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nude photography philosophy
After looking through many of the portfolios on this site I find that a great deal of nude images are about sex. I'm wondering if that is all there is to nude (bodyform) photography. Is there more to it? What about the archetypal images? The nude images that relate humanity, vulnerability, or even comedy? Is there anyone out there exploring the deeper metaphors that the human body lends itself to? Don't get me wrong, I don't have the answers. I am a man and sexy images certainly impact my physiology just like they would most other straight men but I'm curious if anyone else out there has thought about this and come up with any notions of why shooting the human form is so intriguing and where it can be taken that it has not yet gone? May 16 06 11:21 pm Link myviewfinder wrote: Not unless that's all you see. myviewfinder wrote: Many viewers and photographers do see a lot more than that, yes. May 17 06 12:04 am Link I don't try to intellectualize it - I am just looking for pretty. When the shot is about the right thing, you know it. May 17 06 01:12 am Link mine aren't sex....overall the nudes I have done are, well... glad, uplifting, dark, painful, odd, fun, frolics, vulnerable, sad, strong, lonely, dancing, musing, desparate, sweet, restrained, hurt, cute...see omp 78615 and so on maybe a couple are sexy - but not deliberately so! May 17 06 05:13 am Link myviewfinder wrote: I don't see "sex" in my work - but others do. I've been refused shows because gallery directors found my work to be "too provocative", or "too nude." (Yes, an art director at a fairly well known ATL, GA gallery told me that once.) May 17 06 05:50 am Link myviewfinder wrote: You deny it weakly -- but I hear a bias coming through clearly -- pictures that are about sex are "less" valuable than pictures that aren't. Why is that? Sex is a powerful and beautiful force in our universe -- doesn't it deserve to be portrayed in art? May 17 06 05:56 am Link I'm wondering this myself- when I think about nudes, I envision more of a fine art feel to them - I think we all have our own lines of where it crosses into 'too erotic' and you have to respect that - what's sexy for me, might be tame for you but totally over the top porn for someone else... my question is: When you shoot fine art or nudes, are you doing it under the same business name as you would if you were a family or senior shooter? I've been told recently that shooting nudes will hurt my business in the eyes of family/child clients...Is it difficult to set up a 'dba'? thanks... May 17 06 05:57 am Link Julia Gerace wrote: Take a look at my website. (Link on my port page.) May 17 06 06:09 am Link Julia Gerace wrote: Hi Julia -- this is something I have thought about too. In the end, I decided that trying to hide the fact that I shoot some nudes could actually backfire -- clients who are sensitive might think I held out some important information on them if they find out about it later. So the philosophy I have is -- don't shoot anything you wouldn't want the whole world to know that you shoot. I always remind people that the biggest Bible printers in the world also print Playboy and Hustler. . . May 17 06 06:11 am Link myviewfinder wrote: Is there anything wrong with sexual undertones to nude photography? I don't see what is negative about exploring sexuality through nude art photography. I have shot some nudes that weren't "sexual" in any way, it was a fun shoot, too. May 17 06 08:02 am Link We are a society that has been injected with sex. Everywhere you turn it is IN YOUR FACE! The simple fact is we are human, and as you behold you become changed. Wo-men... they are an incredible speicies. What a gift to humanity. From the eye of the beholder you will: view an image of a woman, come to your own conclusion depending on where you have been in life, judge it according to would you have done it or not, and the list goes on. It comes down to being completly personal depending on the life we have lived, or how we've been miss-educated. The human form is a beutiful thing, it's what your mind does with the image that makes it twisted. I say Let's stop judging and just enjoy it for what it is. If an image is offensive then turn the page, close the book, turn off the internet, take out the DVD, you can actually control what you intake. That's just my thought. : ) May 17 06 08:31 am Link When I came to the US from Europe, I was amazed that the vast majority of people here do not seem to distinguish between nudity and sex. I think it's why there's such a weird, puritanical attitude towards nudity in the US. Just an observation... May 17 06 08:35 am Link Olaf S wrote: And a very astute observation Olaf. May 17 06 08:36 am Link Geez, buddy, don't think so hard. >>> There's absolutely nothing wrong with sex. Each & every one of us is here because of a sexual act. We are hardwired for sex. >>> Everyone will view images differently. Are the images on my portfolio all about sex? You may think so, I may not, and who cares? >>> I don't understand how it is easy to watch TV & see fairly explicit violence while any form of sex has to be implied at best. On broadcast TV, you can see dozens of simulated murders a night, but not a single bare breast. What's the sense in that? >>> Let's be real: it is much easier to create an exciting image about sex than it is to create an exciting light-shadow-form image. In fact, light-shadow-form images aren't usually meant to be exciting, are they? >>> Finally, it's easy to get a good number of responses to a thread with the word "nude" in its topic. May 17 06 09:56 am Link Olaf S wrote: I thought it was weird too. Or the "sex and violence" expression. May 17 06 09:57 am Link myviewfinder wrote: I don't think you can completely separate any representation of a human body from sexuality. Just like a picture of a Big Mac will always evoke a different feeling than a picture of a rock. You may not be hungry at the moment but you still know that a Big Mac is something you can eat. May 17 06 10:22 am Link www.softmedium.com Do you see sex? May 17 06 11:04 am Link Face it, We are all sexual objects in some way. I try to add a touch of sex in each of my nude images. My models are at the age when their lives are affected by raging hormones, and I want to show them as they are. Art can be erotic. May 17 06 12:08 pm Link Gregory Garecki wrote: YES! You are SO right! Why does sex ALWAYS get associated with violence? May 17 06 12:14 pm Link Looknsee Photography wrote: I whole heartedly agree.... May 17 06 12:20 pm Link Marvin Dockery wrote: In my case women object to consider sex. Does that make me a sex object too? May 17 06 01:27 pm Link Thanks to everyone for there thoughtful responses... Kevin - You make an interesting point but I think that a fair percentage of these portfolios are sex-centric... And could easily be deconstructed and shown to be so. Still, you make a good point and perhaps I'm so sexually repressed that all I see is Sex... I was brought up in the south J Merrill - I agree that sometimes you just want things to look prettyand there is nothing wrong with that. I was really just asking "What else is there". Anjel - I like your work and it looks like you have a nice mix. Clearly you are working on some images that have sex as a focal point and yet you have a lot of shots that go beyond just sex in search of other truths... Blue Water - as was early pointed out... sex is in the eye of the beholder. We'll never get away from the individualised perspectives on aesthetics... I am from Atlanta and I kinda miss it... I really loved visiting Savanah... I bet there are lots of great locations for you to choose from.... Julia - I love your avatar. That is the kind of thing I'm interested in. It is kind a throw back to the classical but it is very cool... I have to run but I will come back and respone to other comments in a few.... Thanks again all May 17 06 01:46 pm Link myviewfinder wrote: Sex is one of the most important and powerful urges in human nature from birth until death and it is very much responsible for the survival of the species through thousands of years of challenges to our very existence. I'd say that qualifies it as a very apropos topic for any kind of expression. myviewfinder wrote: You get to decide for yourself how you want to think about the human body. Personally, I like sex as an activity and as a topic for my pictures. myviewfinder wrote: I shoot nudes with a certain undisguised sexual allure because it pisses off the goddamn conservative bible-thumping hypocritical crusading religious zealots. And because I like naked women. May 17 06 02:10 pm Link myviewfinder wrote: I shoot what I like to shoot. Nature is about sex. We are hardwired for sex. That said, I like taking a more subdued approach to my imagery. May 17 06 02:55 pm Link Anjel Britt wrote: Your port is very enjoyable to view. Don't try too hard to not be sexy, your pictures reflect a good balance as they are. May 17 06 03:18 pm Link I have been trying to find photographers that dont do the "sex" nudes, actually I want to be very classy with my nudes and thats what Im trying to do. May 17 06 03:24 pm Link Blue Water Photography wrote: I've had some of my images barred from exhibit because they are "to provocative". There are some screwed up people in the Phoenix art world. May 17 06 03:30 pm Link Since this question is philosophical, lets try a couple of thought experiments. 1 Would a person who is sexless, an alien without human sexuality, or a person with no sex drive, find photos of naked humans artistically appealing? In the same way that some sculpture and architecture would also be artistically/esthetically pleasing? 2 Many of us find photos of non-human objects artistically appealing (close up of the texture of tree bark, an egg, green peppers, or other vegetables, or a striking rock formation) and we sometimes describes these as "sensual". Sensual does not equate to "sexual" it simply means appealing to the senses (vision, touch, etc.). Or does it appeal to us because of some connection, a reminder of the human body? I myself don't have any clear answers to these speculations, but I think it is worth thinking about these things. Also: Consider how different your life would be if the hormones that underly femininity/masculinity were turned off. At the very least perhaps, friendships would be based on criteria uninfluenced by sexual attraction/bias -although our brains of course have already differentiated during early development because of the presence of these hormones. This of course is not merely theoretical since many people have had to have surgical removal of hormone producing organs due to various illnesses (ovarectomy/hysterectomy, prostate removal etc). A good friend of mine, now close to 60yrs old, had complete prostrate removal, including the testes and has regular injections of female hormones (to suppress any remaining male hormone producing tissue which may aide and abet the cancer. He reports loss of libido, but still finds the pictures of lovely naked women pleasing. Is this just a learned association? Remnants of a lifetime of "conditioning", or pure esthetic appreciation? I don't think clear answers to these questions exist either, although some smart psychologist could devise some experiments. What do you think? Dan May 17 06 04:16 pm Link Madalyn wrote: Your first post and you just insulted all the shooters who do "sex nudes" by suggesting their work isn't "classy". May 17 06 05:13 pm Link like one famous nude photographer said: "if you want your model LOOK SEXY in the picture, you must make her FEEL SEXY in the studio...." and every time i get a great nude shot i just once again proof this for my self. May 17 06 05:31 pm Link My picture is a nude work. It shows emotion not sex. It's artistic and has feeling. May 17 06 05:36 pm Link I find that a great deal of nude images are about sex. I'm wondering if that is all there is to nude (bodyform) photography. Is there more to it? What about the archetypal images? The nude images that relate humanity, vulnerability, or even comedy? Is there anyone out there exploring the deeper metaphors that the human body lends itself to? ********* I tend to agree with you that most of the nude images on MM (and anywhere else for that matter) are about the body itself rather than the body's relationship to anything else. Of course many of these images are quite beautiful (e.g., Claire Elizabeth I can't get enough of the images of you), but there are enough of them already that over the past few years I've tried to do something else with my fine art B&W work. I suppose I've been most heavily influenced by the work of Wynn Bullock, who did some wonderful nudes in environments he gave considerable thought to. I think my work has very little to do with "sex" and hopefully a lot to do with the inherent beauty of the female figure and how we all fit into the natural world. Go to my website for more about my "philosophy." As far as whether I've successfully "explored the deeper metaphors", I'll leave that for others to say, but I am trying. I have some new work I'll be posting there in a few weeks that I'm pretty excited about. Thanks for your thoughtful original post. Chris Corbett May 17 06 05:47 pm Link Gregory Garecki wrote: Everyone is a sex object to someone, or something. May 17 06 06:46 pm Link Marvin Dockery wrote: That's precisely the reason I gave up my life of crime. I don't want to wind up as someone's prison bitch... May 17 06 07:02 pm Link Iâm back to continue responding to all of these most welcomed responses⦠NC17 - I didnât mean to say that sexual nudes are bad or in any way undesirable, I really just wanted to know what other directions people are taking the naked form. I think the connection youâve drawn between beauty and sexuality is very interesting. I suppose that it is very true that mankinds natural sexual drive is initiated by visual recognition of what is desirable (beautiful). Still, it is humankindâs evolved ability to go beyond these instincts and find attraction for mental and emotional aspects of their counterparts that makes him/her unique on the planet. Courtney â I agree with the whole turn the page argument, I just want to know what else there is⦠Olaf - We, here in the US are likely to be shaped by our Puritan forefathers for many more decades to come. I donât really mean to get into the right and wrong of sex or nudity⦠Iâm just curious what else is there⦠Looknsee â You have hit it right on the head⦠in addition to my legitimate interest in exploring the boundaries of nude photography it occurred to me that starting the topic with the word nude might indeed draw some attention⦠Gregory - you are probably right about not being able to completely remove sex from nude photography⦠\Habenero - thanks for the compliment⦠I love the avatar⦠it gives me a few ideas for some comic nudes⦠Pixel-Magic â Thank you ⦠excellent observations⦠I wonder what pure aesthetic appreciation is? Iâm sure youâre correct, no clear answers exist. Still, Iâm going to spend some time pondering it and Iâll get back to you if I come up with something⦠ChrisCorbett â Well put⦠I agree, in fact, some of the most beautiful nudes are related to sex. I still find myself interested in how I can relate the body to other things⦠May 17 06 11:24 pm Link myviewfinder wrote: How I photograph nudes: May 18 06 12:07 pm Link This is a site geared mostly toward fashion, glamour and such, not art. I keep my art nudes out of my fashion/glamour portfolio and sites like this because they really have no place here. May 18 06 12:10 pm Link Blue Water Photography wrote: I had this exact thing happen to me at an interview/portfolio viewing at a local gallery in which I am ironically currently being exhibited. I was told most of my nudes were more commercial and sexual than art, to her. Why? Not the poses, not because they were explicit but because they showed her face and she was built too nicely. She is about 5 feet 5 with beautiful curves. May 18 06 12:17 pm Link Julia Gerace wrote: I have a completely seperate business name and website for my art and nude work.As for setting up a DBA that is as simple as a business license which is pretty much what it is. I have one for each name and they run about 20-30 bucks a year each. May 18 06 12:22 pm Link Pixel-Magic Photography wrote: Dan, I think that was the best thing that I've read this whole month. May 18 06 01:42 pm Link |