August 02, 2011

Rainy day naked

Naked stretch

We decided to take the photo early, while her kids were still asleep. A steady rain and cool breeze thwarted our plans to frolic naked in her backyard. I walked through the house looking for a blank wall. The spot near the front door seemed perfect. I opened the big door to let in the morning light and moved a bench out of the way.

“Just take off your clothes and do some morning stretches,” I said. I stepped outside onto the front porch and knelt down on her front porch to peer through my camera. “This should work.”

She stripped off her clothes and stood in the doorway. A car rolled by slowly. It was a weekday morning, and her neighbors were going to work.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “Your neighbors are half-asleep. They won’t even notice.”

We’d been up late, talking. It was the first time we’d met in person, even though we’ve been friends online for years. We both turn fifty this year, and that means neither of us are shy when it comes to talking about the body. We discussed, for instance, the way many younger women feel pressured to shave their pubic hair, and we speculated as to whether or not that pressure comes from pornography.

We talked about the way our bodies have changed over time, the way our ideas have changed over time.

We compared geographic differences: we grow up on opposite sides of the country. I’ve often wondered how the landscape itself might impact the way we feel about our bodies. Would living in a warm climate predispose a person to feel more comfortable being naked? Certainly climate and landscape must in some ways impact social norms about nudity.

We’d left on the lights in the kitchen, our cups of tea still on the table. Behind me, rain splattered against the driveway, and I could hear tires humming as another car went past. My friend stretched this way and that, dancing in the morning light, while I snapped a few fast photos, both of us still talking the whole time.

(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 and here and here and here and here. )

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

This blog captures the intimacy I have with my women friends. We can talk all night and often do.

C.

Paige said...

Gorgeous! I like the way you set the photo in the shade, but with the brighter light and energy of the kitchen visible off to the side.

Heidi said...

She's beautiful. Like all of the women in your photos.

patrick said...

You do realize, don't you, that as you continue to add to your gallery of naked photos, you likely will have to ensure somewhat lengthy text accompanies each in order to compete with the 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 and here and here and here and here on each page.

jo(e) said...

Patrick: Yeah, I need to figure out some kind of shortcut there. The surprising thing is how many readers actually do click through to read the other entries.

patrick said...

Well... duh!

Rana said...

The solution - there are two - is easy enough.

One is to create a tag for the naked posts, and then people can just go to the archive.

The other is to create your own archive - a post with all those links on it (which you update with each new naked post). Then each new naked post links just to the archive post.

--

Commenting on this post - the light in this photo is really lovely, both in the room and on her body.

Nick said...

I love these (naked) articles, they're a beautiful way to highlight what fundamentally ties us all together. :)

Susan said...

Gorgeous! I love the light, the coziness and safety of home, the symbolism of waking up and stretching into the day/life and it's all doubly cool because she is my friend.

sherry said...

I have lived in the Deep South for >90% of my life. I don't know if living in such a warm/hot climate helps me feel more comfortable being naked, but it certainly makes me more pragmatic about it.

Now, if my 15 year old son could just stop shielding his eyes when I strip down.....

jo(e) said...

Rana: Thanks. I need to do that one of these days.

jo(e) said...

Sherry: Well, that's what I'm thinking. That people who live in warm climates get fed up feeling uncomfortable so they strip down and then they get used to being naked. I went on a 16-day raft trip in the southwest a few years ago, and it was amazing how quickly everyone got used to seeing each other undressed. It just wasn't practical to worry about modesty.

Cindy said...

Another beautiful woman. Lovely photo.

aadsfsdfdf said...

Thats a beautiful woman with a very beautiful body. I simply love to look at her butt. :) Thanks for the pic joe. :)

Blogger Jack said...

Hi joe, Im jack & I have started a blog similar to urs. http://writingasjack.wordpress.com/ This photo is really beautiful. I would love to post similar ones on my blog but I had not got the opportunity to have someone pose for me. As I had started my blog based on yours it would be kind if you send me a photo of yours to put on my blog. Only if it is fine with you. thanks, writing as jack.

kathy a. said...

another gorgeous story about friendship, and another gorgeous naked photo.

i don't really hold with your "warm climate" theory. i grew up in L.A., which is pretty darned hot in summer. but i also grew up with a mother who nagged me to eat when i was seriously ill as a kid, kept stocking the house with junk, and then condemned me as too fat by my teen years. and i never fit cultural norms, being short, sturdy of build, and curvy. i'm not a person who feels comfortable undressed, knowing the many ways my body is imperfect.

jo(e) said...

Well, climate is only one factor. I'm guessing that family influence and the dominant culture are larger forces.

Lots of women say that they feel more comfortable with their bodies as they get older so age is another factor.

Sharon Newton Images said...

I love these shots! I just did my first nude photoshoot but I was back up, well sort of, of a friend who wanted them done. I tagged along and this got my creative juices flowing...I have now a Project in mind that I hope to do soon, just have to figure out the logistics rights and permissions.

As for young women who feel pressure to shave their public hair I have had this discussion with one young woman, and she thinks hair is gross (her words not mine) when asked why? she says it is just cleaner. And so I say should all HUMAN BEINGS Shave there public hair? She said no only women. I asked why? She said because, and well she just thought it was gross. There was a few more, thoughts, I may have to blog about it.

As for the nude photoshoot, the blog and shots to come.

Zhoen said...

She looks a lot like me, 20 years ago.

Nicky said...

I like the pose and picture. It captures the more natural side

Jeff said...

Beautifully naked, yet totally natural in her stretches & movement. The difference in lighting between the soft window light up front and the warmer incandescent lighting is also nice.

About jo(e)'s statement:
"Well, climate is only one factor. I'm guessing that family influence and the dominant culture are larger forces."

I agree. Culture in the what we personally define as society plays a factor as does family upbringings. I was raised in a conservative atmosphere in regards to body acceptance.

Jeff said...

Apologies if this was already read but I came across this somewhat related article from a UK news blog, "Would you pose for a nude portrait? I did at 45... and it was one of the unexpectedly liberating experience of my life" NOT spam.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2030222/Would-pose-nude-portrait-I-did-45--unexpectedly-liberating-experience-life.html#ixzz1XDBzxZ5g


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2030222/Would-pose-nude-portrait-I-did-45--unexpectedly-liberating-experience-life.html#ixzz1W8g7nZnL