Artistic Nude Photo of Elizabeth Taylor Released

Story here.

UPDATE: Some are reporting that the photo is a fake.

Alberich Matthews' Photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alberich/show/with/62843447/

Greg Friedler Photography

Practicing Nudist, 67 Years Old

There's a lot of honesty in Greg Friedler's nudes. Using the classic clothed vs. unclothed format, he strips down cab drivers, accountants, actors, teachers, showgirls, shop girls and people from all walks of life, allowing us to see the bodies that society forces us to cover up and hide from human eyes.

Stripped: Greg Friedler's Naked Las Vegas airs on Showtime this March, and the trailer can be found here.

The Century Project Comes to Oregon

Dr. Paul Rapoport passed on this article about Frank Cordelle's The Century Project, which is supportive, but the real interest is in the comments, which reek of vitriol and ignorance. A taste:

At its root, the pornography industry and those who sell access to pictures of women's naked bodies is about making money without regard for the consequences to the objectified images it deals in. The pictures you are selling access to continue to convince people that women and girls images can be bought and sold. That is evil. That harms the society in which we live. Please stop.

This comment is from John Forbert, who apparently has tried to block every exhibition of the project, all unsuccessfully. It's sad that so many people view any image of a nude child as being either pornographic or exploitative, and it's indicative of a society which has sexualized and objectified the human body to unhealthy levels.

Beautiful Bathers

Via Body Impolitic comes this link to the award-winning work of photographer Jennette Williams. From the artist's note:

When I reflect on the photographs, these quiet moments of shared sensual experience, of community, seem punctuated by an element of outrageousness. The sight of women unabashedly at ease in displaying their bodies transformed by age, circumstance, and gravity is hardly commonplace. This only happens when women are living in rather than fighting against their bodies.

Wow, that's a powerfully honest and astute statement. This is what nudists and naturists aspire to, a life where nudity can be commonplace, communal, natural, healthy, comfortable, ordinary, uninhibited, and for all ages. Bravo to Jennette Williams for her transformative work with the beautiful ladies in Budapest.

Spencer Tunick and Hundreds of Nude People in a French Wine Vineyard

JT M6 03/10/09 spencer tunick 700 nus dans les vignes

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L'Express story and photos here (all in French language).

Nude Model Arrested, Film at 11

More evidence of our stupid society.

A nude model posing for photographer Zach Hyman was arrested for stripping down at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It appears to have been some sort of pre-arranged sting, with police ready to pounce at the moment of disrobing, and an NBC video crew on hand ready to roll.

Today 30 seconds wasn't enough time as police busted up the shoot -- an event, which was captured exclusively by a camera rolling for NBCNewYork.com. The footage will also be shown on News 4 New York at 11, so stay tuned for exclusive footage.

So, arrest the model, and then promote the event on television for mass consumption. Model KC Neill was charged with public lewdness.

Certainly Hyman has been expecting trouble since he carries around bail money and employs a lookout, but a lewdness charge seems extreme unless the model was making some sexually explicit poses.

No word on whether NBC news will be brought up on charges of distributing lewd images.

Hyman's web site is here.

Inside the UNCW Century Project Controversy

English professor Janet Mason Ellerby recounts her decision to bring Frank Cordelle's The Century Project to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and the shocking censorship of the photographs by a few administrators.

Rather than consult with me, or Frank Cordelle, or with our resident photography professor, who happens to specialize in the nude, or with other women’s studies faculty, or with our journalism and art history professors, or with any faculty for that matter, our chancellor and provost turned instead to fellow administrators, who raised questions about showing images of minors.

Based mostly on these misconceptions, which either Frank Cordelle or I could easily have easily dispelled, a handful of administrators let their own perceptions about the impact a controversy might have on the university’s image (i.e., brand) prevail. If asked, I could have referred them to Frank’s Web site and his book, Bodies and Souls: The Century Project.

He makes it very clear that he received parental consents for all the photos of minors and that he remains willing to remove any photos if asked. Rather than cross the divide between administration and faculty to discuss the ethical ramifications of censoring an art exhibit, a privy chamber of six ruled that the images of the girls under 18 were verboten. Their decision was issued as an ultimatum — either censor the project or cancel.

Send Me Your Home Nudist Photos

I know that there are so many of you out there who are home nudists, she here's a photo of me just hanging around nude.

I really admire all the people who freely let themselves be photographed nude, such as the hard-working people at The Naturist Action Committee, Clothes-Free International, and Tom Mulhall and his wife Mary Clare at the Terra Cotta Inn.

But all you home nudists out there don't really get a chance to share your skin in all its glory with the rest of the world.

So here's your opportunity. Send me a photo of yourself nude at home and I'll post it here.

There are some rules, so PLEASE READ CAREFULLY. You must submit TWO photos which are the same, except ONE must contain you holding up a piece of paper with the words DIARY OF A NUDIST clearly visible. I will use the photo without the words. All subjects in the photos must be 18 years of age or older and must state this through email. You must also state that you own all rights to the photo and are granting me permission for one-time use on this blog. No Photoshopping. No blurring of faces or body parts. Photos must be sharp and clear. Full frontal is preferred but we will accept side and rear shots. No erections or spread leg photos. No sexual activity of any kind. Couples with their arms around each other is fine, as is a simple kiss. Images should be at least 1024 pixels in size. And I ultimately reserve the right to reject any photo that I judge to be inappropriate or sketchy in any way.

I vow that the photos will only be used by me on this blog and nowhere else. Naturally, people are prone to stealing images and I have no control over that, but it won't be me spreading them around.

Your name is not required, but you can submit your name if you want, as well as some brief comments, such as where you are from, if you are a member of TNS or AANR, what clubs you frequent, etc.

This is not a contest, but consider yourself a winner if you have the guts to be nude on camera.

Photos should be sent to nudiarist@gmail.com.

Now get out your cameras and stop hiding your home nudism!

Send Me Your Home Nudist Photos

I know that there are so many of you out there who are home nudists, she here's a photo of me just hanging around nude.

I really admire all the people who freely let themselves be photographed nude, such as the hard-working people at The Naturist Action Committee, Clothes-Free International, and Tom Mulhall and his wife Mary Clare at the Terra Cotta Inn.

But all you home nudists out there don't really get a chance to share your skin in all its glory with the rest of the world.

So here's your opportunity. Send me a photo of yourself nude at home and I'll post it here.

There are some rules, so PLEASE READ CAREFULLY. You must submit TWO photos which are the same, except ONE must contain you holding up a piece of paper with the words DIARY OF A NUDIST clearly visible. I will use the photo without the words. All subjects in the photos must be 18 years of age or older and must state this through email. You must also state that you own all rights to the photo and are granting me permission for one-time use on this blog. No Photoshopping. No blurring of faces or body parts. Photos must be sharp and clear. Full frontal is preferred but we will accept side and rear shots. No erections or spread leg photos. No sexual activity of any kind. Couples with their arms around each other is fine, as is a simple kiss. Images should be at least 1024 pixels in size. And I ultimately reserve the right to reject any photo that I judge to be inappropriate or sketchy in any way.

I vow that the photos will only be used by me on this blog and nowhere else. Naturally, people are prone to stealing images and I have no control over that, but it won't be me spreading them around.

Your name is not required, but you can submit your name if you want, as well as some brief comments, such as where you are from, if you are a member of TNS or AANR, what clubs you frequent, etc.

This is not a contest, but consider yourself a winner if you have the guts to be nude on camera.

Photos should be sent to nudiarist@gmail.com.

Now get out your cameras and stop hiding your home nudism!

The Weekly Newds 2/23/09

Catching up with the newds of the past week...

• Like social nudism, discussing menstruation in our society is taboo, but "My Little Red Book" seeks to spark some open dialogue on the subject.
• Samba dancer Dani Sperle has broken Rio's Carnival record for the least amount of clothing ever worn during the event. Sperle sported only a 3 centimeter patch of cloth.
• A Virginia Beach singer will spend a year in prison after receiving a nude image of a 16 year-old girl on his cell phone.
• An official from Denny's restaurants has apologized to a North Carolina woman who was told to conceal herself while breastfeeding her child while dining at the Asheville establishment.
• A 15 year-old Pennsylvania girl has been charged with possession of child pornography, distributing child pornography, and creating child pornography for sending nude photos of herself to a 27 year-old man she met through MySpace. In Michigan, a 14 year-old girl is in a juvenile court diversion program for youthful offenders after admitting responsibility to one count of "displaying a human form indecently" by sending nude photos of herself with her cell phone.
• The Minnesota town of Zumbro Falls is doing all it can to shut down a nude dancing club.
• Lily Allen is not afraid of posing nude. She said: "I'm just very comfortable in my body. I wouldn't do it in a 'Hey-Look-At-My-Boobs' kind of way."
• A Filipino activist staged a nude protest against man-made environmental damage, and was not arrested, but a Filipina woman was fined $1000 for exposing her breasts in Singapore.
• Photographer Rodney Braun, a devout Mennonite, specializes in artistic nudes, but it took some convincing from his wife Sonya to move from weddings and family portraits to nudes.

  It all started when Sonya booked a pregnant woman into the studio for a maternity shoot.
  
  "I said, 'Call her back and tell her I don't do that,'" Braun recalls. "But Sonya said, 'This is God's ultimate creation. Why wouldn't you want to do that?'
  
  "It was the most awkward photo shoot of my life. I just kept thinking, 'I'm way out of my zone and this is not what I grew up thinking was acceptable.' I really had to figure out where my moral line was.'"

• Beginning today, riders on the New York subway will see posters with real naked people advertising a new play "Reasons to Be Pretty". The tagline will be "Does this play make me look fat?"
• San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi is calling in Bay to Breakers organizers to "lighten up" and allow floats and nudity in the annual event, but keep the ban on booze.
• A British woman has been banned from competitive boxing because she has breast implants.
• The Century Project, a collection of nude portraits of women aged from birth to 100, is stirring up controversy at the College of William and Mary.

  “It should not be shown,” John Foubert ’90, a former education professor at the College, said. “I don’t think it’s right for William and Mary to pay money to a man who takes pictures of young girls in the nude. I think William and Mary can spend its money in better ways.”

• "I'll Catch the Sun" by Richard Langdon Cook, a retired Fortune 500 business executive, chronicles his worldwide adventures in nudism.
• Since attendance is down at the Sleeping Bears Dunes National Lakeshore, one naturist advocates consideration of the establishment of a clothing-optional area.
• A Malaysian legislator has quit after photographs showing her sleeping naked were circulated to the public via cell phones.

  "I have done nothing wrong. I wish to state that I am not ashamed of my sexuality as a woman and as a single person. I have broken no law," she said, her eyes brimming with tears.

• Peaches Geldof wears 20 tattoos and little else when at the beach.
• Maggie Gallagher is afraid, very afraid of the teen sexting phenomenon.

  After all, if the thought that their fellow students, their teachers, their employers, their college admission officials, the entire football squad, their mothers and the local district attorney may well see these cell phone photos is not enough to discourage teens - then we really have a problem on our hands.

• A woman finds that getting naked in a Louisiana spa is a lot less acceptable than doing the same in Hawaii.
• A former Ohio State University student recalls how legendary football coach Woody Hayes used to handle the press after a loss.

  "If the team lost or tied, he would conduct an interview in the nude. He was an ugly guy so it would clear the locker room out pretty fast."

• Newsweek contributing editor Dahlia Lithwick "gets it" when it comes to teen sexting.

  Judging from the sexting prosecutions in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana this year, it's clear that the criminal-justice system is too blunt an instrument to resolve a problem that reflects more about the volatile combination of teens and technology than about some national cybercrime spree. Parents need to remind their teens that a dumb moment can last a lifetime in cyberspace. But judges and prosecutors need to understand that a lifetime of cyberhumiliation shouldn't be grounds for a lifelong real criminal record.

• A real life streaker streaked a play in which he is portrayed by an actor.
• You can win $10,000 if your nude video is judged to be the best at http://www.worldnudeday.com/.
• Promoters for a Swedish television show "I'd Do Anything for Money" used a naked man as a publicity stunt.
• A Taiwan clinic and two of its nurses face fines and other consequences for nude photos used in an advertising campaign.
• Glasgow's "National Review of Live Art" lives up to its avant garde reputation.

  True to form, the first thing I saw on Wednesday night was an installation in which a man lay naked on the floor, his body wrapped around the carcass of a pig. Occasionally he twitched, but was otherwise motionless. So did the pig. A cameraman was filming the event, but don't expect to see it at your local multiplex any time soon. Downstairs, I watched a film in which the planets orbited a woman's breasts and, in a neighbouring room, I rather liked lying on the floor and putting on 3D glasses to watch Billy Cowie's hologram film of a naked dancer appearing to dangle from the ceiling.

• Lindsay Hansen exposes Orlando's Nude Nite.
• An "angry" Utah woman who exposed her breast outside an elementary school has been arrested. Granite Police Chief Randy Johnson said, "We could not tolerate this level of behavior, so we took her into custody."
• While going through an old crate of family photos, a woman came across a photo of her 20ish grandmother holding hands with her juvenile mother and aunt - all naked.

  My mother gleefully plucked it from the pile giggling to herself. "See,I told you that gramma and grampa went to a nudist colony". She put the picture far too close to my face. I flinched. "Uh, no. No you definitely did not tell me about this."

Australian Library Bans Innocent Photo of Children Playing

Reaching perhaps the peak of paranoia, a library in Australia pulled a photo from an exhibition fearing scrutiny in the wake of the recent controversy over Bill Henson nudes.

A mother herself the artists says "(...) if this keeps going in the same direction, it won't be long before our children will be required to wear concealing head scarves - whilst surfing obscene pornographic websites protected by the freedom of speech.

"As an artist, photographer and protective mother of two children I believe in protecting all children, but the law is silencing the wrong people and we are heading back to the dark ages."

UPDATE: The ban has been lifted after common sense prevailed.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Daily Newds 1/22/09

• Melt, the Figure in Clay is the name of Tip Toland's exhibition at the Bellevue Arts Museum in Seattle, comprised of six lifelike figures, one of which is of an old woman lying nude on her side.
  

  Nothing is beautified, but everything about her is beautiful. The way her nipple is submerged in her own sagging flesh, the gently prayerful position of the hands, the twin hollows in the cheek and the hip, labia barely appearing between her legs on her back side. She is alive as deathly, She could be the only object on display at Bellevue Arts Museum right now. She could carry an entire museum on her sleeping weight.

• The Hirschhorn Museum in Washington DC is presenting Strange Bodies through early 2010.
  

  "Strange Bodies” provides an opportunity to examine the ways in which artists have exaggerated or altered the figure in order to explore cultural and personal experiences and psychology, as well as formal qualities such as color, shape and texture. The exhibition also traces the evolution of the museum’s particular focus on collecting figuration.

• Jane Toohey travels across the country photographing naked musicians for calendars promoting folk music, and to help them afford health insurance.
  

  John "Mr. May 2007" Flynn, a singer and songwriter who lives in Wilmington, got naked (well, he did have on a teeny-weeny brief behind that log he's splitting with a sledgehammer) after a lengthy courtship.
  
  "I was playing hide-and-seek with her for a long time," he said. "If there was ever a reason God invented clothes, it was probably for folk singers. We're not a group that people are clamoring to see."
  
  Finally, he woke up one day, looked in the mirror, and thought, "It's not going to get any better."

• With winter still holding most of the country in its icy grip, perhaps it's time to consider a nude cruise. If you're gay, you'll find lots of nude recreation options here.
• A group of University of Georgia ecology students have produced a nude calendar which encourages green living.
• A sportswriter calls out the women of the Lingerie Bowl for their nude hypocrisy.
• Striptease queen Dita von Teese is back at the Crazy Horse in Paris.

  "I've always had a real fascination with the Crazy Horse ever since I was a teenager and I found a picture of this line of nearly nude toy soldiers standing at attention," she said, referring to the trademark parade that opens the nightly show.
  
  "I wanted to do something more elaborate this time," she said. "Combine the Crazy Horse style with what I do which is classic American burlesque."

• Colette Bowe, who will soon be chairperson of Ofcom. the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, has a history of nude modeling.
• Lucia Frangione describes the healing power of nudity.
  

  I don’t know about you, but I can feel so inundated with images of women in the media: young, perfectly poised, air brushed, covered in make-up and surgically altered, that when I stare at myself in the mirror, in bad lighting, with no art director in sight, I can be very critical with myself. I also start to feel as though my naked image is only good for a cheap sell for sex, like the media portrays. I start to believe that my body is not for myself, but for someone else.
  
  That photography session completely changed the way I view my body. In a way it was my acknowledgment and “thank you” to God for making me the way I was. Perhaps also it was a glimpse into how God may see me.
  
  I recommend everyone, at least once in your life time, turn your body into a
  painting, a sculpture, a fine photograph. Remember who you are. You’re a work of art. And a fleeting work of art at that. Capture it while you can. Celebrate
  your existence.

• Mark your calendars for February 8 for The Sean Ciall Intensive and Fires of Brigid Ritual in Redmond, Washington. The rituals are performed skyclad, or in the nude.
• On March 16, Rice University is offering a lecture on Nudity in the Middle Ages.
• This article is required reading for any nudist or naturist who believes that rampant pornography is threatening the lifestyle.
  

  In short: we have "normalized the marginal." Starting sometime in the 19th century, and with increasing enthusiasm and speed in the 20th, we have given over much of the public square to pornographic ideas and degrading, humiliating and gory sexual imagery. To the point that the non-stop sexualization of women and children is so common that our conscious minds just shrug it off.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

Huffington Post Publishes Madonna Full Frontal Nude Photo

It's not news that Madonna posed for nude photos 30 years ago in order to make ends meet, but it is noteworthy that The Huffington Post web site today published the uncensored image (with a NSFW disclaimer). Since the print is being sold through Christie's and is expected to fetch $10,000, the editors must have felt the image now falls into the category of "high art".

Look, it's a nice image, but it's no different than what you see on quality nude photography web sites like Domai or MetArt, and far less erotic than a Georgia O'Keeffe painting. I just find it amusing that a photo once peddled in Playboy as being scandalous is now acceptable.

So at what point does a nude photo of a spread-eagled woman become art in our society? Is it the fact that the subject is a celebrity? Bingo. Other than the fact that it's a photo of Madonna, it's no different than any other good cheesecake photo out there.

As a nudist, I have no problem with either image. It's the double standard that irritates me.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Naked Eyeful

Andrew Stephens wonders why the public continues to be outraged by nude art.

Much is said and written about our increased visual literacy in an image-flooded culture but perhaps we are actually becoming less able to read images sensitively and accurately because the opportunity for serious contemplation has diminished? And perhaps we have trouble distinguishing photography - given its overwhelming currency - as an art medium? If these things are so, nudity in art might be easily and mistakenly conflated with sex - or with pornography...

"Nakedness is ubiquitous," writes (Ballarat Gallery curator Elizabeth) Cross - in fashion, advertising, beach culture and the cinema, let alone the vast and insatiable pornography industry. "Engulfed by the ambiguous presence of human flesh at every turn, we do not, cannot, come innocently to the experience of the naked body - if we ever did.

"And yet our naked bodies are our natural condition. Their depiction has the potential to express our fundamental selves, and even something we might count as divinity."

Pictured above: Duo 2008 by Sam Jinks

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Weekend Newds 10/24/08

• An 8 foot nude statue of Diana the Huntress was covered up in Pueblo, Colorado, for a Joe Biden political rally.
• When it comes to topless women at Australia's Gold Coast Indy auto race, Premier Anna Bligh is being urged to "live and let live'.
• The period of time for submitting concerns over the lifting of nudity restrictions on New Zealand beaches has been extended. "Most of them are saying `no, no, no, no, we don't want our beaches naked' and we're saying `well, no, neither do we, but we can't enforce that'," (Kapiti District Council communications manager) Mr Cronin said.
• A New Zealand artist has put together a gallery show focusing on the male nude.
• A stunning collection of Andre de Dienes vintage nudes are available on eBay Included are many Marilyn Monroe glamor shots.
• A 13 year-old boy is under house arrest for receiving a nude photo of a 15 year-old girl. Authorities say that charges against other students are possible.
• The Plastic Surgeon General warns of a small breasts epidemic.
• Australian councillor Elaine South argues against a naturist beach. “I’ve got grandchildren, and I don’t think I would like them to come across people who were ‘optionally clothed’.”
• Could the nudist communities of Tampa Bay determine the outcome of the Presidential election?
• The word "evil" was spray-painted twice on the billboard in Australia promoting "The Naked and the Nude" art exhibit.
• A sex educator in Vancouver is offering an art gallery tour entitled "That Lady is Naked!" designed to answer questions from children and help parents to speak in plain language about nakedness in art.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Figure Illuminated

From the press release:

Etherton Gallery is pleased to present The Figure Illuminated featuring the photographs of Flor Garduño, Alvin Booth and Ralph Gibson. The Figure Illuminated presents three reflections on the mysteries and wonders of the nude, featuring the monumental photographs of Flor Garduño’s sensuous women seen through the veil of magic realism; the erotically charged, abstracted bodies in Alvin Booth’s work, and Ralph Gibson’s deceptively simple, open-ended photographs that highlight tension, rhythm and vision. The exhibition opens on Saturday, September 13th with a reception, from 7:00 to10:00 pm. Etherton Gallery is located at 135 S. 6th Avenue, Tucson, Arizona 85701. Regular business hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11am – 5pm and Thursday 11am-7pm. For more information please contact the gallery at (520) 624-7370 or info@ethertongallery.com.

Gallery website here.
Exhibit review here.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Daily Newds 10/21/08

• Naked parties at Yale feature body painting and dancing under black lights.
• Another Illinois bartender has been arrested for serving drinks in the nude.
• PG Porn is sex without the nudity, but with twice the violence.
• James Franco says that he was "uncomfortable" during the shooting of his nude scene in the new Gus Van Sant film about Harvey Milk.
• Two children were "removed from the home and placed in protective custody" after a nude photo of the 3 year-old showed up at a film processing store.
• An Australian school has suspended the entire senior class after many of them ran around the campus wearing only g-strings and school ties.
• Several Bakersfield College students demonstrated topfree in support of gay marriage in California.
• An agreement has been reached in Newark, Ohio, so a 15 year-old girl will not have to register as a sex offender for sending nude photos of herself by cell phone to some classmates. In a related story, 10 students have been suspended and more action could be on the way over a similar nude photo incident at a Michigan school.
• "Perfectly Aged" is the title given to a nude calendar featuring seniors to raise money for the Council on Aging in Pensacola, Florida.
• Guess which body part "Pricasso" uses as a paint brush.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Sunday Newds 10/19/08

• A YMCA in the Boston area has a misunderstanding with some Russian-born members who don't understand why bathing suits are required in the steam room.
• On of Britain's most well known television personalities, Carol Smillie, has stripped off for a series of photographs to raise awareness about breast cancer. "I have been asked to pose topless for a breast cancer campaign. I thought long and hard about it, as I heard that a lot of the others who have been asked are a lot younger than me. However, it's a great cause so I agreed to do it. Yep. They are coming out."
• The sex industry is finding that business is booming as people seek less-materialistic pleasures. Hey, try nudism, it's about the cheapest simple pleasure on the planet.
• Students and parents are fighting hard against the current onslaught of dress codes in schools.

  Like a lot of students, Grace Davis, a sophomore at Salinas, said the new rules only compounded the problem.
  
  “It doesn’t fix the disease. It just covers the symptoms,” she said. “I think we’re still going to have the same gang problem. We’re just going to be angry at the administration, and I don’t think that’s the way to go.”

• Some people would be pleased if their neighbors paid their AANR dues, but for a Boston couple it's one aspect of a criminal case involving identity fraud and conspiracy.
• Monroe, Louisiana, is getting it's first "titty" bar, but only because it's going to be "classy", catering to high-end professionals such as doctors and lawyers. Only one girl will dance at a time, and will only remove her top during the last half of her second song.
• Bill Henson's photos on display in New York are not stirring up nearly the degree of controversy as they did in Australia.

  The gallery's director of photography, Royce Howes, said he did not expect any controversy in the US, where Henson had a strong following.
  
  Mr Howes said many people in the US were aware of the controversy in May when NSW police seized his photographs from a Paddington gallery amid claims they were child pornography. The images were later released and no charges laid.
  
  He said that publicity about the exhibition made no reference to the seizure because the gallery did not want to distract from the photographs.
  
  "Basically, we just want to present the work on its merits," Mr Howes said. "I think … at least for our audience, it's a non-issue. When the controversy was going on lots of people were calling out of curiosity, but for the serious collectors it was not an issue."

• A nude photo shoot on the roof of a North Carolina building created a bit of a stir, but the models and photographer were not arrested, only given a warning not to trespass again.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Joyful Nudes of Gregor Podgorski

If you are not familiar with the work of artist and photographer Gregor Podgorski, you are sure to enjoy looking at his joyful nudes. Podgorski was born in Poland in 1965 and moved to Paris in 1984, and is primarily known for his Pieta series of variations on the original Michelangelo sculpture. His "La Rage de Vivre" and "C'est la Vie" series come very close to capturing the spirit of nudism and naturism. His subjects are natural, happy, and comfortable in their own skins.

While most photographic nudes are more concerned with the lighting and composition, Podgorski's photos are focused on the humanity of the subjects, from singles, to couples, to families, displaying all body types, as well as surgical scars. They are all uniquely beautiful.

Although the photos are done in studio, many capture the essence of photos in naturist magazines, but filtered through an artist's eye. Nudists and naturists when posing for photos tend to smile (a lot), and assume a somewhat proud pose. This is done naturally, undoubtedly brought about by the freedom and confidence which comes from being nude. Podgorski is not afraid to let his subjects shine, exposing not only their bodies, but also their feelings. They are warmly engaged with the photographer, rather than being coldly detached.

A Playboy nude is alluring, a Mapplethorpe nude is confrontational, an Arbus nude is disturbing, a Tunick nude is a landscape, but the Podgorski nudes are playful and natural. Capturing the true essence of a nude is very hard to do for a photographer, who not only has to be concerned with his own artistic control and ambitions, but with the needs and feelings of his subjects. After all, these people are being asked to strip completely naked and stand in front of a camera, something the vast majority of people would never consider doing.

Enjoy.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked