Nudes or Fluffy Kittens, Flowers and Puppies?

Posted by joanblease on

When I tell people that I very much enjoy photography I know what their next question will be.

“Oooooo, how interesting…… What do you like to photograph?” 
 It’s at this point that I hit the same old dilemma – Do I fess up and be honest or do I fib and say “fluffy kittens, flowers and puppies”
Well, I was brought up to be honest so I smile and say “Fine Art Nudes” ….. And that’s generally where the conversation stops ! It’s NOT what the other person was expecting me to say and therefore the conversation quickly changes to “oh eeermmm, well,  I wonder if it will rain tomorrow?”
I organise regular Fine Art Nude Workshops for photographers who have never worked in this genre before. I try and make it as “stress free” as possible. Most people are very nervous to begin with, which is understandable, so in order to ease the stress  I find an experienced Fine Art Nude Model, the studio, the lighting and instruct the attendees on how to photograph and pose the model. I also provide a nice lunch.
It was whilst I was buying the food for the lunch at our local supermarket that the lady on the check out decided to strike up a conversation about the food she was scanning in. The conversation went like this ….
Checkout Lady :  Ooooo  are you having a family party?
Me: No
Checkout Lady: A party for friends?
Me: No
Checkout Lady: Well, it looks like you are having a party – are you having people round for a meal?
Me: No.
Checkout Lady (looking puzzled): Well you certainly have a lot of party type food – it’s not all for you is it?
Me: No – actually I am organising a workshop
Checkout Lady: Oooooo  how exciting….what kind of workshop?
Me (now rushing to put food into my trolly/cart): eerm.  A Photographic workshop
Checkout Lady (now smiling broadly): Ooooooo I LOVE photography  – what will you be photographing
Me: Nudes
Checkout Lady:
She never spoke to me after that and didn’t even give me eye contact!  I should have said fluffy kittens, flowers and puppies at least then she would have given me a goodbye smile.
Its strange how this photographic subject matter seems to stop people in their tracks. Its probably that they don’t expect a middle aged woman to “ do that sort of thing”.
Photographing nudes, however tasteful, always seems to polarise people –  therefore I am going to “speak” more about this subject in the days and weeks to come – in the meantime here are some examples of what I photograph.
Nymph
Holly 1
Wistful
On Pointe
Marianna
Darling 2

7 responses to “Nudes or Fluffy Kittens, Flowers and Puppies?”

      • She certainly gives 100% when posing, and is very pleasant to work with.

        I don’t know you well enough to call you darling, Joan. I don’t even know Darling well enough to call her darling either! 😉

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