Nudes. Your partners attitude?

[rkm]

If you have an interest in nudes, how does your partner feel about it? Do they share an interest, within certain parameters? Would they allow you to shoot them as the subject? Would they be ok with you shooting others as the subject?

 

[nikon_sam]

One hour and 76 views but no one posting...interesting...

I would love to shoot nudes...the kind where you know the person is nude but you see absolutely nothing..poses where everything is covered by other body parts or things in their local environment...

"No" to both of the other questions (my wife would not be happy)...I've shot many different types of photographs but "Nudes" aren't among them...

A few years ago I showed my wife a photo that Sanders McNew posted of his wife Melody nude against a tree root, I thought it was a beautiful photograph and to my surprise so did my wife...

 

[wintoid]

I'm pretty sure my wife would be fine with it, but she wouldn't want to be photographed nude herself. So for this to happen, I'd have to hire a model, which would take my photography way outside my comfort zone 😀

It's not a huge interest anyway, as I don't like posed shots much. How do you do unposed nudes? You can't exactly hang around a nudist resort taking candids 😀

 

[rkm]

How do you do unposed nudes? You can't exactly hang around a nudist resort taking candids 😀

Check out Mona Kuhn's book, "Evidence".
That's pretty much what she did, and it's by far my favorite nude photography, so far. Very natural, not self conscious at all.

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

I'm pretty sure my wife would be fine with it, but she wouldn't want to be photographed nude herself. So for this to happen, I'd have to hire a model, which would take my photography way outside my comfort zone 😀

It's not a huge interest anyway, as I don't like posed shots much. How do you do unposed nudes? You can't exactly hang around a nudist resort taking candids 😀

Well, I wouldn't, no. But at one stage, Diane Arbus did exactly that.
Cheers,
Brett

 

[Leigh Youdale]

I think it's something that many of us would like to try or have tried, but the difficulties mount up to the point where you think it's not worth it.
a) Spouse/girlfriend type people are rarely comfortable about you doing it, even if they say it's OK.
b) There are not insignificant personal constraints, usually.
c) Trying it in hotel rooms gets into dodgy territory.
d) The only practical way (unless you're particularly persuasive/adventurous) is to work out exactly what you want to do, how you intend to do it and that probably means hire a studio, hire a model who can be persuaded to go along with it, pass inspection by her chaperone/partner/agency, get the props and lighting organised, model releases etc etc etc.
e) I got as far as attending four or five nude model shoots in limited groups of about six people, run by a couple of professional photographers and I did get one or two nice shots. However, you have to compete with everyone else for the model's attention, you have to compete with the "DSLR with Zoom" brigade who fire off multiple shots in seconds and then call for a change of pose. Working with manual cameras and no zooms is frustrating when you can't direct the poses or timing.
Also, I became aware that it was largely the same group of people who attended each shoot and it was eventually apparent that there was a degree of voyeurism involved that I found unappealing. It was pretty much all about "glamour" type shots and the poses weren't very natural.

My conclusion was that unless I had the necessary permissions, money, facilities (whether hired or not), and a few good models on call - and did it with maybe one other photographer I knew so we each could get the shots we wanted, it just wasn't worth it.

 

[ricnak]

If I shot nudes, my partner would probably take an interest in my photographic hobby.

 

[Rangefinderfreak]

My first wife was a fashion model. The less clothes, the better... After a while shooting nude was becoming a drag, really. Now, when I see nude images, I meditate: Is it visuality or is it the hormones that makes the guy shoot nudes. Usually it is just the thrill of getting the girl undress, the pictures are...."yawn"... hehe, not worth of the effort...

 

[Michael Markey]

I have had girlfriends who have wanted me to do that but I never have.
Strikes me as a particularly difficult undertaking .
There is always the possibility of a somewhat uncertain reaction amongst friends if the results were ever published.

 

[EdwardKaraa]

Let's face it, there is no asexual or castrated nude photography. It is all based on the interaction between photographer and model, and there must be some undeclared sexual tension in the air in order for it to succeed. Claiming anything else is pure hypocrisy. That is why, unless the spouse is particularly open minded, I don't expect any positive or encouraging reactions.

 

[bobbyrab]

Let's face it, there is no asexual or castrated nude photography. It is all based on the interaction between photographer and model, and there must be some undeclared sexual tension in the air in order for it to succeed. Claiming anything else is pure hypocrisy. That is why, unless the spouse is particularly open minded, I don't expect any positive or encouraging reactions.

It all depends on what you're looking to convey. I recently commented on a nude in the gallery that it I couldn't see what differentiated it from soft porn.
I retracted my comment as I think it was too strong and unfair a comment to make when the photographer is aiming for something more artistic.
I was also reacting partly to the way nudes on the gallery are viewed, at the time the image had been on the gallery for a couple of hours and had no comments but 88 views, 89 after i looked at it, but sitting two lines below it was a really strong creative image that made the gallery pick a few times that week. It had been posted a couple of hours before the nude and had four comments but only 15 views which shows what a bit of nudity can do for popularity.
Besides it is cowardly of me to snipe when I've never taken a nude myself, but the soft porn titillation trap seems to be easier to create than a study of the human form which is often the stated aim.
Imogen Cunningham is the photographer who sprung to my mind for producing nudes without the sexual tension, I can't think of many better.

 

[Jamie123]

Let's face it, there is no asexual or castrated nude photography. It is all based on the interaction between photographer and model, and there must be some undeclared sexual tension in the air in order for it to succeed. Claiming anything else is pure hypocrisy. That is why, unless the spouse is particularly open minded, I don't expect any positive or encouraging reactions.

There's plenty of non-erotic nude photography( though I surely hope there's not a lot of castration going on!).
A good example for non-erotic nudes are medical photographs for various purposes. Also, I don't think sexual tension is necessary in order for nude photography to succed. There's plenty of gay photographers that take great nude pictures of the opposite sex just as there's plenty of straight photographers that take great nudes of the same sex. Last but not least we shouldn't forget that the link between nudity and sexuality is highly cultural. What is normal attire in on a summer day nowadays would probably have passed as pornography a hundred years ago.

 

[Bobfrance]

I find it slightly telling that all the above discussion (bar a couple of statements) assume that we are talking about male photographers shooting female models despite no such mention having been made in the question.

If nobody has even considered the possibility of shooting same-sex models, then I guess it really is all about the hormones, you naughty boys...😉

 

[Jamie123]

I find it slightly telling that all the above discussion (bar a couple of statements) assume that we are talking about male photographers shooting female models despite no such mention having been made in the question.

If nobody has even considered the possibility of shooting same-sex models, then I guess it really is all about the hormones, you naughty boys...😉

To be fair, though, only a few of the statements so far were gender specific and the original question only really makes sense if one assumes that there's at least a potential for sexual attraction between the photographer and the model (be they male or female).

 

[EdwardKaraa]

I understand the points raised by Bobby and Jamie, but I stick to my opinion. Even when a perfectly straight photographer is shooting a nude male, or a gay photographer shooting a nude woman, there is always some erotism involved. Nudity as the pure study of the human form is a noble description that does not take into consideration the human nature.

 

[Michael I.]

one of the reasons that made my wife initially want to meet me are my photographs, nudes included, so she's all for them

 

[Jamie123]

I understand the points raised by Bobby and Jamie, but I stick to my opinion. Even when a perfectly straight photographer is shooting a nude male, or a gay photographer shooting a nude woman, there is always some erotism involved. Nudity as the pure study of the human form is a noble description that does not take into consideration the human nature.

Well, first and foremost, "human nature" knows no clothes so any naturalistic argument about the inherent eroticism of nudity fails from the start. What is and isn't considered nudity highly depends on the conventions of what we regard as acceptable clothing. As a guy I can take off my shirt in the summer and not be considered nude while the same isn't true for women.

But please do not confuse my point with bobbyrab's. I wasn't talking about "the study of the human form". My first example was nude photography for non-aesthetic purposes like medical photography where neither the photographer, nor the model, nor the viewer of the photograph look at it in a sexual way. E.g. when a woman considers breast augmentation/reduction and needs to have her breasts photographed in order to discuss the surgery.
My second example was nude photography for aesthetic purposes where the photograph itself might be of a sexual nature. My point was that successful (erotic) photography does not necessarily rely on there being sexual tension between the photographer and the model.
So to summarize, my two points were a) nude photography in a non-sexual context does in fact exist and b)sexually suggestive photography doesn't necessarily presuppose sexual tension between the photographer and model.
What I wasn't talking about was what people refer to as 'tasteful nudes' or 'study of the human form'. There I agree with you. Saying an image is non-sexual just because some body parts are covered or because the lighting is sophisticated is hypocritical. Also, I personally don't think there's anything particularly noble about non-sexual as opposed to sexual imagery. As long as it's a good image I don't care whether or not it's porn.

 

[Underaglassbell]

I have had girlfriends who have wanted me to do that but I never have.
Strikes me as a particularly difficult undertaking .
There is always the possibility of a somewhat uncertain reaction amongst friends if the results were ever published.

Ditto, my last was actually very 'into' nude photographs, and naturally I didn't really have any complaints about taking them - Personally, I prefer clothed portraits, or as someone above mentioned nudes which are nude, but nothing too private is visible, if at all (i.e no boobs either).

But yeah, I didn't feel comfortable post them on my Flickr page - I put them up on my old DeviantArt account. I think because it was my partner, I didn't really want them publicly accessible. If it were a model, maybe I would if the photo was one I was happy with.

It was fun on occasion though, especially when outside. But no, given the choice I would rather shoot clothed I think.

That said, I don't shoot any portraits at all now, so meh.. :angel:

 

[Roger Hicks]

(1) I'm not very good that them, though I've taken a couple I've liked (and one was among three pictures stolen from an exhibition some years ago). Because I'm not very good, and because I know (and indeed have assisted) some people who really are very good, my interest has never been all that great.

(2) Few women are happy with ANY pictures of themselves, clothed or nude.

(3) My wife would cheerfully assist/chaperon if I were keen enough to set up the studio for shooting and find models.

Cheers,

R.

 

[bwcolor]

I haven't any interest, but if I did take nudes. I don't trust others to live an honest life, so I would never be alone, without someone else that I trust in the room. That would be my wife. She would be ok with it.