nude photography

[keith turrill]

Historically, bodies depicted in art idealize fertility and reproductive value. Aesthetics vary considerably in different eras and cultures.

 

The camera is not as forgiving as a soft impressionist paint brush. Hence, the emphasis on youth is not likely to change. The P/N nude gallery is only a reflection of that.

[ben conover]

Whilst there are the graceful, happy, refined, comfortable people, there are also those less fortunate, I am sure of that. So, to constantly objectify the female or male nude as something out of Tiffany's is just absurd.

 

Photography can show many sides of life, in many ways.

 

Cheers.

[billfoster]

I have noticed this phenomena myself and commented upon it before. First, I want to say that I have no problem with nude photography. I enjoy looking at it and I don't think it's my place - or anyone else's - to judge what is and isn't art. I would not censor anything on the site if it were up to me. That said, I realize that not everyone feels that way and I think that the administrators could do a better job of segregating some of it. It's not censorship to ensure that it doesn't just pop up unexpectedly. In particular, I don't think nudes should appear when you open the critique forum. People go there with children or at work and shouldn't have to deal with that. I don't go to PN at work for just that reason.

 

However, as someone noted, this is a private site and it's driven by clicks and the nude girls bring views. I just went through all the Top Photo sections and the numbers are quite interesting (BTW, this is a GREAT way to find a lot of great photos that have slipped into PN obscurity). As of right now only one of the top 50 photos as sorted by "Rate Recent Average" is a nude (and it is quite tasteful showing only the side of a breast). It didn't used to be that way. A couple months ago, the administrators did something to the system and nudes began to appear much less frequently in the RRA, which is the default setting. There were about five nudes at the top of the RRA top photos a day or two ago, but that was, I believe, the result of someone gaming the system. So, I think we should thank the administrators for responding and at least getting the RRA right.

 

However, if you search by "Sum", which shows the pictures that are attracting the most ratings, 17 of the top 50 are currently nudes. That is not too bad, it has been as high as 40 of 50 and I have seen the whole top 30 be nudes before.

 

What is really interesting is when you go back in time. With the RRA for the year 45 of 50 are nudes. 1 year ago: 29 0f 50. 2 Years ago 12 of 15.

 

With the sum for the year: 47 of 50. 1 year ago: 44 of 50. 2 years ago 9 of 50. 3 years ago: 3 of 50. 4 years ago: 4 of 50 and 5 years ago: 1 of 50.

 

Just to finish it off, if you sort by "all," 44 of 50 Sum are nudes and 31 of 50 under the RRA.

 

What I find interesting here is that it seems as if the prevelance of nudes here is a recent development. 3, 4, 5 years ago, you don't see the prominence of nudes. It seems as if it began about 2 years ago and now it does seem to drive the site in terms of views and clicks.

 

Of the most interesting people (the people who are on the most interesting people lists) 8 of the top 10 have nudes and seven of those eight specialize in them. 20 of the top 30 feature nudes (I didn't look past there). NOTE: Everyone of them is a FABULOUS photographer. Of them, I only saw one who wasn't. He is on over 800 lists and his folder is just shots of 1 woman with nothing particularly skilled in the setup of photography.

[alan_katz2]

Adam, I agree with your basic concept, however it is irrelavant in a community which

probably represents the creative photographer proportionately. In the creative world there

are always far more trashy examples than memorable ones. The problem is that on this

site we lump together fine Art, commercial Art, and non-Art as though they have anything

in common. It would be interesting to group together people who have similar goals. That

way we could spend less time searching for kindred spirits and less time being channeled

to junk artists. The nude is a timeless subject that should connect us to ourselves in the

purest sense. There are excellent photographers on this site who use the nude to inspire .

The ones who exploit their models,in the name of Art are usually boring and do not hold

our attention. Adam, as a creative experience , find yourself a person who inspires you to

understand your own body better. I would be very interested in seeing your perceptions on

nudity in photographs . When you have questions , find the answers in your work, That is

what Artists do.