The Naked and the Nude

Post #1

I’m doing nudes now.

That’s why I’m here.

Oh, I’m doing other kinds of pictures too, but the nudes are the reason for this site.

Nudes are new to me, and it’s been a journey.

Like most Americans I had little exposure to non-sexual naked stuff growing up. There was the rare viewing of some old renaissance art, but nudity as a normal part of life and culture just didn’t exist.

Nudity was something forbidden, and like anything forbidden, that made it intriguing.

Nude was lewd. Decent people, I was taught, did not get naked around others and allowing a nude photo of yourself would definitely be one of the worst life choices you could make.

Nakedness must not occur outside of your home or a locker room.

Such was my youthful view, but as I grew up that view changed, first gradually, then one day, quite suddenly.

I’m a good photographer, technically. I usually get it properly exposed and (eventually) in focus, but aesthetically I have seldom been satisfied with my work.

A few times over the years, usually in a rushed but glorious moment, I’d create something that was more than merely functional; images with a hint of artistic merit that told a story and evoked an emotional response. Those moments were rare, but fulfilling.

Such moments helped me believe that my artistic failure wasn’t because I was incapable, but because I was rarely asked to do more.  I was competent, but artistically weak from lack of exercise.

I had a desire to grow, just like every other creative person, working in every medium, throughout human history.

One day it dawned on me that if no one would challenge me artistically to create for them, I would need to challenge myself. For some reason, just stupid I guess, that had not occurred to me.

I began an exploration of creative photography on my own, poking around with a camera, looking to discover new ways of seeing things and showing things.

Artists don’t get down to work until the pain of working is exceeded by the pain of not working.

-Stephen DeStaebler, American Sculpture (March 24, 1933 – May 13, 2011)

I paint with light and motion, creating stills and videos, because it is the medium I know.

But why nudes?

Why not landscapes or astrophotography or micro-photography or fashion photography or fitness photography, nature photography, or architectural photography or time-lapse photography or underwater photography… all of which I have done and enjoyed!?

When I look at all the beauty in the world there is so much I love seeing and photographing, but I kept coming back to what I find most beautiful.

People.

Faces.

Bodies.

Human forms, human figures.

Bodies and faces of all types.

The human figure is the most beautiful thing in the world and the ability of our expressions to communicate so much emotion and trigger empathy, is like music.

I love the human shape. I love the way the light plays on the human form.

There is no landscape more appealing than the human figure, the face, the body… every part of us.

I am attracted to humans and the emotions, the passions and the stories associated with them; physique and form, face and figure, diverse, unique, individual and endless.

One day, long ago now, I unexpectedly had a chance to go to a nude beach. Due to my upbringing I had, of course, never done anything like that. Running around naked was for crazy people and perverts, not “normal” folks. But I was intrigued because, as I said before, what can be more intriguing than the forbidden?

The idea of getting naked outside in front of other people terrified me, but I have always had this thing about confronting what scares me. I had to force myself out of my comfort zone.

I am not a shy person, but neither am I an exhibitionist. I get no pleasure in being seen. Still, I put myself out there and committed to experiencing the whole naked ordeal. I wanted to know what it felt like to be fully naked and exposed to others, in a safe and legal way.

To my utter surprise it was not a big deal. Three minutes after disrobing I could easily forget I was even naked. It just felt good. I fell in love with the sensations of the sun, the wind and the water on my bare body. It felt nice. It felt natural. And I met people doing the same and I fell in love with their relaxed openness. Everyone was so easy going, non-judgemental, normal and diverse.

They were of all physical types but in my eyes they were all so beautiful. People are so open when they’re naked, as emotionally revealing as they are physically. The conversations immediately flowed and seemed deeper, more open and more honest.

It was as if once the clothes came off there was nothing left to hide.

My experience that day forever changed my view on nudity, from the very traditional, American view I’d been raised with, to one that was more casual and, I guess more “European.” (An American cliche, but let’s go with it for now.)

Being naked just wasn’t that big a deal.

I soon associated nudity not with perversion, but with relaxation, openness and honesty.

To be naked was to be revealing of the truth, of who we really are.

To go someplace nude was to step out of everyday life, leaving behind the mundane trappings of our daily affairs and, just for a bit, exist in a more spiritual place.

Yes, I’m romanticizing, but for me, being naked came to symbolize a lowering of barriers to reveal a more honest and open version of ourselves.

What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe, and skin more beautiful than the garment with which it is clothed?

Michelangelo

I find the human form beautiful, even (especially) with all its imperfections, and if you wish to see just how common those imperfections are, well, go to a nude beach.

Lots of people make cruel jokes about that, but what I see are people who have the courage to fight through their own body issues (because we all have them) and risk that kind of shallow, hurtful cruelty from others, just to relax in their own skin in a society that doesn’t particularly understand or accept what they do.

That’s what I see. Diverse bodies filled with beautiful, brave, courageous souls.

Not everyone there is beautiful, even on the inside. There are ugly souls everywhere, but if you have eyes to look past the surface, there is definitely a beauty of character to be seen in most nudists, because people who are afraid, intolerant, judgemental and narrow minded, are seldom the type to get naked in public.

Thus began my artistic journey to explore the nude.

My views changed. I began to associate nudity with freedom, confidence, courage, comfort, openness and honesty. To uncover was to reveal truth, be it beautiful or otherwise, as part of what makes us human.

I do nudes to cast light on our naked souls.

– Red Wolf