Nude photography is one of the areas of photography that most artists embrace at one point or another. It has that appeal that not many can resist. Nudes have appeared since early on in all types of artistry: from paintings to statues all the way to photography, black & white, and now full color.
When people hear about ‘nude photography’, they immediately thing of nasty, ugly things such as pornography and the sorts, and many times with good reason. Sadly pornography has tainted everything and while in the early years painting or sculpting a nude was an art form, now it’s considered tacky and distorted sexy. Yet, nude photos can be taken in a very pleasant, artistic and tasteful way without touching on the dark side. The secret is to remove the sex from it. When the naked model is trying to be sexy, the photo automatically becomes cheap and dirty.
If a person is trying to be sexy while fully clothed, it works ok, as already proven by advertising. However trying to look sexy while naked, it automatically sends the viewers a very precise message, whereby everything else is forgotten but the ‘sex’. But how to accomplish that which is apparently so difficult to achieve?
One way is to have the model look away from the camera. Have her gaze far away, as if thinking of something past, or recollecting a personal memory. This shows that the model has a soul, has feelings and is not simply a sex toy. The main ideas is for the model to express an emotion other than sexy for the viewers. Have her look dreamy or lost in thoughts, tranced, far away.
If you frame the picture without her face showing, the nude photograph will be an abstract rather than a person without clothes. Alternatively she can turn her head so that her face is not visible.
Lighting is another important part of taking out the sex from a nude photo. If you’ve noticed in porn movies and pictures, there is always a strong and bright background lighting. Having too much light has nothing to do with artistry, with conveying a true atmosphere. This is why you need plenty of shadows, which means that the model should have light pointed to her side or behind her. This creates a sense of mystical that leaves lots to the imagination and the mind.
By only having proper lighting and the model not look directly at the camera you will achieve the perfect artistic look that will not bring the mind automatically to pornography, but rather to a beautiful piece of photography.
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