Nudity

I recently realized that I may have inadvertently given the impression that I'm a nudist, or a naturist. (Bonus points, by the way, to anybody who can explain the difference between those two terms to me.) For quite awhile, my extended, rambly Model Mayhem profile mentioned that "nudity is my preferred wardrobe, though I will happily don clothing if the concept calls for it." I had always assumed that it was obvious that I meant that nudity was my preferred wardrobe while shooting. Really now, who would give a shit what I wear, or don't, in my personal life? It strikes me as utterly irrelevant. But a few conversations have led me to wonder if perhaps my meaning wasn't as clear as I had thought.

The fact is, I don't hate clothing, or feel more at ease while nude. I'm perfectly happy to be nude, but it is not my default state. There's quite a bit that I appreciate about being clothed. For starters, I've found it to be a pretty handy way to instantly communicate something about yourself to the world. Even if you're like me, and are utterly incapable of dressing yourself coherently, your apathy about fashion says something about you. Plus, clothes are really handy when it's cold. What on earth would I do without layers in the winter?

But I began modeling nude from the get-go, and it's by far what I have the most experience with. I am well-equipped, both in appearance and personality, to shoot art nudes. I get the concept, and I get what is being conveyed by the image. I love shooting nudes, both as a model and a photographer.

I've found that wardrobe, as often as not, confuses my understanding of the intent of the photo. For the first couple of years that I modeled, the notion of shooting in something like jeans and a t-shirt left me utterly befuddled. I like to think that I'm generally a pretty clever lady, but shooting casually in clothing just wasn't something that my brain could wrap itself around. Over time, I've begun building up more experience modeling in clothing, and have become increasingly at ease with it. But it is still less intuitive for me than is nude work.

So that's that. Nudity is pretty nifty and all, but it is not an obsession, or something about which I feel strongly in my personal life. It's just the way in which I feel the most at ease in front of the camera.