Artistic Photos
This is a place to post your "artistic" photos for others to view and enjoy. However you choose to define "artistic" is up to each individual. The genesis of this idea for me was having taken some shadow/silhouette photos, wanting to share them, but not really knowing where to post them. They are "soft" nude photos that are more provocative than explicit. Hoping...
- created by Former User
Tanlines in Nude Photography
Return to DiscussionsTanlines tell us we are seeing something that was kept private on the beach. Are we being privileged or is it just a bit naughty. It could be very daring for the subject, exposing those private areas.Would a nudist have tanlines? Maybe if they haven't had the chance to go to a nude venue, or they are new to nudism. I think we all know who this is, taken during her introduction to nudity (as she, Pamela, says). In this case they add to the black and white photo. Lovely figure, lovely smile - like the Mona Lisa.
And one of her in colour without the tan line. Here the rich velvety smoothness of the fully tanned skin makes the photo.
If the purpose of the image is to capture the pure beauty of the feminine form, then tan lines are a problem. Instead of following the natural curves, tan lines jut off in opposing directions. And instead of accepting a womans sexuality as part of her being, it tends to highlight it. I prefer images without tan lines.
From my perspective, I have to agree with GentlePhotographer. In the pictures above, both being very nice and capturing the beauty that is the female form ... I find that with tan lines, my eyes are automatically focused onto the area that is lighter than the surrounding area. In contrast ... the picture below that one with the all over tan and no tan lines ... the female form is smoother, softer and the lines and curves of the female form flow together much more nicely, in my opinion. To each his own but ... the no tan line picture would be my preference. :-)
I would class my photography as erotic photographic rather than nude photography and therefore the issue of tanlines doesn't come up. Obviously the absence of tanlines indicates the model is a nudist/naturist but this is not necessarily so as I have known professional models to indulge in artificial tanning and that also seems to have gained some attraction amongst the younger generation too. Both have their place in the scheme of things in my view and as others have expressed in this thread.
Me on the beach - I was experimenting with very "low-slung" pubic hair, trimmed well down below its natural upper boundary. I think my tanlines look quite appealing in this photo -notice the very white patch where I where I have just shaved off my pubic hair.
The photo was taken just at the right time - another few hours in the sun and it would have disappeared.
Me with pubic hair tanlines!
Pamela
i find tan lines quite erotic. Though some ppl like no tan lines.
I am a photographer who has gone to school to learn artistic ways to build a nice photo, before the image is taken. if the photographer was doing a documentary in the life of a nudist, then tan lines are all part of the works.
Composition wise, when a photo is made with an artistic eye in mind, you want an image that makes the eye flow through the image, smoothly and without stopping on something unless this is mean to be the focal point of the composition.
When I was learning composition, my photos were rejected, on things that popped out as a distraction to the eye, and it was sometimes a small item that got it rejected. in the end my works are better for it! But I digress.
if the subject was the tan lines over the nude, then tan lines are acceptable. but if the composition were the nude form, the beauty of the figure, the love of the subject, then you want to avoid distractions such as tan lines wish would draw the eye away from what the composition is about, toward the paler skin and possible imperfections in the skin!
When the skin is an even color, then the eye is looking at the whole form of beauty.
Me on the beach - I was experimenting with very "low-slung" pubic hair, trimmed well down below its natural upper boundary. I think my tanlines look quite appealing in this photo - notice the very white patch where I where I have just shaved off my pubic hair.
When I wrote that last post I had forgotten that I had seen another example of tanlines created by pubic hair. In this case I am afraid I do not have a photo, so the story and your imagination will have to do.
I was an object an object lesson in tan management, or perhaps it was "tan mismanagement", which I witnessed at Cap d'Agde a few years ago. One of the most striking people on the beach was a statuesque Dutch girl, very tall and with a magnificent body - strongly built and wonderfully toned. She had a really deep all-over tan, set off by a very neat, but dense and full bush of pubic hair.
Over the course of a few days we became what I would call nodding acquaintances - a quick smile of acknowledgement when our eyes met. One morning I met my new acquaintance on a trip to the shops. I smiled when I recognised her, but something in my peripheral vision attracted my attention away from her face. I looked down quickly, and then looked back up again to see an embarrassed but slightly conspiratorial smile spread over her face.
I had only had a brief glance, but she was clearly in no doubt that I had noticed that her pubic hair had disappeared completely. There was nothing really surprising about that at Cap d'Agde, but the consequences of her depilation were, to my eyes completely novel. I think the consequences were completely novel to her as well - she half-grinned as she said "I never thought that was going to happen." Where her pubic hair had been there was now a voluptuously sculptural but alabster-white mons, framed in an equally stark white triangle.
I couldn't think of much to say except for "it looks really good - it suits you". Her reply was "I am getting used to it. It's a pity it won't last for ever - it really gets me noticed!"
It didn't last forever, of course. Within a few days the pale skin acquired the same hue as the rest of body, but even without the surprise factor she remained one of the most striking people on the beach.
Pamela