March 07, 2014

Woman in motion

The second day of the conference, my roommate went running early and then came back to take a shower. I could tell from the clothes she’d laid out on the bed that she had something important going on: an interview, a meeting, something that required her to dress formally. But still, the morning light that shone in the window was lovely, just right for a photograph, so when she emerged naked from the bathroom, I said to her, “Could you just climb up on the window ledge for a moment?”

She looked at the camera in my hand and laughed. “I only have a few minutes,” she said. I took that as a yes, and began moving furniture, yanking a lamp out of the way. Maine Writer climbed, obligingly, up onto the window sill.

“Try a yoga pose,” I called out.

“Like bridge?” she asked, leaning back to flex her back into an arch, “This ledge is kind of narrow, but maybe I could — aah!”

Maybe there’s a reason that yoga studios have a wide flat floor instead of a bunch of narrow ledges. My naked roommate tumbling to the floor wasn’t exactly the shot I had in mind for my blog. After all, posing naked is supposed to be empowering. I figured if she ended up in a cast, that would undermine the whole project. Plus, make her late for her interview. We didn't want that.

“Um, maybe this time you should brace yourself with your hands,” I said helpfully. “Take up the whole window.”

Maine Writer is a strong woman, who was not at all daunted by the fall. Brushing the carpet lint off her bare skin, she climbed back into the window and flexed her muscles, like a deity holding up the world.

Strength

Read more about the history of the naked blogging project and check out the gallery of photos.

13 comments:

Sandy said...

Strong and beautiful. Lovely photo. One of your best.

Heidi said...

Wow. She's in great shape. I love the lines of her body against the light on those buildings. Well done.

Anonymous said...

Long live the naked blog photo tradition! You have the most cooperative roommates.

T.

Jeff said...

Poetic strength & beauty.

rgl said...

Great photography as always. I am continually amazed at how you can bring out the power and beauty buried beneath persona of your subjects.

Whoosh... said...

This is a fantastic picture - very strong and powerful!

Cindy said...

Gorgeous.

Zhoen said...

Atlas, indeed. One of your best, for me.

Liz said...

Gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful, athletic, strong. LOVE THIS.

LH

Tie-Dye Brother-in-law said...

Beautiful! I agree, one of your best.

Lomagirl said...

Definitely one of your best! Thank you, Maine Writer and Jo(e).

Art Maine said...

Maine Writer

Alas, at last
the world knows we
have strong writers
here in Maine with
Atlas, a lass.

Way to go Jo(e)
and Maine Writer,
whoever you
maybe may be.