Nude photography

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Georgia O'Keeffe, Hands and Breasts (1919) by Alfred Stieglitz Alfred Stieglitz- Georgia O'Keeffe ,Hands and Breasts, 1919.jpg
Georgia O’Keeffe, Hands and Breasts (1919) by Alfred Stieglitz

Nude photography is the creation of any photograph which contains an image of a nude or semi-nude person, or an image suggestive of nudity. Nude photography is undertaken for a variety of purposes, including educational uses, commercial applications (including erotic or pornographic materials) and artistic creations.

Contents

The exhibition or publication of nude photographs may be controversial, more so in some cultures and countries than in others, and especially if the subject or viewer is a minor.

Educational

Nude photographs may be used for scientific and educational purpose, such as ethnographic studies, human physiology or sex education. In this context, the emphasis of the photograph is not on the subject, or the beauty or eroticism of the image, but on the educational or demonstrative purpose for which the image was produced.

The nude image may be used for analysis or to accompany medical or other text books, scientific reports, articles or research papers. [1] They are essentially of an illustrative nature, and so nude photographs of this type are often labeled to show key features in a supporting context.

Commercial

Erotic

Since the first days of photography, the nude was a source of inspiration for those that adopted the new medium. Most of the early images were closely guarded or surreptitiously circulated as violations of the social norms of the time, since the photograph captures real nudity. Many cultures, while accepting nudity in art, shun actual nudity. For example, even an art gallery which exhibits nude paintings will typically not accept nudity in a visitor. [2] Alfred Cheney Johnston (1885–1971) was a professional American photographer who often photographed Ziegfeld Follies. [3] He also maintained his own highly successful commercial photo studio, producing magazine ads for a wide range of upscale retail commercial products—mostly men's and women's fashions—and also photographed several hundred artists and showgirls, including nude photographs of some. Most of his nude images (some named, mostly anonymous) were, in fact, showgirls from the Ziegfeld Follies, but such daring, unretouched full-frontal images would certainly not have been openly publishable in the 1920s–1930s, so it is speculated that these were either simply his own personal artistic work, and/or done at the behest of Flo Ziegfeld for the showman's personal enjoyment.

Glamour

Marilyn Monroe posing topless for Earl Moran around 1950 Marilyn Monroe. Earl Moran.jpg
Marilyn Monroe posing topless for Earl Moran around 1950

Glamour photographs emphasize the subject, usually female, in a romantic and most attractive, sexually alluring manner. The subject may be fully clothed or semi-nude, but glamour photography stops short of intentionally sexually arousing the viewer and being pornographic. Before about the 1960s, glamour photography was commonly referred to as erotic photography.

Advertising

Nudity and sexually suggestive imagery is common in modern-day culture and widely used in advertising to help sell products. A feature of this form of advertising is that the imagery used typically has no connection to the product being advertised. The purpose of such imagery is to attract the attention of a potential customer or user. The imagery used may include nudity, actual or suggestive, and glamour photography.

Entertainment

Nude or semi-nude imagery is also widely used in entertainment, sometimes referred to as adult entertainment. This may be in the form of postcards, pin ups, and other formats.

Covers of mainstream magazines sometimes include images of nude or semi-nude subjects. In the early 1990s, Demi Moore posed for two covers of Vanity Fair : Demi's Birthday Suit and More Demi Moore . Some magazines, such as men's magazines, commonly feature nude or semi-nude images, and some magazines have created a reputation for their nude centerfolds.

Music album covers

Music album covers often incorporate photography, at times including nude or semi-nude images. Album covers that have incorporated nudity have included those of performers such as Jimi Hendrix ( Electric Ladyland , 1968), John Lennon and Yoko Ono ( Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins , 1968), Nirvana, Blind Faith (Blind Faith, 1969), Scorpions ( Virgin Killer , 1976) and Jane's Addiction ( Nothing's Shocking , 1988). The covers for Blind Faith and Virgin Killer were especially controversial because the nude images were of prepubescent girls, and were re-issued with alternative covers in some countries.

Fine art

The emphasis of fine arts is aesthetics and creativity; and any erotic interest, although often present, is secondary. [4] This distinguishes nude photography from both glamour photography and pornographic photography. The distinction between these is not always clear, and photographers tends to use their own judgment in characterizing their own work, [5] [6] [7] though viewers also have their judgement. The nude remains a controversial subject in all media, but more so with photography due to its inherent realism. [8] The male nude has been less common than the female, and more rarely exhibited. [9] [10]

History

19th century

Early fine-art photographers in Western cultures, seeking to establish photography as a fine-art medium, frequently chose women as the subjects for their nudes, in poses that accorded with traditional practice in other media. Before nude photography, art nudes usually used allusions to classical antiquity; gods and warriors, goddesses and nymphs. Poses, lighting, soft focus, vignetting and hand retouching were employed to create photographic images that were comparable to the other arts at that time. [8] Although 19th-century artists in other media often used photographs as substitutes for live models, the best of these photographs were also intended as works of art in their own right. [8]

Modern

Zoe Mozert was one of the Earl Moran's first nude models in the 1930's. Zoe Mozert. Earl Moran 01.jpg
Zoë Mozert was one of the Earl Moran's first nude models in the 1930's.

After World War I, avant-garde photographers such as Brassaï, Man Ray, Hans Bellmer, André Kertész and Bill Brandt became more experimental in their portrayal of nudity, using reflective distortions and printing techniques to create abstractions or depicting real life rather than classical allusions. Alfred Stieglitz's photos of Georgia O'Keeffe are examples of some of the earliest nudes presented in an intimate and personal style rather than with dispassionate idealization. Edward Weston, [11] Imogen Cunningham, [12] Ruth Bernhard, Harry Callahan, Emmet Gowin and Edward Steichen continued this trend. Weston evolved a particularly American aesthetic, using a large format camera to capture images of nature and landscapes as well as nudes, establishing photography as a fine-arts medium. In 1937 Weston became the first photographer to be awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. [13] For a famous example of Weston's work see: Charis Wilson. Many fine-art photographers have a variety of subjects in their work, the nude being one. Diane Arbus was attracted to unusual people in unusual settings, including a nudist camp. Lee Friedlander had more conventional subjects, one being Madonna as a young model. [14]

Contemporary

The distinction between fine art and glamour is often one of marketing, with fine art being sold through galleries or dealers in limited editions signed by the artist, and glamour photos being distributed through mass media. For some, the difference is in the gaze of the model; glamour models look into the camera, while art models do not. [15] Glamour and fashion photographers have aspired to fine-art status in some of their work. One such photographer was Irving Penn, who progressed from Vogue magazine to photographing fashion models such as Kate Moss nude. Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton and Annie Leibovitz [16] have followed a similar path with portraits of the famous, many of them nude [17] or partially clothed. [18] In the post-modern era, where fame is often the subject of fine art, [19] Avedon's photo of Nastassja Kinski with a python, and Leibovitz's magazine covers of Demi Moore pregnant and in body paint have become iconic. The work of Joyce Tenneson has gone the other way, from fine art with a unique, soft-focus style showing women at all stages of life to portraiture of famous people and fashion photography.

Although nude photographers have largely worked within established forms that show bodies as sculptural abstractions, some, such as Robert Mapplethorpe, have created works that deliberately blur the boundaries between erotica and art.

Several photographers have become controversial because of their nude photographs of underage subjects. [20] David Hamilton often used erotic themes. [21] [22] [23] Sally Mann was raised in rural Virginia, in a locale where skinny-dipping in a river was common, so many of her most famous photographs are of her own children swimming in the nude. [24] Less well-known photographers have been charged as criminals for photos of their own children. [25]

Body image has become a topic explored by many photographers working with models whose bodies do not conform to the largely universal perceptions of beauty. [26]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Weston</span> American photographer (1886-1958)

Edward Henry Weston was an American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his 40-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of subjects, including landscapes, still lifes, nudes, portraits, genre scenes and even whimsical parodies. It is said that he developed a "quintessentially American, and especially Californian, approach to modern photography" because of his focus on the people and places of the American West. In 1937 Weston was the first photographer to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship, and over the next two years he produced nearly 1,400 negatives using his 8 × 10 view camera. Some of his most famous photographs were taken of the trees and rocks at Point Lobos, California, near where he lived for many years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Softcore pornography</span> Erotic still photography or film that is less sexually explicit than hardcore pornography

Softcore pornography or softcore porn is commercial still photography, film, or art that has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually graphic and intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a lack of visual sexual penetration. It typically contains nude or semi-nude actors involved in love scenes and is intended to be sexually arousing and aesthetically beautiful. The distinction between softcore pornography and erotic photography or art, such as Vargas girl pin-ups, is largely a matter of debate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human furniture</span> Practice in which a persons body is used as furniture

Human furniture is furniture in which a person's body is used as a tray, foot stool, chair, table, cabinet or other item. In some cases a sculpture of a human body is used instead. Examples of human furniture have appeared in modern art. Forniphilia is the paraphilia relating to human furniture, including that seen in fetish photography and bondage pornography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pornographic magazine</span> Magazines that contain content of an explicitly sexual nature

Pornographic magazines or erotic magazines, sometimes known as adult magazines or sex magazines, are magazines that contain content of an explicitly sexual nature. Publications of this kind may contain images of attractive naked subjects, as is the case in softcore pornography, and, in the usual case of hardcore pornography, depictions of masturbation, oral, manual, vaginal, or anal sex.

Erotic photography is a style of art photography of an erotic, sexually suggestive or sexually provocative nature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Model (art)</span> Person who poses for a visual artist

An art model poses, often nude, for visual artists as part of the creative process, providing a reference for the human body in a work of art. As an occupation, modeling requires the often strenuous 'physical work' of holding poses for the required length of time, the 'aesthetic work' of performing a variety of interesting poses, and the 'emotional work' of maintaining a socially ambiguous role. While the role of nude models is well-established as a necessary part of artistic practice, public nudity remains transgressive, and models may be vulnerable to stigmatization or exploitation. Artists may also have family and friends pose for them, in particular for works with costumed figures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Depictions of nudity</span> Visual representations of the nude human form

Depictions of nudity include all of the representations or portrayals of the unclothed human body in visual media. In a picture-making civilization, pictorial conventions continually reaffirm what is natural in human appearance, which is part of socialization. In Western societies, the contexts for depictions of nudity include information, art and pornography. Information includes both science and education. Any ambiguous image not easily fitting into one of these categories may be misinterpreted, leading to disputes. The most contentious disputes are between fine art and erotic images, which define the legal distinction of which images are permitted or prohibited.

Boudoir photography is a photographic style featuring intimate, sensual, romantic, and sometimes erotic images of its subjects in a photographic studio, bedroom or private dressing room environment, primarily intended for the private enjoyment of the subjects and their romantic partners. It is distinct from glamour and art nude photography in that it is usually more suggestive rather than explicit in its approach to nudity and sexuality, features subjects who do not regularly model, and produces images that are not intended to be seen by a wide audience, but rather to remain under the control of the subject.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nude (art)</span> Work of art that has as its primary subject the unclothed human body

The nude, as a form of visual art that focuses on the unclothed human figure, is an enduring tradition in Western art. It was a preoccupation of Ancient Greek art, and after a semi-dormant period in the Middle Ages returned to a central position with the Renaissance. Unclothed figures often also play a part in other types of art, such as history painting, including allegorical and religious art, portraiture, or the decorative arts. From prehistory to the earliest civilizations, nude female figures were generally understood to be symbols of fertility or well-being.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Avenaim</span> American photographer

Jerry Avenaim is an American photographer best known for his fashion and celebrity images.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Marcus</span> American photographer

Ken Marcus is a famous American photographer, best known for his work in glamour and erotic photography with Penthouse and Playboy magazines and for his own website. For over 40 years he has produced hundreds of centerfolds, editorials, album covers, and advertisements. For many years, Marcus has lectured and conducted professional workshops in the US and internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glamour photography</span> Photography genre; subjects are portrayed in glamorous poses

Glamour photography is a genre of photography in which the subjects are portrayed in erotic poses ranging from fully clothed to nude. The term may be a euphemism for erotic photography. For glamour models, body shape and size are directly related to success. This type of photography is also known as "cheesecake" or "pin-up" for women and "beefcake" for men.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garry Gross</span> American photographer

Garry Gross was an American fashion photographer who went on to specialize in dog portraiture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred Cheney Johnston</span> American photographer (1885–1971)

Alfred Cheney Johnston was a New York City-based photographer known for his portraits of Ziegfeld Follies showgirls as well as of actors and actresses from the worlds of stage and film.

<i>Nude (Charis, Santa Monica)</i> Photograph by Edward Weston

Nude is a black and white photograph taken by Edward Weston in 1936. It shows an apparently nude woman with her arms wrapped around her legs while she sits on a blanket in bright sunlight against a darkened doorway. The dynamic balance of the light and dark accentuate the curves and angles of the woman's body; at the same time her face and all but the slightest hint of her pubic area are hidden from view, requiring the viewer to concentrate on her arms, legs, feet and hands. It is an image of a nude that concentrates solely on the forms of the body rather than the sexuality. The model was his muse and assistant, Charis Wilson, whom he married a year later.

<i>Immediate Family</i> (book) Sally Mann photographs her children

Immediate Family is a 1992 photography book by Sally Mann. Images from the book were first exhibited in 1990 by Edwynn Houk Gallery in New York City. The book is published by Aperture and contains 65 duotone images. The book predominately features Mann's three children, Emmett, Jessie and Virginia, when all were under 10 years old. Thirteen of the pictures show nudity and three show minor injuries; Emmett with a nosebleed, Jessie with a cut and stitches, and Jessie with a swollen eye from an insect bite. Many explore typical childhood activities at the family's remote summer cabin along the Maury River but others touch on darker themes such as insecurity, loneliness, injury, sexuality and death. Several images from the book were re-published in Mann's next book, Still Time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nude photography (art)</span> Artistic photography of the naked human body

Fine art nude photography is a genre of fine-art photography which depicts the nude human body with an emphasis on form, composition, emotional content, and other aesthetic qualities. The nude has been a prominent subject of photography since its invention, and played an important role in establishing photography as a fine art medium. The distinction between fine art photography and other subgenres is not absolute, but there are certain defining characteristics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ren Hang (photographer)</span> Chinese photographer and poet (born 1987)

Ren Hang was a Chinese photographer and poet.

Aaron Hawks is an American multidisciplinary artist, best known for his conceptual fetish photography and installation art.

Nudity in live performance, such as dance, theatre, and performance art, include the unclothed body either for realism or symbolic meaning. Nudity on stage has become generally accepted in Western cultures beginning in the 20th century.

References

  1. ↑ "Scientific Photographer". Creative Skillset. Archived from the original on December 29, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  2. ↑ Yoder, Brian K. "Nudity in Art: A Virtue or Vice?". Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  3. ↑ Hudovernik, Robert (2006). Jazz Age Beauties: The Lost Collection of Ziegfeld Photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston. New York: Universe Publishing/Rizzoli International Publications. p. 272.
  4. ↑ Clark, Kenneth (1956). "Chapter 1: The Naked and the Nude" . The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form . Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN   0-691-01788-3.
  5. ↑ Rosenthal, Karin. "About My Work". Archived from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  6. ↑ Schiesser, Jody. "Silverbeauty - Artist Statement". Archived from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  7. ↑ Mok, Marcus. "Artist's Statement". Archived from the original on December 27, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 "Naked before the Camera". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 2021-04-12. Retrieved 2012-10-26.
  9. ↑ Weiermair, Peter; Nielander, Claus (1988). Hidden File: Photographs of the Male Nude in the 19th and 20th Centuries. MIT Press, 1988. ISBN   0262231379.
  10. ↑ "Nude Photography Guide". 30 January 2020. Archived from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2020. Monday, June 29, 2020
  11. ↑ Conger, Amy (2006). Edward Weston: The Form of Nude. Phaidon Press. ISBN   0714845736.
  12. ↑ Cunningham, Imogen; Lorenz, Richard (1998). Imogen Cunningham: On the Body. Bullfinch Press. ISBN   0821224387.
  13. ↑ "Edward Weston Photographs". Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona Libraries. Archived from the original on 2010-07-25.
  14. ↑ "Nude photo of Madonna goes for $37,500". CNN. February 12, 2009. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
  15. ↑ Conrad, Donna (2000), A Conversation with Ruth Bernhard, vol. 1, PhotoVision, archived from the original on 2011-07-15, retrieved 2008-11-23
  16. ↑ "Exhibitions: Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life, 1990–2005". The Brooklyn Museum. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  17. ↑ Jones, Jonathan (8 February 2006). "Not naked but nude". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  18. ↑ "Miley Knows Best". Vanity Fair. 2008. Archived from the original on 25 November 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  19. ↑ Needham, Alex (22 February 2012). "Andy Warhol's legacy lives on in the factory of fame". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  20. ↑ "Photo Flap". Reason. 1998. Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  21. ↑ Hamilton, David (1995). The Age of Innocence. Aurum Press. ISBN   1854103040.
  22. ↑ Sturges, Jock; Phillips, Jayne Anne (1991). The Last Day of Summer. Aperture.
  23. ↑ Sturges, Jock (1994). Radiant Identities: Photographs by Jock Sturges. Aperture. ISBN   0893815950.
  24. ↑ Mann, Sally; Price, Reynolds (1992). Immediate family. Aperture. ISBN   0893815233.
  25. ↑ Powell, Lynn (2010). Framing Innocence: A Mother's Photographs, a Prosecutor's Zeal, and a Small Town's Response . The New Press. ISBN   978-1595585516.
  26. ↑ "Leonard Nimoy: The Full Body Project". R.Michelson Galleries. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2012.

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