that contradiction that the project finds its power. These images ask: What happens when the muse holds the magazine? When the subject plays with the fantasy?

This series is ongoing, with new shoots exploring different decades, cover eras, and even thematic color palettes from the magazine’s storied history. Some are styled like retro pinups. Others are almost cinematic in tone. All are united by a mischievous wink—a knowing look at how beauty, culture, and media continue to evolve.

Scroll below to explore the gallery and join us in Playing with Playboys—where nostalgia, beauty, and boldness meet in every frame.

Downloadable Galleries