I will paraphrase, but one person asked me how I feel about pervy photographers, having sex with my photographers, and then what a photographer or a man in general could do to turn me on. Yep, so there we go ^_~ And then another person asked how I deal with people who are against nudes and how I explain my choice to pose for nudes to them.
I guess the first thing I need to explain is how I, personally, see what I do. When I shoot art nudes like the one above, there is no expectation or feeling of sexuality that I am trying to portray whatsoever. Yes, I am nude, yes you can see full frontal nudity, but I did not intend for the image to be sexy or erotic. On the other side, sometimes I do intend for the image to be sexy and/or erotic, like in the one below.
However, at no point do I personally create images for the sole purpose of arousal, if I ever create anything with that intent at all it is a minor thought and not something I focus on at all. My primary objective, so to speak, is always to create some artistic and almost always with some sort of meaning and portrayal of some part of myself. Sometimes the meaning is erotic, sometimes it is supposed to be sexy, sometimes it is supposed to be about the form and figure. And I always realize that no matter what I meant it to be, some people will see it differently, and that includes some people seeing something sexual in the photo that I did not intend. And I am okay with that to a pretty open degree. I think most artists will agree that what we want is for you to feel something when you see our art. What you feel says just as much about you as it does about our art, and not everyone feels the same thing when looking at the same photo or art.
Do I get inappropriate messages and comments about my photos? Sure. Generally I either ignore them or simply glaze over them and take the compliment. Only if they get very rude or inappropriate will I kindly, but firmly try to put a stop to it. Thus far, I've never had to block anyone for that sort of thing.
Now as far as pervy photographers... this is something that takes a lot of models some getting used to and I know a lot of new models have just given up modeling because too many pervy photographers contacted them trying to push their limits and get them to pose for things they were not comfortable with. Thank goodness I did not let it deter me, and let me assure you, I've had some pretty awful offers. Also thankfully, I learned how to say no and move on. I still get offers to shoot things I have no interest in shooting that are well beyond my limits. And the funny thing to me is something I say all the time now: "Well, I guess just being completely naked isn't enough any more." Sometimes it seems nobody is happy to shoot me just as an art nude model or in the mild fetishes I will shoot, or, heaven forbid, fully clothed. They want spreads and insertion and girl/girl and all other manner of things that I simply have no interest in shooting. It can be a little disappointing to get all excited to see that you are getting a paid offer and then when you ask for details it's something that is clearly out of your range if the person had actually reviewed your portfolio at all. But this is part of the package deal of being a nude model.
I've personally never had a photographer at a shoot try to hit on me or try to turn me on (as was asked on FB). Or at least I was not aware of it. I would find this highly inappropriate, and in the case of trying to turn me on, I would likely end the shoot. I cannot really imagine any scenario in which someone would try with this me since I have a reputation for being very professional and for expecting those who work with me to be as well.
I do have people who ask me if I feel turned on when I pose and I always feel a little bad bursting that fantasy bubble, but, no, I don't. Here is a little secret: when I am posing sexy, or even erotic, I am actually more concerned with making sure my body and my face look as I feel they should. I have a lot of difficulty trying to make sexy faces, so I usually go with something more sensual and rarely do a lot of eye contact because it's hard for me reach into the moment and emote when I'm looking at the camera. I just kind of find it amusing and end up laughing, at least in my own head. Now, sometimes I do find certain types of posing to be quite euphoric when all the things are just right, when I am flowing into the poses easily and not having to strain my body too much, when the temperature is just right and their are hot lights or sunlight falling just right on my skin, and when the photographer is capturing things they seem to like and there is just a sort of nice flow to it all. That is very euphoric and feels very dreamy to me (but not sexual and it doesn't turn me on).
But even despite all of this I do still have the occasional "hater" who thinks what I do is wrong and that all nudes are porn and things like that. I used to try to explain things to them, but now I usually just let it go. I'll maybe apologize for offending them and then suggest they move on. Sometimes if I think a little explanation might help I will take the time to write one, but otherwise, I just let it go.
And then there are the curious people who want to know "why" I do it. And I tell them that I do it because I enjoy it. I enjoy being able to create art with my body, I enjoy creating the lines and curves and shapes with my body. I like playing in really good lighting and seeing how it changes as I move. And really, this is the only art I feel truly "good" at. I am not gifted in any other way, musically, as a dancer, as a painter or sculptor, etc. But with art nudes in particular, I feel like I can be part of creating a classical type of art. Sometimes I explain that it's not sexual to me, sometimes I feel like I don't need to. Sometimes I tell them more about how I enjoy anatomy and some specific parts of myself that lend themselves well to art photographer (like the convex structure of my upper rib cage which you can sort of see in the first photo above), that I actually never liked and certainly never appreciated until I began modeling. Most people who ask the question are usually already open minded enough and once I explain it, they at least seem to understand why it do or even actually appreciate it.
I've also been asked many times if my family knows about what I do. I'm not really close to my extended family, so to my knowledge most of them do not know. I do have one cousin who knows because I told him. I am much, much closer to my immediate family. My siblings all know and my mother knows, but as far as I know my father does not know. My mother found out early on and has been very supportive. She has prints of some of my self portraits and at least one from another photographer as well. She probably wouldn't like everything I do, but she trusts me and she supports me making decisions that are good for me. I'm very lucky that she is so supportive and has been for my entire life unless she really feels like she needs to step in. I have not told my father because I know he wouldn't like it and I just don't feel like upsetting him, particularly given his health issues. My siblings all seem to be indifferent towards it. None of them have ever expressed any really interest or issue with it.
I think that pretty much covers it... oh wait, that question about whether I have sex with my photographers. No, I don't. I only have sex with one and he's my soulmate (also, I borrow his camera a lot to shoot my self portraits). But most of my photographers are friends, or become friends, and that's pretty cool.
Sorry if I ruined any one's fantasies. Well, I mean, not really, but kind of. But now you know ^_~
 |
| A censored version so I have an image to share on FB and such ^_~ |
No comments:
Post a Comment