Ustas,
Looks like I just walked into a set from a scary movie... I like it a lot!
Ustas,
Looks like I just walked into a set from a scary movie... I like it a lot!
Jim Cole
Flagstaff, AZ
Love that image, Ustas!
Tmax 400 in x-tol 1+1, Optar 135mm @ f4.7 on Speed Graphic
One of this things that always goes through my mind when looking at a nude shot is, "Does the photograph celebrate how the model feels, or show me the human form in a way that I might never have seen it?" or "Does the photo document merely that the photographer convnced someone to have their picture taken without all their clothes?" One of the sorts of "tests" that a viewer might apply is "Might somebody really be (or wish to be) in this situation/pose/outfit if there weren't a camera there?"
While I can't begin to grasp what the model might be thinking or assume that so many attractive young people just happen to be devout nudists in their everyday life... I appreciate your point that a lot of photographers shoot someone naked because they can, or they want to see if they can. And the better ones, like Jock Sturges or Richard Kern, can work with their models to convince you that all is perfectly serene and they are simply documenting what's in front of them. The lessor photographers, well... the models look like they want to crawl out of their skin.One of this things that always goes through my mind when looking at a nude shot is, "Does the photograph celebrate how the model feels, or show me the human form in a way that I might never have seen it?" or "Does the photo document merely that the photographer convnced someone to have their picture taken without all their clothes?" One of the sorts of "tests" that a viewer might apply is "Might somebody really be (or wish to be) in this situation/pose/outfit if there weren't a camera there?"
Having known a few nude models of various persuasions, at the root level most of them want to record how great they looked in their youth, even the stupid ones are self-aware enough to know that their simple outward beauty is fleeting. It's also a great technique for male photographers to use to convince ditzy hot girls to pose naked, telling them that they'll have some cool pictures to shock the grandkids with.
Their poor grandkids.
David Cary
www.milfordguide.nz
From an evolutionary perspective, the female body is meant to elicit certain responses from male viewers, so it's no surprise so many men choose the subject for their photographs. Speculating about the thoughts/ feelings/ motives of the photographer/ subject/ viewer is just that. I photograph women's bodies, women in general, or a woman in particular, because I like the way they look, for whatever reasons, which can also be said for everything/everyone else I photograph. I don't think a lot of amateur psychology is very meaningful or useful in this context.
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