P1020068_Nun_BW_sft_crpd_Signed

David, see if you like this better. I do.

Mr. Cline, the nuns don't do things like that! Must be a fake one!

Warm regards!

PDE

This is quite a powerful image, especially in B&W. I suppose there is some sort of commentary here I don't fully get so I won't comment on that. I do like the strong composition and how well you have held detail in the full range of tones. Well made, Michael.

Hi Pierre and Mark!

Thank you both for your comments.  David M. had also commented about the cropping of my first posting of this image, and since I had been stewing over it myself, I withdrew it, cropped it, and resubmitted it.  That's why I asked if he liked it better now.

I'm going to attach my statement about this series again below just to clarify my intentions.  I normally don't like to tell my audience how to interpret my images, as I'm sure all of you can indentify with.  But this is such a touchy subject, that I just don't want to risk offending anybody.  Thank you again for commenting!

____________________

Regarding The Private Moment (Nun) Image Series...

    Lest there be any doubt, let it be known that I have nothing but the highest of regard and greatest of respect for nuns, and the services they provide to society.

     This is an allegory, meant not to degrade a nun's life, but rather to elevate it and celebrate it.  For me, revealing this particular nun's human and exposed side makes her all the more real, admirable, accessible and easier for the laymen and believer (and non believer alike) to identify and relate to.

     And that's the very thing I'm attempting to convey with this series... not badness, but goodness.  Not lasciviousness, but vulnerability.  Not a fairytale consisting of unattainable attributes, but simple reality.  Not the rose-colored, but the true; the thorny path of life for the faithful, and more specifically, for this nun... this very beautiful and special creature we have come to know as Stacey.

Micahel,

 

You have done a service with your images.

Becoming a Nun is a choice. Being a female is human.

You images reveal both the female form and the thougts in a Nun's mind.

Okay, I'm going to step way out on a limb here....while I like this image in terms of quality very much, I'd prefer to comment on your intentions...and your reasons for stating your intentions. I'm going to offer some personal opinions which may ruffle some feathers all around. (This might be a little long.)

First, let me clarify that I'm neither a raging Catholic, nor am I conservative in any particular respect (quite the contrary)...so my words are not coming from that place. I'm a fashion and erotic photographer, and fully realize that we're all (nuns included!) are sexual beings...so if you want to explore any aspect of that, I'm all for it.

You said you were initially reluctant to give an explanation for this image, preferring to let the viewer interpret it as they like. I think that's the biggest cop-out in the entire field of "art".  

Hiding behind "I prefer to let the viewer interpret" is lazy artistically, and keeps an artist from being a truly great communicator. Instead, you should be saying to yourself, that you need to know what you're trying to say, and that if the viewer doesn't get it, then you need to try harder next time.

Certainly, there are images that plant seeds into the viewer's mind, which sprout into ideas that the artist may not have considered himself...that's a good thing.

Also, the artist may not have concrete language to explain his intended meaning, and the picture itself is the communication, and to discuss it would take the proverbial thousand words...that's a good thing.

In either case, the artist is NOT abdicating his role as visual communicator....rather, he is simply acknowledging that words are one thing, images are another. Perhaps, talking about pictures is like dancing about architecture.

To not discuss your pictures in a forum dedicated to detailed discussion of pictures, and to hesitate to offer for discussion the concept that motivated you, preferring to let the viewer interpret it...what? You can't fool me, I can tell by looking at this picture that a concept motivated you to make it. 

I'm actually interested in knowing more about that concept, and I don't get to, just an attempt to sidestep in advance any potential controversy. Let me tell you, anyone who would be offended by a naked nun will still be offended.

Sexy nuns are fricking controversial, man...they're also a little bit cliché, and I actually think you took pictures a little bit beyond cliché in this series, especially this one. So fricking stand up, throw the apologies in the garbage because that's where they belong if you're going to explore the sexuality of nuns, and give yourself the permission to really talk about what you're doing here, because I'd rather hear that than "I hope I'm not offending you".

Thank you Mike and Jeff for commenting. 

Jeff... no, you didn't offend me at all.  In fact, I welcome constructive criticism and dialogue.  Art - any art - will always generate those things anyway.  It's interesting... I had another commenter accuse me of apologizing for one of my other nun images that I recently posted here.

No, I don't mean to appear apologetic for my images, and you're right, I definitely had my own interpretation of them in mind when I photographed them.  I explained that intent in my statement above.  It is, however - for whatever reason - important to me that viewers do know that these images are not meant to be interpreted as a disrespectful or demeaning statement on my part.  Of course, however a viewer chooses to interpret these images, after knowing my intent, remains as their perogative.

Regarding your last point... I am actually more than happy to relay to a viewer what my intent and interpretation was of any image I've ever shot.  However, I know for a fact (as I've tested this out with other photographers, and by observation of viewers), that five people could be looking at a photograph, and all five could easily have different interpretations of what that image means to them, and what they "think" the photographer was trying to relay.  Try it out for yourself!  Find what you think to be a powerful image, and send it out to several people.  Ask them to send you back an explanation of what that image means.  You will find the results to be very interesting!

I honestly do not try to stand in the way of that, as I truly hope my work will speak to people - even if it speaks different things to different people.  My nun series was the first one that I have ever made clear as to what my intentions were and were not, and I cannot apologize for that.

Again, thank you very much for taking the time to comment and share your views.  Look forward to talking with you again!

 

Michael, I nearly missed this... I generally look at images by scanning thumbnails. The thumbnail for this looks very similar to your previous posting. Yes! I like this better. Small things can make big differences.

Hi David! Yep, this is for you! Glad you like it. I had been stewing over that crop anyway, and you just spurred me on to do it. I like it better. Thanks for your input!

Truly excellent Michael, bravo  .. i have planned this too but in public with a wonderful friend/model .. : -)

Really a very nice and creative image!