Photography and Nudism

Yesterday, Don Kiester of Nature's Hideaway Nudist Resort in Osage, Oklahoma, emailed me with the following:

Just to let you know we have been enjoying your blog. We are a nudist resort near Tulsa, OK, and we're AANR members. We have been on a campaign to try to get more young people interested in nudism, and we believe that nudist photography is the best way to tell/sell the nudist idea. As I keep trying to convince the AANR, more photography showing young people participating in and enjoying nudism is a must to carry nudism forward. Do you agree?

Yes, I do agree! Don offered to let me reprint something he wrote a while ago for the AANR Bulletin, plus he added a few vintage photos taken at his resort. Thanks, Don!

I first learned of nudism in the 1950’s when, as a teenager; I found some nudist magazines in a local drugstore...yes, believe it or not they were openly sold at our small-town drugstore. When I first saw those wonderful pictures of men, women and children gleefully playing outdoors completely nude, I was hooked. They all looked so happy with their nudity, and they seemed to be without a single thought of shame. Immediately my interest in those photographs of nude people took on a completely new meaning for me, and I decided that I would live my life as a nudist.

Those beautiful nudist photographs confirmed the idea of nudism within me for the rest of my life. A photograph conveys in a way no words can, a sense of the mystery and beauty of life and nature. A nude photograph isolates the truth, exposing to us the realities of our total being. An expressive face, a graceful body, a fleeting moment in nature, a human shape within the landscape, a mother and child with a loving smile…these are the fundamental stories told by nudist photographs that inspires me. We seldom realize the extent to which photography has influenced our culture, and nudist photography has contributed more than almost anything else towards educating people about the acceptance of their own bodies. Nudism embraces being human without shame. After all, a Supreme Power created us without shame; why then should we be shameful?

I have noticed lately that there seems to be a trend in main-stream family-oriented nudist organizations toward being almost apologetic about nudist photography; and less emphasis is being placed on the quality and clarity of the photographs that nudist publications present. Some nudist publications are presenting almost as many photographs of clothed people as nude ones. It is my opinion that unapologetic and beautifully presented photographs of nudist families enjoying their freedom to be nude is one of the best ways to express the nudist idea. Our nudist community must become more forthright with their non-nudist friends by telling them of their involvement and enjoyment of nudism. Nudist photographs depicting family nudist activities will help them tell the vastly misunderstood nudist story. And if nudist organizations wish to attract more young people to nudism, then photographs of young nudists should be shown enjoying youthful nude activities. Let’s share the nudist story by presenting interesting and compelling nudist photography and see our nudist organizations grow.

Don Kiester 

Nature’s Hideaway 

www.natures-hideaway.com