My son opened my laptop and gasped in horror. I rushed over, worried that my hard drive had crashed. Already I was thinking, “I should have backed those files up.”
He pointed to the screen.
I expected to see the black screen of death. Instead, my desktop looked the way it always does: a solid green background littered with files.
“Why do you have a photo of a naked woman on your computer?” he asked.
Oh, that.
Well, I often leave photos on my desktop, as a reminder to write a blog post. The photo was small, just a thumbnail really, but his eyes are obviously better than mine. I’ve had that naked photo up for almost a year now, and I’m so used to it being there that I don’t even notice. At a conference in February, a roommate used my laptop for something, and she too gasped when she saw the photo, but her reaction was entirely different.
“She’s so beautiful,” she said. “You need to put that photo on your blog.”
You’ve seen Yoga Woman naked on this blog before. In this photo, she’s wrapped in a black shawl, not out of any sense of modesty, but because she’s always cold. She lives in a warm climate, and whenever we meet anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon line, she’ll arrive wrapped in layers of scarves, shawls, and other elegant fabrics.
I’ve liked having the photo on my laptop because it reminds me of a wonderful gathering of women friends last June. We cooked meals together, hiked together, did some creative writing, and hung out naked in the hot tub. Sitting outside a wooden deck with an incredible view of the mountains, we shared the intimate details of our lives.
I think that’s why I like taking naked photos of my friends. It’s the intimacy that I value: the willingness to tell our most embarrassing stories, to admit our fears and frustrations, to be naked emotionally and physically and spiritually.
Besides, my women friends are beautiful. That makes taking the photos easy.
(Readers who want to know the history of the naked photo tradition can check it out here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here. )
14 comments:
Lovely! You really do have beautiful friends.
Yep... just lovely...
I love the intimacy of that kind of gathering. I go on a trip with my girlfriends every year, we have since high school.
Your model is beautiful. I love the curve of the neck.
Reminds me of the reaction I got from a young friend when I forgot to delete the naked photos of my pregnant self from my SD card.
I have never found someone who has the composure to stand naked in front of a camera to be anything but beautiful, but your pictures are exceptional. The human body is amazing.
Long live the naked blogging tradition!!!!!
Your son didn't know? My son (14) knows you have naked women.....he was appalled and also admiring of the tradition.
Our computer is a desktop and is in the living room.....
Oh, my sons all know. They just like to tease me about the tradition. They are mostly just kidding.
Interestingly androgynous.
(also, my word verification is DEFLABS. Somehow germane?)
Your friends and beautiful, but your friendships more so. Reading about your times with your friends always leaves me feeling good about the world.
She's so beautiful!
JT
I love all the neutral colours and then the tiny dashes of red on her nails and earring.
Another beautiful woman photographed by you. I am waiting too joe, to be photographed, as u assured. :)
I like the way she's holding her legs with her arms -- as if she's cradling herself. Lovely.
She is beautiful. What a lovely photo.
Post a Comment