What’s the point? OK, there’s the obvious pun about it making the points visible, but is there any higher reason than ogling? I’d be willing to bet my lunch money that there are more female nudes taken than male, and most of them will have been taken by male photographers. Fine art? My arse! (Or not, in truth)
We know that there was an Ancient Greek tradition of decorating vases and plates with nudes, which could lead you to believe that everyone in Greece strolled about with nowhere to keep their handkerchief or change. Even that is under review though, with the conclusion that the Greeks saw buff butts in the same way and for the same reasons we look at ‘figure studies’. There is a less erudite but funnier version of this theory in episode 544 of Shutters Inc.
I think that people generally look better with their clothes on. That’s because the clothes – their choice and how they are worn – are part of the person. Not that I believe in any snobbery about brands or price, but that what you wear and how you choose to wear it is part of your expression (for example, what my clothes say about me is mostly warm, windproof and expecting rain). I suppose this is what lies behind the use of uniforms – to remove individual expression. But clothes are good, and so is the context or environment of a picture.
But, and it’s a different kind of but, what’s wrong with nudity? I guess it’s context, as you seldom have a clue what was in the mind of the person taking the picture. If you look at a picture like Man Ray’s Le Violon d’Ingres there are several themes at play, not least that the title is slang for hobby and the model was his lover. (Not sure I like the implications of that, or I may be drawing a false conclusion.) Or what about painters like Lucien Freud or Francis Bacon? Painting may be less voyeuristic than photography, but is that because it is more considered or because it takes longer? There have been paintings that many might consider to be pornographic – not just the school that was scared of the statue of David; think of something like Courbet’s painting of the origin of the world (best not look it up at work). It caused a lot more fuss but perhaps says something more honest than the Violon picture. It also led to Facebook changing their policy to allow the depiction of nudity in art after losing a censorship case in France.
But let’s not get into art history and critique, as I am infinitely under-qualified. So, does photography follow art? There are similar themes of historical or religious allegory. Just look at Oscar Rejlander’s The two ways of life. To channel Derek and Clive – “you can tell that’s art because they’ve got their kit off”. The speed and ease of photography made it a lot easier to produce salacious pictures though, and to be able to run-off multiple copies at low cost. So I expect the field that ranges from titillation to porn really got started with photography and film. And I guess that’s a good reason to avoid repeating it. I’m also thinking as an example of a photographer who was well known at the time and considered controversial for his soft-focus images of very young models and children. I’m not naming him – I don’t like his work or what was discovered about his character. He was an example though of how easy it is to create pictures like this photographically.
So, for all my preaching, how am I defending the two pictures on this post? They were both taken with the full intention of looking at the subject. The bellybutton was about the skinny waist and the suntan, because these things are transient. That particular bellybutton is still around, but further from the backbone than it used to be. The other was taken because I noticed it looked rude – I was asking myself if I really could tell an arse from an elbow.
But, aside from the examples I have posted here, I don’t see myself making figure studies or taking nude shots. The most interesting things about most people are their faces and their environment and what they are doing, not their bodies. That’s just me though. If I had something meaningful to say about nudity or through nudity I might take different pictures.
What do you think?
Fup Duck Photography 