Artistic nude under fire
3 min read
By PetrVorel
3 Favourites3 Comments698 Views
This is really hard topic I have chosen to write about but I have been feeling the need to share my opinion about it. I would like to comment on some works which are being submitted to the Artistic nude section but first off let me write a little foreword to it 
Before the photography became widely used and its methods invented there hadn't been such "fast technique" to present an idea, immortalize a person or reproduce a view. There were lots of them but they were quite time-consuming. Not everybody could spent time nor had the will to occupy with them. It was a distinct group of people. They were called artists. You had painters, sculptors, graphic artists or poets. Even if they were describing the most trivial things - a family portrait, a tree or sky - they spent a lot of time with they work and every piece of art was different. All of them were special, bearing the signature of their creator. They were working with their hands. No two people could write with the same words, use the same strokes or chisel the same way. They had to be devoted to their work.
Then came photography. Nowadays we have mobile phones with cameras and a DSLR are more than affordable (yes, I've skipped some decades). Everybody can capture anything with just one click. And there's the problem.
I can feel there is a difference between a simple shot and an artistic piece or a picture which wants to be one but I can't explain it. Because it would have been too difficult to write about this issue as whole I decided to write about the Artistic nude section because they are a lot of works which I believe do not belong here on DA and I hope I am not wrong.
It seems to me that there are people who would like to promote themselves than a piece of art. Now they are tons of shots of genitals (mainly men's I think) with poor light, no meaning, no preparation, no idea. Lots of them taken with a simple mobile phone. Even a nude picture of a man can be beautiful but they are very little of them here. I believe there are not a lot of artists who are interested in how some man is endowed down there. We came here to share art, for inspiration, to be better and to listen to constructive critique. This should not be a personal photo-album, this should not be a dating or pornographic site (I've seen a lot of erect penises here which are even against the rules of DA).
:thumb148163517:
Now you might object: "You too, you don't have great shots."
That might be true. But I am open to critique. I try to respect even the basics of an artistic shot which everybody can learn. I always think about the composition, the message, the aesthetics. I spent a lot of time think about the shot, its angle and the lights. I believe than even if the shots are not that good that this is visible, that it is visible the author wanted to share something that the goal was to make art. And I think this is important.
I will welcome very much every comment and if you read it to this point I am very glad.
Before the photography became widely used and its methods invented there hadn't been such "fast technique" to present an idea, immortalize a person or reproduce a view. There were lots of them but they were quite time-consuming. Not everybody could spent time nor had the will to occupy with them. It was a distinct group of people. They were called artists. You had painters, sculptors, graphic artists or poets. Even if they were describing the most trivial things - a family portrait, a tree or sky - they spent a lot of time with they work and every piece of art was different. All of them were special, bearing the signature of their creator. They were working with their hands. No two people could write with the same words, use the same strokes or chisel the same way. They had to be devoted to their work.
Then came photography. Nowadays we have mobile phones with cameras and a DSLR are more than affordable (yes, I've skipped some decades). Everybody can capture anything with just one click. And there's the problem.
I can feel there is a difference between a simple shot and an artistic piece or a picture which wants to be one but I can't explain it. Because it would have been too difficult to write about this issue as whole I decided to write about the Artistic nude section because they are a lot of works which I believe do not belong here on DA and I hope I am not wrong.
It seems to me that there are people who would like to promote themselves than a piece of art. Now they are tons of shots of genitals (mainly men's I think) with poor light, no meaning, no preparation, no idea. Lots of them taken with a simple mobile phone. Even a nude picture of a man can be beautiful but they are very little of them here. I believe there are not a lot of artists who are interested in how some man is endowed down there. We came here to share art, for inspiration, to be better and to listen to constructive critique. This should not be a personal photo-album, this should not be a dating or pornographic site (I've seen a lot of erect penises here which are even against the rules of DA).
:thumb148163517:
Now you might object: "You too, you don't have great shots."
That might be true. But I am open to critique. I try to respect even the basics of an artistic shot which everybody can learn. I always think about the composition, the message, the aesthetics. I spent a lot of time think about the shot, its angle and the lights. I believe than even if the shots are not that good that this is visible, that it is visible the author wanted to share something that the goal was to make art. And I think this is important.
I will welcome very much every comment and if you read it to this point I am very glad.
Published:
© 2010 - 2021 PetrVorel
Comments3
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I was expecting a critique to all these new wave photorealist painters, ended up talking about male penises... if you don't like those photos just don't watch'em man.
I hate them too!! Specially when I see their pageview number... yeeesh!!
I hate them too!! Specially when I see their pageview number... yeeesh!!
Man, I totally hear what you're trying to say, and I understand the frustration this must cause you. It is difficult to determine the gap between artistry and pornography, or even artistic pornography, but you KNOW when an image is just blatantly crude and was not even given an artistic afterthought when taken. Even images meant to be viewed as porn can be shot beautifully and with an emphasis on art, so it's frustrating to see noisy cellphone snaps of some idiot's ugly junk displayed on the front page. Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that jazz, but when it's something as pathetic as the images under discussion, I'm willing to bet that the uploader is merely using dA as a hosting site.
I definitely don't clump your work in with stuff like that, and I would be ashamed to be associated with anyone who did. You can take sexual, erotic shots, and you probably GREATLY enjoy doing so (but that's your business, and I'm not judging), but the point is, you capture beauty in them all, not only in the models themselves but in the entirety of the image.
As much of a fan as I am of naked woman, being a raging pervert and all, it's not the subject matter (here) that really counts, but the finished art piece as a whole that does. All these people taking their half-assed snapshots of themselves sprawled out naked or of some random girls masturbating without even trying to create a work of art, don't matter an inch. They've inserted themselves into the midst of an artistic community, but they are not a part of us. They're really no better than someone spending 5 minutes tracing a print of a Dragonball Z character, uploading it, and calling it "fan art".
You rock my socks mate, and are an inspiration to this budding photographer. Keep up the fine work. Live long and prosper. Yadda yadda yadda.
-Andrew
I definitely don't clump your work in with stuff like that, and I would be ashamed to be associated with anyone who did. You can take sexual, erotic shots, and you probably GREATLY enjoy doing so (but that's your business, and I'm not judging), but the point is, you capture beauty in them all, not only in the models themselves but in the entirety of the image.
As much of a fan as I am of naked woman, being a raging pervert and all, it's not the subject matter (here) that really counts, but the finished art piece as a whole that does. All these people taking their half-assed snapshots of themselves sprawled out naked or of some random girls masturbating without even trying to create a work of art, don't matter an inch. They've inserted themselves into the midst of an artistic community, but they are not a part of us. They're really no better than someone spending 5 minutes tracing a print of a Dragonball Z character, uploading it, and calling it "fan art".
You rock my socks mate, and are an inspiration to this budding photographer. Keep up the fine work. Live long and prosper. Yadda yadda yadda.
-Andrew
Thank you very much for the comment. I'm glad that we share a similar opinion on this.
I too am a fan of naked woman, but I'm a bit sad when flicking through the newest additions (there are plenty of good shots which seem to be a bit underrated because only a few popular artists get all the +favs) and one half of the page is filled with these images we are talking about.
Well, I don't know what the solution could be but I remember that when joining DA 6 years ago those shots were nowhere to find as everybody was considering DA to be purely an artistic site.
I'm afraid of commenting on those works too as I don't wanna look rude or sth.
Well anyway, thanks again for sharing your opinion and for the compliment too
Petr.
I too am a fan of naked woman, but I'm a bit sad when flicking through the newest additions (there are plenty of good shots which seem to be a bit underrated because only a few popular artists get all the +favs) and one half of the page is filled with these images we are talking about.
Well, I don't know what the solution could be but I remember that when joining DA 6 years ago those shots were nowhere to find as everybody was considering DA to be purely an artistic site.
I'm afraid of commenting on those works too as I don't wanna look rude or sth.
Well anyway, thanks again for sharing your opinion and for the compliment too
Petr.