A male artist seeking to make classical images of a female nude today is inviting controversy. He has respect for the long tradition of the female nude in Western art but must recognise the unpleasant reality that this tradition objectifies women. He does not want to add to the current mass proliferation of sexualized photographic images, sometimes self-created. But at the same time he cannot contribute to the unsparing self-examination of the realities of female sexuality and the female body which Frances Borzello describes in her book The Naked Nude.
This series of photographs seeks to challenge the twin premises of the classical nude; that it is a quest for the ‘ideal form’, and that it is about the body, not the person who inhabits that body. Each photograph portrays a distinct individual and celebrates the beauty in every female body. I have sought to give each sitter a voice by asking them to comment directly on the experience of the photograph or the process which led to it. I wanted to capture the whole person and make each sitter an active participant in creating the image. In every case the sitter selected or approved the final image.
The sitters have a wide range of backgrounds. Some are professional models, some are occasional models for life classes and some had never sat for a nude image before. I would like to thank them and congratulate them for the overwhelming sense they have projected of being comfortable in their own skin.
