Nudity is Dangerous, Immoral and Just Plain Wrong

Giulia in the Tatami Room

I have often believed that the essence of great images begins with simplicity. Of course, that is a personal view, there are photographers who specialize and excel in deeply complex images. Personally, however, the images that stand out in my mind are always the simple ones. If I am tasked with having to understand symbology and meanng in a photograph, then it no longer seems photographic, and that is what I love about photography, that with a single glimpse of a great, simplified image, you can communicate something extraordinary. This is what I aspire to.

The nude figure, is one of the most simple and most used subjects in photography and art, in general. Yet, since returning the the USA in February, it also seems to be dangerous. What is the threat of fine art nude imagery? Why do we cower at the thought of seeing someone nude? Why have we become so ashamed of something so pure and simple? 

I have heard the arguments that we don’t want to harm children, that nudity is associated with porn, that it is immoral, embarrassing, etc., but those arguments seem placed in ignorance. How could a child be harmed by nudity, unless they have been told that it is wrong? Why do we lump artistic nudity with porn, is it because porn contains nudity so therefore all nudity is wrong?

Having lived in Europe for twelve years, it’s interesting to me that people in the USA are so offended by nudity. In the USA, we have more graphic violence in our movies and tv shows, we are inundated daily with sexuality in advertising, we have rampant problems with sexual assault and sex crimes, yet Americans seem to look down on Europeans, at least in part, because they are laid back about sexuality and nudity. Here in the USA, people may stand on high ground, but time and time again, those people who were on the soap boxes denouncing nudity and sex as dangerous are the same people who cheat on their wives, sleep with prostitutes and molest children.

In Europe, nudity is no big deal, sex is something that is fun and to be enjoyed. Of course, no society is perfect, but when it comes to attitudes about nudity and sex, people in Europe are rarely offended by tasteful and artistic representations of the human form. Here in the USA, it’s a completely different story. 

I want to know what you think? Is nudity dangerous, should we protect ourselves from such offensive depictions, or are we simply being over-sensitive?

Leave a comment, here or on my Facebook page. Let me know your thoughts.

Laura Myers and the Avant Garde

Laura MyersSince moving back to the USA I have taken an interest pushing my work in a more avant garde direction. Recently, I worked with model Laura Myers. If you ever have a chance to shoot with Laura, do yourself a favor and don’t miss out on that opportunity. She is really great and she usually shows up with a lot of accessories and ideas. In this case, a long red wig and some twine.

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Seven Day Suspension

Seven day suspension from Facebook for this image of Tara Ryze

Remember when you were a kid and you got suspended from school, usually your parents grounded you as well, depending on what you did. The only upside was not having to go to school, but it was still a bummer because you would miss out on things like TV, dessert, soda pop, seeing your friends or whatever your parents decided was punishment. Well, I have been suspended from Facebook for seven days. 

The image above is what got me in trouble this time, in the past I have had other suspensions and I have been warned not to post content that violates Facebook’s ‘Rights and Responsibilities’ policies. Except, in this case, I can’t understand why this type of content would be taken down as it does not contain nudity or pornography. I have seen much more revealing images on Facebook and I have even posted a few myself that passed previous scrutiny.

Another possibility is that the image was either deemed some sort of copyright violation or it was reported by someone for any number of reasons. I would be very disappointed if that were the case.

I am curious to hear about other’s experiences. Have you been suspended from Facebook? What were the circumstances, why were you suspended? Did you keep some screen grabs of the incident? Use the comments below to shar your story. 

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If you are reading this...

Ljuba shot at my former studio in Winterthur, Switzerland, corset by www.entrenous.ch

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Katy in the Spray

Katy in the Spray, a photo by Bryon Paul McCartney on Flickr.

During some downtime at my Tuscany fine art nude workshops, I took Katy to the Bagni San Filippo, a natural hot spring in the middle of a forrest in Southern Tuscany. We got there early in the morning so we could get some golden light. The water is full of minerals and the landscape of this natural formation changes each year I visit. Katy certainly added to the beauty of the place and there are many more images from this series to come.

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