It rained all day today, I had not muse to photograph, and since this is my writing week and have a weekend booked solid with photo sessions, I felt a little rebellious and decided to go diving in my archives for something different. And I was not disappointed!
All four images were taken, you guessed it, in Italy but not in the same city and not even the same years.
These two were taken in Cathedral Museum of Florence and are actually marble reliefs, panels on walls and part of a series of the Apostles. Unfortunately I can no longer trace the artist, but they all belong to the Donatello era. The actual relief features a fully dressed Apostle on one side, and a nude man next to him. The contrast was done to provoke and present the irreverent contrast of worldly artists as compared to the holy men of the church. Guess which appealed to me more!
The Neptune fountain in Florence is an absolute must. Most visitors will instinctively photograph it frontally, and I was about to do the same, until I went around. Wow. The back view was absolutely stunning, and since I took the shot around sunset, the contrast was breathtaking. Had I been alone that day I think I would have sat in the piazza for hours simply admiring the phenomenal representation of the male anatomy. God or human, whoever the model was for this statue is the stuff of dreams! What I wouldn’t give to have photograph him live.
The Fontana Delle Tette (Fountain of Tits) can be found in Treviso. It made me laugh then, and I had to giggle this evening again while re-editing the image. The history of the fountain is just as controversial as the sculpture itself. As per Venetian tradition, on special occasions the fountain spouts red wine from one breast and white wine from another for three days. Sadly, when I visited it there was just plain old water.
The point of this small collection is a reminder that nudes can be done tastefully, sensually, and artistically, without overstepping the boundaries of vulgarity and crass sexuality. It has been bothering me for some time now that many of the nude photographs I see online in social media or photo-sharing platforms continues to present men and women as sexual objects, adhering to the adage sex sells. Very few photographers manage to achieve that level of sensuality that enhances, and not entices. Again, I must point out the distinction between camera owners and photographers, same goes for pornography and art. Anyone, and I mean anyone can point a camera at a person is wearing little or no clothes and call it a nude, and nobody can dispute that. But it takes a special eye to take that same moment and subject and turn it into a work of art. I don’t care if the photographer uses a mobile phone, a point-and-shoot, or a high-end camera, if you have the eye, you have it. It is not something you learn. It is a reflection of the values and emotions you expose and espouse.
FrogDiva Thoughts 