Hey Reddit community, I’ve been pondering the artistic value and purpose of nude photography lately. While I appreciate the beauty of some photos that resemble fine art, I find myself questioning the necessity of nudity in others like topless woman having a coffee mug in her hand etc. What are your thoughts on this? Let’s have a respectful discussion and share perspectives.
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i think there is a difference between nude photos and pornography. I guess the “spiciness/sexy” factor determines where it leans to
nudity is often also used as a tactic to make something more marketable/shocking/controversial… to me its justified if it contributes to the overall story
if the photo is just about a naked woman drinking coffee for clickbait then that’s lame IMO… but maybe its about someone selling the clothes off their back for that cup of coffee? maybe its a showcase of caffeine addiction… if its something with a little more depth than “naked because clickbait” then nudity i think is justified
i like this example from gregory crewdson https://artblart.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/installation-r-detail.jpg the nudity seems to add a layer of curiosity/reflection in this photo
then there is also this series which i think is super neat. its a display of the human body from various athletes https://www.muscleandfitness.com/athletes-celebrities/news/17-stunning-photos-espn-s-11th-annual-body-issue/ there is no display of genitalia but i would argue this fulfills its purpose and ultimately is about the naked body
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personally i always utilized nude photographs for learning how to do figure drawing and anatomy studies
Yes there are numerous fantastic artistic nude photos there. Those photos have fantastic lights and shadows, colours, but there are many photos which don’t have any of those, they just want to show boo*s or the photographer wanted to fulfill his wet dreams of spending time with a naked model. I’m against this.
I wish that we could grow up and reject these nonsensical prudish attitudes. People feel this way about nudity because of a trauma response to either growing up in sexually repressive households, or experiencing unwanted sexual encounters, or both.
The human body is beautiful, and meant to be enjoyed, but we get hung up on sex being a right of passage, even when it isn’t desired, or sex being a defilement, even when it is desired. This is all nonsense, nonsense that provokes behaviors in adults that traumatized the next generation into irrational prudishness.
Let us not be ashamed of who and what we are, just because someone declared it a social norm to be ashamed of who and what we are.
I think nudity can be useful as a tool, but overall is used as a crutch by both men and women. Especially in the context of art, like what are you doing that’s new and different? What sets your “Nude in a Field” apart from the thousand others that were published today? If I were a professor, I’d say, “So what? The only thing unique about it is that it’s that person vs some other person.”
I think women can say some interesting things about the male gaze and retaking ownership of the female form, but there’s not a ton of other new ground to break.
In no way am I opposed to nudity, but I think too many people use it as a shortcut to saying something Important™️. You have to try harder than posing a nude on a window sill smoking a cigarette and drinking coffee.
