Nudism and Photography

Many places nudists go--especially nudist parks--we see signs warning us, "No Photography." It only makes sense. Imagine this: you're sitting there at your favorite nudist park or nude beach in your favorite chaise lounge, relaxing and sipping a beverage. As you sweep the area your eyes lock on someone with a camera facing your direction. Who are they shooting at? What are they shooting? Why are they shooting?

I find the "No Photography" rule to be necessary and frustrating both. I have had photography as a hobby for decades, well before digital existed. I've had photo blogs and non-photo blogs, and they all included pictures of mine. I've had fun posting my pictures on photo websites like Flickr and Smugmug for many years. It just becomes automatic--whenever I knew I was going somewhere new or potentially interesting I was always sure to have my camera batteries charged and ready. Photography ended up becoming associated with interesting places and people, so to have a nudist blog and not be able to combine my photography hobby with it is truly frustrating sometimes.

Things were a little less restrictive in the past, and ads like this one were common in nudist magazines. Nowadays, you need good, advance coordination and approval to pull off walking around with a camera hanging in plain view.
Now, with cell phones as ubiquitous as they are, everyone has the potential to be a photographer. The trouble with non-photographers taking pictures is that they generally don't have the same consideration for their subjects as a seasoned veteran. People that have been in photography long enough know that you don't just take pictures of someone without them knowing. There are permissions, permits, and model releases to be taken care of first!

Oh good, they're all asleep!

I don't care too much though. What would it be like if we didn't have that rule? Nudist parks would likely not have the family atmosphere they have now. People would generally not include their children with them. Could the actions of a few "bad apples" ruin the public's perception of nudism? Sure. Nudism would become more hidden from the public eye so-to-speak. It could no longer be touted as "family friendly" environment if there was always a risk of someone offending someone else with use of a camera.

I love pictures of nudity. I don't mean just pictures of naked people--those are all over the internet. I love candid pictures of people enjoying themselves in ordinary ways--all while nude. I am always on the lookout for good, usable pictures from the internet, but man--you find one good picture in thousands if you're lucky. I currently have a lot of great pictures I intend to scatter among my blog posts as I go, but it would be more of a personal story if the pictures are from our own experiences. We will have more of our own... just give it time.

It's good that cameras have gotten smaller and less obtrusive. It makes taking candid shots with our significant others nicely spontaneous! We should all consider ourselves lucky because it really wasn't all that long ago that cameras were all film. Developing the pictures from the film cost money, and you had to wait to get your pictures back, hoping at least some of them came out. The Polaroid cameras were pretty popular because they would yield results right on the spot. They were the first "personal" cameras. It wasn't long ago either that only black & white existed. In a time when quality pictures really only came from a pricey cameras that were all big and bulky, at least Kodak made cameras cheaply for the average folks. It just took a while for them to become really mainstream.

Get out there and start shooting. I'm all for everyone taking pictures any time you can... just make sure you ask beforehand!