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Nude 01

Jim Read

New member
Hello all,

I made this one a few days ago and at first liked it quite a lot;


12036720_1625952651023557_6064564026384453789_n.jpg



But then as you do hated it the next day and did this;



11990493_1627179327567556_5956548941669684423_n.jpg

I think it increases the vulnerability and the dance to the gaffers tune

Cheers - Jim
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Jim,

I agree with your reaction to the first version!

Fabulous imagination, technique and final result!

Have you seen the work here of Charlotte Thompson?

Are the component pictures yours or are they found on the web through the Creative Commons?

Asher
 

Charlotte Thompson

Well-known member
Love it! Nice to see another overlay artist here @ OPF- They are both very good. Could be Adam before Eve- Nice combinations-

Charlotte-
 

Jim Read

New member
Hello Asher,

Thanks for the nice comment good of you.

I found Charlotte's work and .... please see below

The components in the pic are some rocks which were tumbled down a steep hill to cover the entrance to an old lead mine, the winch and the winding wheel from another old mine both not too far from where we live. That covers my train of thought as I looked through my images, I let one image spark a train of thought that will lead me to the other, all three are pics I made.

I made the dance pose not knowing what to use it for and then thought of the way people round here worked (dance to the factory tune) in the most dangerous conditions and were cast aside when they fell ill, but that didn't emerge until I'd finished it.

I've done a three image crossfade here so you can see the first image and the two above merge into each other: http://www.jasread.com/opf.html


Hello Charlotte

Thanks for the 'Love it' especially from you :) I found your Transparencies and the Video and I love all the pics in both you have a transcendant imagination. I can't say how pleased I am to find someone else doing something similar!

Kindest regards both - Jim
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Could you share your thoughts on the strategic leaf as opposed to accidental coverage by something like a limb or his position if you don't want to have overt confrontation?

Asher
 

Jim Read

New member
Hello Asher,

I think Stephen Smith did the 'fig leaf' on a BBC 4 programme much better than I could, he being a far more erudite person than I, I do though agree with him and I've indicated in italics which words I think are the most telling.

The summary of the programme is thus;

"Writer and broadcaster Stephen Smith uncovers the secret history of the humble fig leaf, opening a window onto 2,000 years of Western art and ethics.

He tells how the work of Michelangelo, known to his contemporaries as 'the maker of pork things', fuelled the infamous 'fig leaf campaign', the greatest cover-up in art history; how Bernini turned censorship into a new form of erotica by replacing the fig leaf with the slipping gauze; and how the ingenious machinations of Rodin brought nudity back to the public eye.

In telling this story, Smith turns many of our deepest prejudices upside down, showing how the Victorians had a far more sophisticated and mature attitude to sexuality than we do today. He ends with an impassioned plea for the widespread return of the fig leaf to redeem modern art from cheap sensation and innuendo."

Cheers - Jim
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
He ends with an impassioned plea for the widespread return of the fig leaf to redeem modern art from cheap sensation and innuendo."

Jim,

I think he's so wrong. The fig leaf should only be used when the society is so repressed and conservative that, without that cover, the authorities wouldn't allow the art to appear. Otherwise, to me the fig leaf, (if not an integral part of the composition), should never be added.

There's no shame of sexual parts as long as the folk are not secularizing them or the figures are not involved in erotic behavior or gestures.

The only basis for covering up is, in real life! For example, there's a need for men to cover his occasional spontaneous arousal, on meeting his neighbor's wife or brother, as that might disclose too much for the two families to socialize without considerable tension, angst and feelings of betrayal.

Asher
 

Jim Read

New member
Hello Asher,

Your comment applies to you and to others artists and I agree that there is no shame in showing genitals. Our societies though are terribly repressed and I find that having posted pics without the fig leaf the comments are often genital ones, sadly they cannot see beyond it to the art.

I think the the proliferation of pornography has made people see nude male images as targets for 'cheap sensation and innuendo' they cannot separate the porn from the art.

Personally I like the idea of the fig leaf I find that I can concentrate on the whole pose when I look at my own images without having to take in the too much of the gender of the poser. You will see as I post more images that I tend to use feminine poses rather than the male straitjacketed stereotypical ones.

Cheers - Jim
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Frankly, Him, I've never included nude male models in my photography, although I have photographed thousands of men! With females, I generally do not show genitals unless it just happens to come with that pose and the girl is comfortable with that view. However, I avoid any poses or innuendo that are intended to be simply erotic to the point of being gratuitous, lascivious and pornographic, to my point of view!

As to the fig leaf, I find it jarring, but I also am not fond of seeing male genitals, except, given the choice, and if showing that is part of the composition and not just the subject, I'd go for the more natural look. The fig leaf breaks me away from the purity of another world where I can get lost. The fig leaf jolts me out of it, as it declares, "Don't worry, we are not going to display his genitals and appear vulgar!"

But your work is beautiful and being your creation and you choose the fig leaf, I have to accept your art as you make it, my own petty preferences, notwithstanding!

Asher
 
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