Here’s Why You Should Get Naked
I was at home today, drinking a cup of tea, when my phone started going wild with notifications. I picked up my phone in haste, wondering whether it was either a) a heart stopping “what is wrong” moment or b) my best friend who was asking for advice, having impulsively, and with disastrous effect, done something she shouldn’t have.
The answer was neither. It was Neill. And I instantly understood his cause for excitement. The writer, Kate Mulvey, had written about Boudoir & nude photograph - and in The Telegraph no less. Not only had she written about going nude for a photoshoot, she had written about the pure joy she had felt whilst doing so. In her own words, a few clicks behind the camera, and her “inner goddess” emerged. The article took a deep dive approach into the rising popularity of boudoir photography, asking why, suddenly, it was so much more socially acceptable, and, why, to put it bluntly, everyone suddenly wanted to get naked.
No tan lines - Heidi Klum
In the article they quoted, Cary Cooper, a professor of organisational psychology and health who looked to the pandemic for an explanation, suggesting that “when our lives were at risk, and we were reading about thousands of people dying, there was a feeling that we had nothing to lose… When normal rules of society go out of the window a live-for-the-moment disibitition takes over.’
We know that some people may read that and absolutely not agree. We know that for a lot of people lockdown impacted their self esteem, but we do have to say that we agree with Kate; nude photography has never been more popular, even celebrities have been getting behind it with Heidi Klum (aged 48) and Ulrika Jonsson (aged 53) all posting some beautiful nudes.
Nude portraiture and painting has been part of society for eons. I recently went to Venice and saw this painting hanging up in one of the galleries - you can see below how similar it is to some of our own photography. But it’s amazing to see nude art go further than the worlds of galleries and, do something even more daring - to start hanging up in our own homes, which, in our eyes, is just where they belong.
More and more women are braving taking it all off and adding nude shoots to the bucket list. Whereas it used to be a rarity that anyone would ever go fully nude in the studio, we find now that it’s more like a 50/50 chance.
We can’t tell you exactly why that’s happening, maybe the professor does know what he’s talking about and more and more people are looking to grab every single opportunity that comes along, maybe it’s something totally different - but something we can tell you is why we agree with the trend wholeheartedly.
The article meant so much to us because it is saying things that we have known to be true for years - there is something very special about the experience. The writer of the article, Mulvey, wrote:
“What struck me most was actually how emotional it felt. For the first time in ages, it felt good to be me… That may sound narcissistic, but after the year I’ve had I feel I need the love - primarily from myself.”
She talks about how the experience allowed her to stop seeing herself as frumpy, and to instead see her body as sensual and beautiful - and that brings us so much joy. It reminds us so much of a recent testimonial that we recently had ourselves in which our Diva, Claire wrote,
“2021 was the year I CHOSE ME! Having a Divine Divas shoot was a big part in me choosing things for myself, living the life I imagined on my terms and allowing myself to unleash my wilder, naughtier and sexy side… a chance to really fall in love with ALL of ME… a chance to expose and express all parts of myself… which had been unconsciously hidden away for years. And now I get to wake up every morning and look at my stunning canvas and album to remind me of WHO I TRULY AM.”
Boudoir and nude photography is something that often surprises a lot of people - it’s not something that they think about doing before they know we exist, and sometimes it takes a bit of time to warm up to the idea but it is so so amazing to see this change happening. We can even see it in the shops - one look on Instagram or a quick walk down the high street and you will see the female form everywhere you look; on t-shirts, on mugs, on home decorations. We can feel it; there’s an electricity in the air that comes with self love and the encouragement of self belief.
Because, to refer to what Mulvey said, we don’t think what she said was narcissistic at all. Self love is not vanity, it is sanity.
And a nude photoshoot is everything she said. It is truly special; it is an act of devotion to your body in all of the most special ways. Your body has got you through so much; it has been, and will continue to be, your companion for life. It may have changed, it may have gone through things you would have rather it haven’t, but it will have also done remarkable things. It tethers you to life, maybe it brought life into this world, maybe it helps you walk to breathtaking views, or care for others - it deserves nothing less than devotion.
Nude photography is becoming more popular because it deserves to be - it is slightly inexplicable, but we know, whatever the reason, it is special. There is something amazing about totally stripping down that other styles don’t quite capture. The act of removing your clothes, of being bold enough to stand there in your most natural form - it embodies so much; it is so elegant, it is so timeless in it’s beauty and it captures a notion of self-love in a way that is almost spiritual.
No matter your size, no matter your age, no matter anything; it’s something we feel everyone should experience at least once.
We’ve compiled a selection of some of our all time favourite nude photography; we hope you love them, and that they serve as that push you need to take those clothes off!!
