interesting idea?

I got  response from my recent craigslist ad (https://greensboro.craigslist.org) from a guy who wanted some “artistic dick pics”. My first thought was, “Eh...I don’t know.” But I’ve thought a little about it, and it might be an interesting idea for a series. I could do a series with women as well, but I’m not aware of a catchy name that rhymes, or even just a clever-sounding, concise name. (Suggestions?)

I have trouble finding people to model for me, even clothed. So, I’m not sure if I could find several guys to do such a shoot.

What do you folks think? Is this an interesting idea? Feel free to comment here, or write me on facebook (if you know me) or email me: blacksheepphotog@gmail.com

our future first lady

As a photographer and as someone who has modeled a little (and taken a lot of self-portraits), AND as someone who has lost work and friends (in the arts!) because of the nature of some of my photography, I take it personally when people get “nude-shamed”. (Yes, I just made up that term.)

I haven't gone to any effort to view Melania Trump’s nude photos. This topic surfaced a while back, but apparently it’s having a post-election revival. I’ve seen two posts about it on facebook tonight. What I did see of her photos from past posts (and perhaps places like The Daily Show? – I don’t know, wherever), appeared to be a type of nude &/or implied nude photos that I'm not especially interested in: the stereotypically “sexy” young woman - “hot chick” - don’t you wish you could bang her - light porn sort of thing. There’s way too much of that in the world these days, and mostly, I’m not that interested.

Anyway...

If you think the act of posing nude is bad or shameful or necessarily naughty, something that no one ought to do, or at least no one respectable, here's what I say:
You desperately need to get over your Puritanical nonsense about the human body, and probably about sex. I hope you don't have children, because I can only assume you are passing on your damaging attitudes about perfectly normal, healthy, natural, human functions, and about the fact that we human beings have physical bodies. We do! We have bodies. Wonderful, horrible, fascinating, boring bodies. There's nothing wrong with having a body, nor with letting other people see it, if that’s what you want to do with it.

As a matter of fact, we as a “people” would probably be much better off if we became accustomed to seeing normal, non-hyper-sexualized human bodies. We’d end up much healthier. 

Gah!

idea for a photo project

There are two photo projects I recently discovered.

The Nu Project is an ongoing project by a pair of photographers photographing volunteers (all women) around the world. And the Daily Portrait Berlin is a project where a Berliner photographs a person they don’t know, then the next day that model photographs a person they don’t know, etc. These projects are really cool, and they make me want to be involved in something similar. 

I don’t know of any such project locally, and I couldn’t find anything online. so I thought I’d try to start one. Since I have a really difficult time finding people willing to model for me, I thought I’d try taking myself out of the equation. Sort of. If I make it a submission kind of thing, then people do not have to commit to showing up for a photo, and also they would have a sense of choice and control of the images being used. 

I need to come up with a name for the project and a statement of purpose, start a page online somewhere, set up guidelines, and hope for submissions.

The purpose would be to say to the world, “Hey, I am a human, and, as such, I have a body. Having a body is not shameful nor is being nude. This is what my body happens to look like at this time, and that’s okay.” Or something like that. I need a name for this project that is interesting or catchy but that also concisely reflects that idea.

The guidelines would be something like:

     - decent quality artistic nudes or casual nudes of “ordinary people”

     - full-length or 3/4

     - may be individuals, couples or groups

     - please include a simple statement of permission by all people in the photo 
        and the photographer

     - photo size between 600 and 3000 pixels

     - no selfies; self-portraits are okay, but no arm’s length or mirror holding 
        your phone/camera photos

     - no close-ups of your genitalia or sexually explicit photos (that’s a totally 
        different sort of project) 

     - no overly edited, or obviously retouched photos

     - studio photos are okay, but the idea is simple, natural

I literally cannot do this alone. 

So, if anyone has suggestions or is interested in participating or in helping me get this thing going, please get in touch. 

a shallow realization

I just had a realization, as I was out for a walk in my neighborhood. I realized that I was not looking at the world in the way that I’ve come to normally look at it in the past several years since I started taking a lot of photos. That way of looking is to really look – to see things. 

Oh, look at that; it’s very interesting or beautiful or ugly or whatever. That thing wasn’t here the last time I walked down this street. And that thing has definitely been here every time I’ve walked down this street. I wonder how that got here or why the thing I saw before isn’t here. 

It’s not very surprising, this change in how I look at things, except that it happened relatively fast. It’s only been a month, or 6 weeks maybe, since I put my camera away and decided to take a break. That’s not very long, right? I remember several years ago when I really started taking pictures I eventually realized I was looking at the world differently. But I think it was a lot longer before that happened than 6 weeks. 

Of course, with this realization came the other part which is that the way I’m looking at things lately is just very shallow, very much a functional visual interaction. It’s like I’m missing some part of me. 

I’m also looking at people differently these days. I guess I’d have to say I’m NOT really looking at them most of the time. I think I’m mostly just looking to see who the person is, where previously I might have looked at their faces and bodies and proportions and expressions and posture and all that stuff. (Not in a creepy way. Wait, maybe... Do people think I look at them in a creepy way? I could ask, but unfortunately, people mostly are not very honest. Anyway...) I found so many people beautiful in some way or another, and often I wished I could photograph lots of people that I saw. Not just snap a quick photo of some random person walking down the street, but to spend an hour or two with the person and my camera in front of a black sheet or a blank wall, really photographing a human person being human. 

I have missed it, and thought about it, and even had dreams about doing photo shoots. But, ironically, I’ve not actually done anything about it. Ironic because that’s sort of the reason I’ve been taking this break – that while there are a handful of people who express interest in doing a shoot with me, they mostly don’t have enough interest to actually do it. And my frustration with that whole situation has led me to stop trying. 

morning shoot

Last night I thought I would get up early this morning, go out and find someplace to take photos. I’ve done that in the past, and I thought it would be a nice day for it. 

Well, I woke up early – around 6:30 – but all I wanted was to go back to sleep, so I did. The amount of energy it would take to get up and go do that just seemed massive, when I first woke up. It still seems massive right now, when I second woke up – a little after 8:00. 

So no outdoor pictures this morning, I guess. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, going out some morning. I’ve a couple of places in mind, but they’re not private. I just have to hope to find a time – like early on a Sunday morning – when there won’t be many people around. 

Maybe I will go out after all, when I’ve had a little coffee. It’s still relatively early, and maybe people won’t be out and about much. Then again, Sunday morning – the people out and about might be on their way to church, and those are just the type who might be offended, call the police out of shock and fear. 

What I really need is access to someplace reasonably private, so I can to do a shoot without worry somebody is going to happen by. Also, I need a model. A single naked man out somewhere probably looks much scarier to people than a photographer and a naked model. 

Lately, though, I’ve not had a lot of success at finding models. There are people who say they’re interested (some have said it over and over for a while now), but they never have the time to do it. Or, I should say, they never make the time. So, I suppose, I’ll just keep photographing myself. 

Whoever did this? - they need to stop.

A little earlier this morning I saw this photo on tumblr. Yes, tumblr. 

Yes, yes, I know; tumblr is full and overflowing with nudity. That’s why I’m there. I actually joined tumblr as a place to see what’s out there photography-wise. On tumblr you can find some really great artistic photography. You can also find some really poor quality, disturbing porn. Sometimes you’ll find both, together on the same page, which I find much more disturbing than the disturbing porn itself. You can all kinds of nudity anywhere on the spectrum between those extremes of great art and bad porn.

Anyway…

This morning I saw this photo (just a warning, it’s a nude): click link 1

I thought it does have some appeal, but basically I don’t like it. And the more I looked at it, the more it seemed not quite right. So I did a google image search, and found this (also a nude): click link 2

I believe it to be the original. I find it much more appealing. Mainly, I don’t get that “not quite right” vibe from it. I like it. It’s quite lovely. 

Obviously, these are versions of the same photo. The one on the right has been re-done: her skin is darker, her breasts and nipples are larger, there’s a significant bush of pubic hair added, and – most bizarrely – a totally different face has been superimposed.

WHY?!?!? 

I do not understand. Who is this other face? Is this some kind of revenge-porn thing? Is that someone’s ex-girlfriend, and they didn’t have any actual nude photos of them to post online, so they made this? (If so, that’s bad. Don’t do that, people.) Or was this version, perhaps, made to fit someone’s personal masturbatory preference? (If so, that’s a little odd, but...just keep it to yourself, eh?)

As a photographer, as a creator of what I hope are some artistic images, I find this disturbing. I’ve seen, on tumblr, a few photographers complain about other people editing and posting versions of their photos – cropping, maybe changing the color &/or contrast, etc. That’s not good. But, this seems much worse. Someone’s turned this photo into a photo of a different person, and it doesn’t seem to be an obvious, clunky version for comic effect. (I admit, I’ve done that once or twice, but never published it online, or tried to convince anyone that it was “real”.)

Anyway... Whoever did this? - they need to stop.  

happy dream

I feel like I’ve been awake all night editing pictures.

I wasn’t actually awake editing pictures. Nope. But I WAS dreaming that I was editing pictures all night. Good pictures. Some really awesome pictures.

These were pictures I had taken, and not self-portraits. These were pictures of other people, some I know and some I don’t. Some of the people were nude; some were clothed. Some pictures were of one person; some were of more than one. They were all people who had agreed to model for me.

Apparently, they liked what I do was a photographer, and wanted to help me, to be part of it. I like those kind of people. 

But, almost the whole time I knew I was dreaming. I knew those pictures didn’t exist, and those people didn’t really exist. I knew I was dreaming, but I didn’t want to wake up. All these different people, willingly modeling for me? Reality is so much more disappointing in that regard. 

email response

From time to time I post on craigslist an ad seeking people to model for me. I have a hard time finding models. People that I know tend to be busy, or just not interested. Or, in some cases, I think they make inaccurate assumptions about what I’m asking. So...I look for models on craigslist. It's led to a few actual photo shoots, but most of the responses end up leading nowhere. 

Part of my ad is always "Serious inquiries only." To me that means someone has considered the idea, it’s something they actually want to do, and maybe they’ll have some questions about it. What I’m hoping to avoid is a “oo, neat, that sounds fun” response or a response that fails to demonstrate any sense of seriousness and intelligence.

Well, sometime in the middle of last night I got a response that just said, "What are photos used for". (Note the lack of appropriate punctuation.)

I don't quite take that response as a serious inquiry. I was trying to decide whether to just ignore it, or to respond with a sort of sardonic attitude. The latter won out. I did, in fact, just send the following email.

What are photos used for?

Well, I’m not sure if this truly gets to the heart of your question, but… Different people take photos for different reasons. Some endeavor to capture moments they feel will be somehow significant: birthdays; family gatherings; sporting events; graduation. Or maybe simply to capture images which are appealing or unusual or entertaining: the Grand Canyon; a funny ad on a roadside sign; a sunset; a cute kitten. And there’s the sharing of such images with others who aren't present. Taking pictures might be a sort of aid to memory, though that’s likely more a result than a reason to take pictures. There are those for which photography becomes a sort of obsessive thing—people who are constantly taking “selfies” or who post on facebook their “outfit of the day”—in these cases, the self-photos may perhaps be simply a way of interacting with the world, or they may be indicative of some deeper need, some legitimate psychological issue. A more serious photographer may have documentarian or photojournalistic leanings. And then, of course there are artistic endeavors. 

I think my photography is in part a sort of social interaction. I’ve taken tons of pictures of myself, and that’s fine, but I’d much prefer to interact with others and capture pictures of other people. I’ve been giving some thought to what a model brings to the model/photographer relationship, and for me a model is more than simply a body to move around and put into various poses. I think I tend to respond to the attitude and personality and mood of a model. And I hope that I capture some of that in some small way with my photos.

Also I consider my photography in part to be an artistic endeavor. That, of course, opens up a whole debate about the nature and purpose of art, which has gone on for a long time and, I’m sure, will continue to do so. But I will say this about art: there’s something in us humans that drives us to create and express in a way that goes beyond the everyday, ordinary, functional tools we use in life.

So, as I said above, I don’t know that really speaks to the meaning of your question.  Perhaps you’re asking what are PHOTOS used for—photographs themselves, the physical end result of the photography process. Certainly they are physical manifestations of any of the motivations I mentioned above. But they themselves may be collected into albums or stored away in boxes, maybe framed and hung on walls or placed on mantelpieces or end tables.

Of course, what most people do these days is digital photography. And for most images captured this way, there may never be a physical, printed photograph. It’s all on the computer, or out there in the internet. That is what I do: I transfer photos from my camera to my computer, where I delete many of them and edit the better ones; eventually I post them on my blog or perhaps on facebook. I have occasionally printed copies of a photo, framed it, and given it to a friend as a gift. And I have some prints of photos hanging on the walls of my apartment. But mostly it all stays digital.

That does bring to mind another issue of significance, which is the ease of access we in the “digital world” have to images and music and information. It’s become so easy to create and access so much stuff—and we do create and access SO MUCH STUFF so easily—that I fear our ability to appreciate it has been diminished. We see so many images and hear so much music and are just flooded with information that we mostly just ignore. And it seems that much of what we don’t ignore we experience in a fairly shallow way; we don’t examine, we don’t analyze, we don’t critique. We don’t stop to figure out why we like or dislike something, and we may not even determine if we actually like or dislike something.

Well... That’s a whole other diatribe. And it doesn’t really answer your question.

Perhaps this answer of mine is a bit long-winded, considering your five-word question. But sometimes I have a lot to say. And I’m quite certain that somewhere in all of my ramblings above is the answer to your question.  

Mostly I’m just being a smart-ass there. But I did touch on something serious. In addition to being an artistic endeavor, I do think of my photography as a type of social interaction, an attempt to share something with the world. I don’t know that it’s very successful. I don’t think many people actually look at my photos.

Two people I recently asked to model for me had made the same assumption that I only do nudes. And that just says to me that those people haven’t actually looked at my photos. I suspect they are not the only ones who haven’t. That saddens me. I’m certain that assumption contributes to my lack of connection with, lack of closeness to, most people. And this is the overwhelming problem of my life. 

another photo dream

In the past month or so I’ve had several dreams about photography. This is a fairly recent thing. I never used to dream about photography.

In my first photography dream I had found a bunch of pictures and some video I had taken several years ago (when I wasn’t, in reality, taking pictures) but had totally forgotten about. A few were of some models who I didn’t actually know, but most were of my ex-girlfriend. Other dreams were just about taking pictures of various people. I don’t recall the details.

Well, I had one of these dreams last night. I was taking part in some sort of photography workshop or maybe a contest or both. I was one of several photographers who had gathered for this thing, and whoever had organized it provided a bunch of models for us to photograph in a couple of locations. The models weren’t professional models, just people who were posing for us. One of these “models” was someone I know, from the local theatre world.

I go annoyed with these models, because they weren’t all that great. In fact, they almost seemed to not want to be photographed. Every time I would point my camera at them, they would move, often turning away or even moving away from me. They didn’t seem to want to be still enough that I could get a decent, in focus picture. (It’s a lot like the experience I’ve had when trying to photograph animals. I haven’t done much of that, because they’re generally not co-operative models.)

This one “model” who I knew approached me after I finished shooting her to try to get the negatives. Of course, there were no negatives, no film. It’s all digital. I think maybe she wanted to destroy any that she didn’t like. In real life, chances are I would delete any that she wouldn’t like before I really even start editing. Also, in real life, I’ve always let the model see the edited “final” pictures for their approval before I ever post anything online. I don’t want the model to be unhappy with the pictures I’ve taken.

Toward the end of the dream, I was trying to take some casual, non-posed pictures—sort of like “behind the scenes” or something. And there was a cool shot I tried to take of 3 girls sitting on a couch. But the moment I pointed my camera at them, one of them moved and got into “I posing now” mode. That pissed me off. I didn’t take the picture, and I yelled, “No!” then tried to explain a little more calmly that if I’d wanted her to move, I would’ve given her some direction.

I’ve never yelled at a model in real life. But a couple of times recently, in rehearsals, I have decided to not take a picture because the subject shifted into “I’m posing now” mode. What I wanted was to capture what I saw, which was really nice, instead of somebody trying to look cool or pretty or whatever.

If I’m working one-on-one with a model, I’m fine with “posing” mode. That’s sort of what the whole shoot is. And I’m fine with trying to look cool or pretty or whatever. In fact, I’ll make suggestions and give directions to try to help a model look cooler and prettier or whatever-er. 

No Picture Day

Well, here I am approaching the end of another day in which I haven’t taken any pictures. I thought about it this morning, but I didn’t want to do yet another mediocre morning nude. And I knew I’d be going out today (for an extra day of auditions for the show I’m doing), and I thought I might go a little early and stop someplace to take a picture of something interesting. I didn’t go early, and though I took my camera, I didn’t see anything that inspired me to take a picture.

And I just don’t feel like taking any pictures tonight. This happened last night (because I had a shoot with a model scheduled, but she canceled), and I took some pics, but they weren’t all that great. And I’m actually trying to work on some music this evening. 

So, I am officially declaring this a “no picture day”. It’s the first no pictures day for me since 6 weeks ago, when I decided I’d try to take pictures every day. 

“Connect, George, connect!”

So, I was just searching online for pictures I like—you know, inspiration, or whatever. And I was purposely trying to find non-nudes. I’ve found tons of nudes I like. The thing is, I tend to find nudes so much more appealing. Or I have a stronger reaction, I guess. It’s not necessarily a sexual reaction (sometimes it is, but not always). And obviously not all nudes do I find appealing. Some are quite appalling.

It’s a little bit of a challenge. The more pictures I look at, the less I find really interesting. There’s certainly stuff that’s nice, or appealing, I guess, but not really interesting.

I always liked nudes. Well…for a long time. (I wrote a little about that before: “childhood myths”.)

Anyway, I just find nudes appealing, both as a viewer and as a photographer. It’s easier for me to find nudes that I like, or that I think are interesting. But, while I definitely enjoy doing nudes, I’m totally willing to do non-nudes. I just wish more people would pose for me, clothed or not. 

I have this suspicion that people who know me, who’ve seen at least some of my facebook posts of my photography, maybe think that I only do nudes. Or maybe that I really only want to do nudes, and somehow that’s my ultimate goal. Perhaps that idea was suggested by the fact that mostly what I was doing for a while was nudes, self portraits. So maybe that’s all some people have seen of my photography. And maybe they think that if they modeled for me, I would be nude. 

Well, I wouldn’t be nude. You could ask the few people who have posed for me. And my actual goal is to make some nice pictures, maybe some interesting pictures. Pictures that I would want to look at, that people would want to look at. And, as I said, I like doing nudes, but I do other stuff too. 

Maybe people I know haven’t seen much of my more recent stuff, or my non-self-portraits. Generally when I post a link to facebook these days, I don’t get many views and no comments—whether it’s this blog of “rants” or my naked blog or my general photography blog or the newest blog that I set up with mostly people who’ve modeled for me. 

Hmm... Maybe I have too many blogs. 

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

Photography is often a lonely endeavor. Even if I have someone model for me, that’s only the first part—an hour or 90 minutes of actually interacting with that person. Then they leave, and I have to select and edit the photos. That takes longer than the actual shoot—just me, at my computer, looking at images, playing with contrast and color and all that, making decisions about what looks better this or that. I don’t mind that part of it, but it would be nice to have at least had that hour or so working with another person. Then the result would be pictures I took of another person, instead of just me or some building or trees or whatever. It would be a connection of sorts. 

Maybe it’s something else. Maybe people aren’t reluctant to model for me because of anything to do with nudes. Maybe people just don’t like me. Actually, not maybe; I’m fairly sure about that one. Some people like me well enough, but I’m quite certain that tons of people don't know exactly how to take me, or just don’t care much for me, or just outright dislike me. 

I used to be nice and quiet and shy. I got over that. The nice sand shy part, anyway. I’m still quiet sometimes, especially when I don’t know the people I’m around, or if they’re talking about something I know little about. But I’m certainly willing to tell people what I think even if it’s not nice.

It’s absolutely clear to me that I’m bad at connecting with people. I was never great at it, but it’s harder now than it used to be. When I was in college, people were open to making friends. But now I'm middle-aged. People are just busy with their own lives, and if I’m not already part of that, they just seem to not have much room for me. Okay, fine. But I think that my desire to photograph people is partly an attempt to connect, to participate in the world that I often just don’t feel a part of. 

Another failing attempt to be human. 

model request

I got an email today from a young woman who I photographed this past summer. We did a bunch of different pictures in one day. It was the longest shoot I’ve done. There were some implied nudes.

Well, the email she sent earlier today said, “i have nude well implied photos on your blog and since i will be a mother soon i was wondering if you could please remove them from your blog???”

I will remove them. But…I don’t know what being a mother soon has to do with any pictures I took of her. Seriously. It’s not like they were crass or explicit or demeaning in any way. They were implied nudes. Not like porn-tastic crotch shots.

Seriously, I do not get it.

There was another, more recent, model who was not okay with a few of the best pictures I took. Apparently, they showed too much skin. These were also implied nudes. And the weird thing is that the pictures she didn’t want me to post didn’t show any more of her than the ones that she gave the okay.

I do not understand.

Maybe I should abandon my policy of not posting pictures that a model hasn’t approved. Maybe if I were in a position to hire models, then I’d have a different attitude about it. It’s just my feeling is that they’re doing me a favor. But, I guess I’m helping them too, whether they’re an aspiring model who’s trying to build a portfolio or a non-model who likes being in photos or wants some cool, interesting pictures of themselves.

Well…anyway…I just don’t get some people’s attitudes concerning bodies. Especially with pictures that they already said were okay (or, in the case of the second model I mentioned, agreed that they were great pictures). The mom-to-be thing just seems to me as if she’s saying, “it was fine when I was just a single young woman experiencing the world…” or whatever, “but now I have to feel ashamed of my body and my choices because there’s a future baby that could be upset one day if, somehow, they stumbled upon these pictures on some little photography blog that most of the world has never seen.”

Sad. 

That resolution I made

I just got in from a 45-minute walk around my neighborhood with my camera. I didn't see anything that I wanted to photograph. Maybe there's just not much here. Or maybe it's the fact that I've walked around enough that I'm bored with what IS here. Or, maybe it's something to do with the dull brown-ness of everything, and the overcast, grey, winter-ish light making everything look uninteresting. Or maybe it's something to do with my just being tired today. I foolishly stayed up ‘til 5AM watching stuff on the Netflix, then got up about 4½ hours later.  

Anyway, I haven't taken a picture of anything yet today. So far, since I posted a little over a week ago about my “resolution” to try to take an interesting or different or at least decent picture every day, I have succeeded in taking pictures every day.

I’m not sure what to photo this evening. Maybe I’ll end up doing some of my sort of standard, moody, nude self-portraits. But that’s not different and probably not interesting, considering I’ve done probably a few hundred pictures like that in the past few years. 

Maybe I just need a little nap, then I’ll wake up refreshed and ready to create some art here in my apartment tonight. Though if I do nap, I’ll likely either not really sleep at all or sleep for about 2 hours and wants to sleep more, then finally get up and feel crappy ‘til midnight or so, just when I “get my second wind” and want to stay up ‘til 5AM again. 

Yet another blog?

So, I’m thinking maybe I should start another blog with just people. (Yes, that’s right, yet another blog.) This would be just models I’ve photographed, and MAYBE a few of my better self-portraits. 

My general photography blog (my-photog-blog.blogspot.com) would still be buildings and trees and whatever other stuff, but I guess maybe not people(?). I already removed the nudes from that blog, so people could view it without worrying that they might see a bare breast or genitalia (oh no!!!!). But, my naked blog (my-naked-blog.blogspot.com) is overwhelmingly pictures of me. And, of course, some folk find that problematic (see: “So, what happened with City Arts?”and “So what happened to Mississippi?”) 

Maybe this is just my tendency to want things to be organized. But, basically, I’m thinking it would be good to have a place I can direct people—potential models—to see a bunch of pictures I’ve taken of people without having to wade through all the other stuff (and all the self-portraits). 

Anybody got a suggestion for what I should call this new blog? Maybe it should go a long with the names I’ve used for my other blogs: “My Photog Blog”; “My Naked Blog”; “My Blog o’ Rants”. “My Model Blog” sounds wrong—more like it’s the blog of a model. And “My People Blog” seems just not right. Maybe I should just go simpler, like “My Models”? So, please, if you have a suggestion, make it right away, ‘cause I’ll probably do this later today. Or at least I’ll get started on it. 

I resolve...?

I’m not really a New Years’ Resolution sort of guy. But, I’m thinking next year I may try this: take a different picture every day. Or maybe try to capture at least one good picture that I really like every week.

Something like that.

I will be looking for ideas. Suggestions. These might be concepts or places or items. Or people—if anyone wants a decent picture of themselves, I’d be happy to try to take it.

Mainly, I just want ideas of things I’ve not photographed before, or maybe ideas of how to approach in a different way something (or someone) I have photographed. Not just the same stuff I’ve been doing. 

Actually, New Year’s is about 20 days away. Honestly, I’m more inclined to start tomorrow. So…send me your ideas. Or invite me to some location. Or come by my place and pose for me. Or all of the above. 

Naked States (Spencer Tunick)

A few days ago I watched, for the second time, Naked States. It’s a documentary about photographer Spencer Tunick and his Naked States tour.

In 1997 Spencer toured the U.S. states, taking pictures of people (generally not “models”, just “normal” people) posing nude in public. Some were individuals or small groups, some were large groups of people.

The documentary came out in 2000.

He’s been arrested several times, in several locations. In the film his lawyer says that none of his arrests were the result of a complaint, but rather they all resulted from a policeman who happened by while the photographs were being taken.

The Naked States tour was instrumental in bringing Spencer’s work to the public, at least, certainly in the art world. Perhaps the documentary has brought him to a wider general public’s attention. Since doing this tour he’s gone on to do a Naked World tour, and other national tours and large “installations” at various locations.

I believe on this tour, he broke the then-record for the largest (most people) in a nude photo with 1,000+ people. His current record is around 18,000 people. (Wow. And by that, I mean “Wow” not “World of Warcraft”.)

On Spencer’s website you can view some of his work, find out about upcoming projects, and even “sign up” to participate in future installations.

Some quotes from the film:

In the documentary, one of his models says about the shoot, “As soon as I had my clothes off—I think it was actually getting them off and getting them back on that was more uncomfortable for me, than actually being nude outside.”

(I can completely relate to that. When I take pictures outside, behind my apartment, I’m just not that nervous while I’m naked, taking pictures. It’s a little before and mostly after that I feel nervous.)

Another of his models, says, “Being naked is just a wonderful experience. I highly recommend it to everyone. They should all run out of their houses immediately, and be naked. You don’t have to have people watching you, just go out at night sometime and walk around in the yard and see how good it feels.”

(Yes, I agree. It totally does feel great. Do it. You know you’re curious.)

In the documentary, Dan Speers, President of the Tri-State Metro Naturists group (based in New Jersey), says “For someone to tell me, especially a government authority, that I have to wear clothes—they’re telling me to be ashamed of myself. Government is mandating that people shame themselves.”

(YEAH! If I ever get arrested, I’m gonna have to remember that. Actually, in that case, it would be really helpful if I could get some of my pictures hung up somewhere—a gallery or coffee shop, even. Also, I’m still interested in taking pictures of other people. Anyone?)