Lin, why do you look at pictures of naked women?
So sayeth my rather straight laced friend this week.
She has a good point. On the surface, I sure don’t seem the type to spend my spare time looking at women sans clothes. I am an upmarket, fast-track, career-hungry, power-driven, ambitious alpha business woman. More importantly, I am most definitely heterosexual. The neighbour stripped half-naked painting his fence yesterday did far more for my inner lust than looking at a pretty naked girl. Unfortunately there’s definitely no girl-girl fantasies lurking beneath my surface (Sorry to burst your bubble).
So why do I do it? Why do I like looking at pictures of nude women? And why would I want to have pictures of beautiful naked chix on my walls?
My friends and relatives think I do it because Rich is "into" it (as part of the mid-life crisis theory), and because I want to keep my marriage together. The “if you can’t beat ‘em, join em” argument. They think it is a way of controlling my husband.
Well, leaving aside my objections on so many different levels to this rather condescending analysis, I can say, hand on heart, that I look at this because a) it’s Art, b) it’s Art I can understand, and c) it’s fun. I appreciate the effort, patience and sheer talent that have gone into making an outstanding nude photograph. I understand it not only from a model’s point of view, but also because I also think the female form is a beautiful thing. Sensuous, curvy, natural, it communicates so much about the “essence of woman” herself and the photographer who took the shot.
This point is critical, and it’s the point that I can’t get across to my friends and family, because they just don’t understand it. No matter what I say, they just think I am making all this up, so I can sponge off Rich’s hobby and thus better control him.
The truth is that I am interested primarily in the psychology of Art. I look at nude images because I want to better understand people.
I am interested in the emotions and thoughts which went into making up the image in the first place. When a model takes off her clothes, she strips herself raw physically and to some extent emotionally, and lets down her psychological barriers, revealing the real person underneath, unhampered by clothes. I can thus better understand the balance between light and dark, and I don’t mean photographically, I am talking psychologically again.
Each person’s personality is made up of a mixture of positive and negative emotions. In general, the negative emotions (a.k.a. the dark side) are often way more interesting than the positive ones. In any given scenario, you can’t possibly understand or speculate on an issue unless you have understood its dark side. A darker lit, more emotionally charged image reveals more about the complexity of a photographer’s psyche than just a simple glamour-style snapshot of a happy pretty girl.
In a nude photograph, particularly a really good portrait nude, I seek to understand the forces and emotions that were in play when that image was taken. The photographer’s thoughts are just as important as the model's, probably more so.
And photographer’s personalities do fascinate me. I seek to understand the REASON WHY the image was made, and what it tells me about the photographer’s soul. I seek to understand what makes him tick. How does he think? What type of person is he? What has happened to him in the past which makes him want to take that particular shot with that particular lighting ? How do his emotions and past psychological scars reflect in his Art?
I do like to look at all pictures of beautiful nude women (and men, if only I could persuade Rich to shoot them), regardless of style, but if an image is just eye candy, I tend to lose interest after a while because I don’t find the Art interesting enough. In order to leave a lasting impression, Art must have depth and draw you in. Above all, I believe that Art should reflect the Truth. The warts and all of the personalities of both photographer and model, rather than just shooting superficial pap which will be pleasing to look at for the mass public.
Like a good black and white nude photograph, the quest for Truth in Art reflects both visual and psychological light and darkness, as well as varying shades of grey.
What you make of the Truth depends completely on your own subjective interpretation of course. But you have to admit, it’s interesting.
(Note to self: Stop being so bloody pretentious. Just because you don’t fancy pretty naked chix such as Lynx here doesn’t mean that it’s not Art. Eye candy may not hang in the National Portrait Gallery, but it makes money. Money = food. Food = good. Therefore eye candy = good. Therefore photographers who shoot eye candy = true to themselves, damn good artists and much wiser than you are)
She has a good point. On the surface, I sure don’t seem the type to spend my spare time looking at women sans clothes. I am an upmarket, fast-track, career-hungry, power-driven, ambitious alpha business woman. More importantly, I am most definitely heterosexual. The neighbour stripped half-naked painting his fence yesterday did far more for my inner lust than looking at a pretty naked girl. Unfortunately there’s definitely no girl-girl fantasies lurking beneath my surface (Sorry to burst your bubble).
So why do I do it? Why do I like looking at pictures of nude women? And why would I want to have pictures of beautiful naked chix on my walls?
My friends and relatives think I do it because Rich is "into" it (as part of the mid-life crisis theory), and because I want to keep my marriage together. The “if you can’t beat ‘em, join em” argument. They think it is a way of controlling my husband.
Well, leaving aside my objections on so many different levels to this rather condescending analysis, I can say, hand on heart, that I look at this because a) it’s Art, b) it’s Art I can understand, and c) it’s fun. I appreciate the effort, patience and sheer talent that have gone into making an outstanding nude photograph. I understand it not only from a model’s point of view, but also because I also think the female form is a beautiful thing. Sensuous, curvy, natural, it communicates so much about the “essence of woman” herself and the photographer who took the shot.
This point is critical, and it’s the point that I can’t get across to my friends and family, because they just don’t understand it. No matter what I say, they just think I am making all this up, so I can sponge off Rich’s hobby and thus better control him.
The truth is that I am interested primarily in the psychology of Art. I look at nude images because I want to better understand people.
I am interested in the emotions and thoughts which went into making up the image in the first place. When a model takes off her clothes, she strips herself raw physically and to some extent emotionally, and lets down her psychological barriers, revealing the real person underneath, unhampered by clothes. I can thus better understand the balance between light and dark, and I don’t mean photographically, I am talking psychologically again.
Each person’s personality is made up of a mixture of positive and negative emotions. In general, the negative emotions (a.k.a. the dark side) are often way more interesting than the positive ones. In any given scenario, you can’t possibly understand or speculate on an issue unless you have understood its dark side. A darker lit, more emotionally charged image reveals more about the complexity of a photographer’s psyche than just a simple glamour-style snapshot of a happy pretty girl.
In a nude photograph, particularly a really good portrait nude, I seek to understand the forces and emotions that were in play when that image was taken. The photographer’s thoughts are just as important as the model's, probably more so.
And photographer’s personalities do fascinate me. I seek to understand the REASON WHY the image was made, and what it tells me about the photographer’s soul. I seek to understand what makes him tick. How does he think? What type of person is he? What has happened to him in the past which makes him want to take that particular shot with that particular lighting ? How do his emotions and past psychological scars reflect in his Art?
I do like to look at all pictures of beautiful nude women (and men, if only I could persuade Rich to shoot them), regardless of style, but if an image is just eye candy, I tend to lose interest after a while because I don’t find the Art interesting enough. In order to leave a lasting impression, Art must have depth and draw you in. Above all, I believe that Art should reflect the Truth. The warts and all of the personalities of both photographer and model, rather than just shooting superficial pap which will be pleasing to look at for the mass public.
Like a good black and white nude photograph, the quest for Truth in Art reflects both visual and psychological light and darkness, as well as varying shades of grey.
What you make of the Truth depends completely on your own subjective interpretation of course. But you have to admit, it’s interesting.
(Note to self: Stop being so bloody pretentious. Just because you don’t fancy pretty naked chix such as Lynx here doesn’t mean that it’s not Art. Eye candy may not hang in the National Portrait Gallery, but it makes money. Money = food. Food = good. Therefore eye candy = good. Therefore photographers who shoot eye candy = true to themselves, damn good artists and much wiser than you are)
posted by Lin at 9:42 AM
1 Comments:
A very well thought out piece Lin, thank you.
Also thanks for the wonderful Lynx.
Peter B
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