Tortured Bodies

[Tin Can]

Why do many shoot contorted nudes as 'art'?

Some models are very contorted to become not human...

[monochromeFan]

Its so that they CAN call it "art".

Its why so many people are using film to shoot naked people, so they can claim its "art" and not "porn".

Why so many others are only using black and white film to shoot naked photos, because "black and white is art, not porn".

[jnantz]

Why do many shoot contorted nudes as 'art'?

Some models are very contorted to become not human...

Weston turned a pepper into a nude woman, so nudists contort humans so they look like Weston's Pepper that's what I always thought ..

[Tin Can]

Weston turned a pepper into a nude woman, so nudists contort humans so they look like Weston's Pepper that's what I always thought ..

Hot Pepper

[Jody_S]

Weston (?) obsessed over poring at one of his nudes while the model was still in the room, worried that a barely visible glimpse of pubic hair would mean the photo would be rejected by galleries.

[nolindan]

Weston (?) obsessed over poring at one of his nudes while the model was still in the room, worried that a barely visible glimpse of pubic hair would mean the photo would be rejected by galleries.

In a Vonnegut book an Indiana senator was feted for defining pornography - any image with pubic hair.

[djdister]

Why so many others are only using black and white film to shoot naked photos, because "black and white is art, not porn".

And here I thought I was shooting B&W because its cheaper and more available in 5x7 -- turns out I was using it just to distinguish my shots from porn...

This is not porn

[Mark Sampson]

Weston was concerned about showing pubic hair in his nudes, not because the galleries would not accept it, but because he faced arrest if the U.S. postal inspectors were to open the package and find such images. At least that's what the daybooks and the histories say. Things were different in the 1930s~

[David Lindquist]

And the story I recall went something like this. I think it was the late 1940's and Weston as going to have a show, IIRC in NYC, probably MOMA. He got a letter cautioning him about sending any nudes with pubic hair. Guess back then there were not many alternatives outside of the USPS for shipping prints. Thing was the letter cautioned about prints showing showing any "public" hair. Weston found this mistake absolutely hilarious and took great pleasure in showing the letter to all his fronds.

David

[Merg Ross]

And the story I recall went something like this. I think it was the late 1940's and Weston as going to have a show, IIRC in NYC, probably MOMA. He got a letter cautioning him about sending any nudes with pubic hair. Guess back then there were not many alternatives outside of the USPS for shipping prints. Thing was the letter cautioned about prints showing showing any "public" hair. Weston found this mistake absolutely hilarious and took great pleasure in showing the letter to all his fronds.

David

Good memory David, and all true. The exhibition in question was his retrospective at New York MOMA in 1946. The "public" hair story he loved to tell and I first heard it on a visit to his home with my parents in 1950. I must have been about nine years old and only later understood what the adult laughter was all about.