The Nude Genre

I guess we are all different. I am not a fan of detached traditional art nude [which I used to do] and have never been a fan of fully clothed, although I do like a very small amount of stuff that is more cinematic clothed or fashion lifestyle for which there is virtually none done on PP to my taste.

There is quite a series of styling prompts I go for mainly, often involving one or more outfit pieced carefully chosen, some kind of theme and people will either get it or they won't. Nudity is an essential part of my plot, but it can be partial. I incorporate it with all the styling prompts I use. I will get back to more full nudes but only if I can maintain the themes I like working with. I absolutely do not want to go back to traditional art nude. I like something with bite or jars a bit or camera clubs would not approve of

I got into it by accident. As a student, in Leeds, I was told by an art teacher I had an interesting face, and went to a small church hall to model (clothed) for a portrait group. The Life Model for the class afterwards didn't turn up, and I was asked to fill in. Obviously, it was nerve-wracking the first time, with Fifteen or Twenty strangers looking at you from all angles, and concentrating on parts of your body you wish were better or different. Although my body is no longer what it was, I have made my peace with it, and I know more about angles and how to make it look better, hopefully, for both photographers and artists.

I like how light and shadow interact, not only with a body, but with many other things, too, so I often particularly like where light and shadow have strong contrast, locations that help this, and in the studio, playing with light modifiers to make it that way, too, so nudes are not the primary importance of the subject for me, when I started doing model photography I had no particular intention of shooting nudes, it is just something that was available, so I thought I'd try it, and some of them came out quite well. 

Interesting to read these thoughts, I am a little older, male and have only recently dipped my toe into any sort of modelling, I am a lifelong naturist / nudist, and In March this year I had my first session as a life model for one of the local artists groups here and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I am now on regular rotation with the group. At the end of each session there is usually a get together to look at the art produced and a lot of people ask the same question "Don't I mind people seeing me naked?" the answer I give is along the lines of " there are only two models in varying proportions, and everybody knows what they look like anyway so why does it matter?" This is probably a result of my nudist upbringing, it has a tendency to body acceptance.

Being a nudist, I don't have any problem with being nude or with other people seeing me - to quote Popeye "I am what I am!" and I am comfortable with that.

I am an amateur photographer too, but no artist myself and so I see this as my way of involving myself in the art world.

I enjoy shooting all sorts of nudes.

I have no idea why. I don't attempt to analyse this.

I want to shoot with models who enjoy this sort of photography and who have very clear ideas that they can bring to the proceedings and who can use their body to create something interesting ( I can't define what I mean by interesting).

I do all sorts of images of nude models from abstract body shapes through to dark intense moods.

Variation comes about partly because of the levels that models shoot to.

No matter what I am shooting, light is everything, whether natural, which I prefer, or artificial in a studio.

I keep at it because I have a long way to go before I can get the sort of images that I think and hope I want to get.

I love nudes, especially with people who know how to look and interact with their (amazing) surroundings.

Nude women become more 'themselves" as I observed. Lingerie and Fashion shots have more "acting" than "being" for me. That bugs me somehow, although some models can do all perfectly.

I also love the softness of nude human shape juxtaposed with harsher elements. I find it very natural and enjoy shooting nudes.

But I understand the stigma around it and can relate to the impact on personal relationships and career implications. 

I love the shapes good art nude models create

I love the softness and intimate style of boudoir 

I love the story telling you can create with erotic style shoots 

I love the way you can play with light on bodyscape images

I love the way you can play with angles to create great anonymous images with a sense of mystery and intrigue 

(not saying I achieve all of this)

Edited by gjp

Holly Alexander . It’s such a shame you didn’t shoot nudes (according to PP) while a student at Aber. 
I never asked you, because of PP rules, but I think we could have produced something worthwhile.

As you said, 20 and 30 are very different in terms of self confidence….

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So, for me, studio glamour, etc. seems a little bit pointless.

”Classic sexless studio art nude”, study in light and shape, and all that stuff completely pointless. Done to death half a century ago.

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I shoot naked chicks on rocks.

Always have. The rocks are equally important.

The personality and the emotion matters too.

I do get some grief for shooting slim athletic women, but the muscle and the bone and the strength are also important.

I don’t analyse too much.

I have been known to tell a model to hug a tree….

Final art form is a large black and white print. A2 or bigger.

Used to sell them for decent money; market is dead now.

Happy to be a dinosaur.

I enjoy all aspects of photography. I remember what a relief it was to go from film; developing and printing at home; to digital. Now, if I had the space and time, I'd switch back to film just to enjoy the whole 'hand made' process.

Nude photography was fun. It was something I couldn't get from shooting at family events; going walkabout or buying a ticket to a cricket match. I even got quite good at it towards the end. Nowadays it has to compete with new hobbies / money sponges. I could do 4 shoots with naked ladies or I could buy that 3d printer that can print up to four colours at a time. I'm going to buy that printer ...

Alyssa Taylor

Only ever do what you feel confident doing and never do something because of pressure.

In Britain we have a very different view to nudity to Scandinavia or other Europe countries and it’s always been that way.

playwithlight absolutely I'd never increase my levels due to pressure!! It's a genre that I think can be so beautiful when done well and takes the sexuality away from the human body and the wear we view it in Britain 😊

Not sure how I got into it tbh, there was never a plan - but I found the experience immensely liberating and it did wonders for my body-confidence. I spent a lot of time in northern Europe and I guess their more liberal attitude to nudity rubbed off on me.

Holly you're right to point out that it can have consequences, most of us know someone who's lost a job or worse when "outed". When you're young it's hard to picture what twists and turns your life might take 20 or 30 years hence, and a modelling past may come back to haunt you.

I regret that I didn't start earlier in life; however coming to this later has meant I'm better equipped to navigate the system and make good choices.

I do think it a great pity that there is so much reluctance or even open hostility directed towards male nude models, but I have no real expectation of that changing any time soon.

No matter how liberal you may think someone is, it's a coin toss to how they will react regarding people they know modelling nude or photographing Nudes, unfortunately I have heard that the negativity can be toxic.

Me personally I enjoy doing partial or implied nudity, the photos always seem to stand out and are less boring that the clothed shots for some reason, though I'm really struggling with where to display them. I get brave and upload them only to regret it and remove them, it's a roller coaster ride of indecision for me! Luckily my husband takes 99.9% of my pics and transfers every image's (RAW and Edit) copyright by assignment to me, so I am completely in control of those images, which is daunting ;-)

Male or Female nude or partial nude photography can be extremely artistic and those are the ones I love viewing.

For me it is hard to grasp why being nude, seeing nude or the idea someone being nude is subject to negative judgement. We are all born like that and die and rot like that. We over so many issues as humanity but this is a struggle. I am really confused by our priorities and insecurities.

I struggle with nudity - I love the results, particularly when I get it right, but the process often stresses me out. I took up model photography to help overcome acute shyness and improve my self confidence - which it failed to do. Fortunately other factors have helped improve this significantly, but I still struggle when it comes to the nudity side of things. I've had shoots where I've booked for some degree of nudity & only shot clothed or lingerie because I couldn't get my confidence up enough or overcome my shyness to move the shoot in that direction. It usually helps if the model is confident and at home with nudity or if we "click" at the start of the shoot. That said, I still usually enjoy the process and results even if I don't shoot what I originally intended.