So! Formspring.me.
Yeah, I got all excited about it, put a widget over there in the sidebar (no, other side) so you could ask me “anything.” I said I hoped to get fodder for blog posts. And I did. I did get fodder for blog posts. But I was busy that minute so I didn’t answer right away. Then I was busy again. Apparently that was four weeks ago. I’ll say it for you: I really suck sometimes.
These two questions (I have no idea who asked either) can be combined:
Q: what does your family think about your nude photos being out in the public for everybody to see?
and
Q: Does your daughter know that you post nude pictures of yourself on the Internet?
My daughter does know, and she is family, so we are left with the first question.
I am very much an open-book kind of person as well as being
straightforward to the point of blunt. I don’t like playing games and don’t
understand most of them. I take people at face value while trusting my
instincts. This all goes along with my attitude about what I’m doing artistically.
I don’t hide things (and no, I don’t mean the nudity itself, silly. I mean the
fact that I am posting nudity). If I felt like it should be a secret, then I
wouldn’t be doing it.
When I began taking self-portraits and then began exploring
nudity in them, a process was unfolding. I was becoming more comfortable with
my body. I was getting to know myself while also learning to appreciate my
form. This progressed into understanding how to use myself as a model to better
capture the concept/emotions I wanted to convey. Nudity has been a part of art
since the dawn of civilization. While the phrase, “posting nude photos on the
Internet” is weighed down with all sorts of sleazy connotations, this fact
remains: the Internet is simply another medium. There has been sleaze since the
dawn of civilization too, you know!
This is the attitude I have when talking about it to and around my family—all my family. My husband was and is supportive. My mother is an artist and my biggest fan. My father loves me unconditionally and is happy when I’m happy. I know it was weird for him when I began sharing nude images of myself, but he is an art lover and he appreciates what I’m doing and is just as supportive as my mother and husband. My brother posted on Facebook and in a computer gaming forum about the Artists Wanted contest asking people to vote for me, too. That had to be weird for him to pimp his nude sister, actually. Heh. Extended family has also been extremely generous in their support and compliments.
My daughter makes fun of me, frankly, but
she used to help choose (as would my husband) when I was trying to decide
between two or more pictures for a self-portrait of the day. She's accompanied me a couple of times into abandoned locations and has caught the "urbex" bug for sure. She has assisted me by holding my clothes, even! I hope that I am
showing her that there is no reason to be ashamed of our bodies. I think she is
proud of my artistic successes and I know she likes my photography in general.
I’m very, very fortunate, and I am so grateful that I have
family willing to see past any concerns they may have and instead look at my
work--honestly. I am 40 years old, after all.
