Seeing Beyond the Nudity

I have had my eye on this girl, Jessie, for about a year now and finally figured it was time to ask her if she wanted to pose for me. I had a feeling that she had a stunning body, but I wanted to be sure which is why I waited so long before asking her. She was game and we met at my studio along with her sister, Noelle, who I have known for a few years. As we were shooting, Noelle remarked that Jessie didn't even seem naked. As soon as Noelle said that I lowered the camera from my eye and just stood there--stunned. Exactly! She nailed it.

I have been trying to put into words the idea of art nudes not being about a 'naked girl', but something more--much more. To create and view these types of images and not see the 'nudity' is an evolution that many people haven't reached. Noelle and I have reached that next level of appreciation of the nude form in all that it has to offer above the obvious. I was shocked that Noelle actually said it--that she was seeing they way I was seeing.

Many of you may be at this evolved level of thought, but I just found it so profound that Noelle didn't even notice that the model was nude. I am still trying to wrap my head around the idea that the form was so beautiful that the nudity was lost. I am not new to the ability to view an art nude without seeing the 'nudity' I have just never really been able to put it into words until Noelle did it for me. Perhaps one day more people will view art nudes and not notice the 'nudity'--at least in our somewhat less evolved western society.

The image below was an ispirtaion from image I saw a while ago. The photo was very similar and done with a stunning Canadian figure model (I think she is from Ontario if I remember correctly). I wish I could give credit to the orignal artist and model, but I do not know who created the image. If some one knows of the image and its creators that I am talking about please let me know so I can give proper credit for the ispiration for my version.