A lot of us turn to older photos that stood out to us when we were younger. I personally feel this photo of Sarah Villegas from 2020 Ms Olympia is pretty iconic.
I'll play. A mixture of images over the years with a bias towards newer ones (since I wasn't around in the 80s). I usually try to keep these close at hand but they're evergreen in my head.
Sue Myers: This was the first WPW video I bought when I was able to. The whole vid is incredible and I have several images from them permanently burned in my head. I think it's among their best work
Michelle Maroldo: This was the first time that BIG muscle had made an impression. Early on my days were spent on Femsport, Femflex, and Her Biceps, and the only time I had heard of 17 inch biceps was in the stories on the old Mak's Library on geocities. Another image from her was the bicep with the rolled up sleeve that I can't forget, ever.
Shannon Courtney: https://www.girlswithmuscle.com/1589554/ and Shannon is my biggest 'what if' and I probably simp her more than anyone. If she returned I would buy things in a heart beat. The side chest was so brief but mindblowing in its source video--I've replayed it many times in my head. The second was mindblowing because of how BIG she looked driving. It was difficult to wrap my head around. Both images are from the lost years--when she was dating Branden Ray and right after and he more or less made her stop doing any posing videos for over a year.
Brooke walker: I was already a Brooke fan when this shoot came out but after I was determined to own every piece of media I could get my hands on. Brooke's chest is one of the best, ever, and you can take that to the bank. The rest of her physique has caught up IMO and she looks unreal now.
Katie Lee: Another "lost year" edition. Katie was actually in my area when she took this and I had tried (unsuccessfully) to meet her. She was in a really, really bad relationship that prevented any of that. She had really been packing on size leading up to this point and this pic is absolutely stuck in my head. I think this is about when her arms are the biggest. Like Brooke's pecs, Katie's arms are among the best ever.
Jodi Boam: This isn't the BEST pic of Jodi but it's the first pic I remember. She was really young there, like 23 or 24, and I was still in college. Something about her energy and her arms just made me focus right up. She has been extremely flex friendly over the years and has given us amazing training vids and flex work.
Michaela Aycock: and She has a log of crazy pictures too, but this one takes the cake. Michaela during this year was an actual freak show. Either it was crazy conditioning or her super peaked biceps or her over all upper body mass, or the width and thickness of her back...idk. These pics drove me nuts. EDIT: I have been bamboozled because she is competing in the bodybuilding division this weekend at the Omaha Pro, bless.
Chelsea Kline: https://www.girlswithmuscle.com/876265/ And this one because I am in it. I had never spent any significant time with a bodybuilder before and getting to lift with her along with getting to touch her arms and chest and shoulders--the whole afternoon is burned into my brain forever. She wasn't just jacked--she was BIG. She's my height (5'10" and some change) and has a big frame, and was hard as a rock.
There are a lot of others, many that can't be posted on the site, and many I can never share, but this is a good sample.
I thought an interesting thread might be a sharing of early images that we came across that made truly incredible impressions at the time and are frozen forever in our memory. For me, I think of images that shocked me and have always stayed with me. Here's a few:
I'm sure I'll think of some more later!