The Purposes of

 Emerging Images 

Nude Galleries 

The women who have posed for these photographs are posing nude, not naked, and I have endeavored to show this.

If you have read the explanations below, you may enter the galleries directly. Otherwise please do read this page in its entirety. Thank you.

• I want to honor women. Women have, of course, been subject to prejudices, laws, cultural inclinations and actions that are terribly demeaning. This is unfortunate, not just for the women, but for the world. Women are the source of so much of the good of life. That's not a blanket compliment; there are women like Ann Coulter, just as there are those like Elizabeth Edwards. The latter promotes life and good, the former does just the opposite. However, more women have contributed to the progress of humanity than not. Mother Jones, Sojourner Truth, Petra Kelly, Medea Benjamin and the thousands of school teachers and nurses who are predominantly women, and your mother and mine. The world is in trouble with Iraq, the Bush crime family, Darfur, and more. But it would be much worse without the work of millions/billions of women.

My photographs show the beauty inherent in the human, particularly the female, form at many ages, sizes and shapes. Advertisements and TV/Media have promoted the idea that only youth has a chance of being beautiful and that only if she is thin. If a woman is over thirty she has no right to think of herself as beautiful. If she wears a size 6-8, she's in, larger need not apply. This is not only repugnant, it is incorrect. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder and I behold many women of 40, 50, even beyond 70, who can only be called beautiful. Their beautiful spirit and personality shows in their physical body.

• Why nude?  I was introduced to the value of social nudity in the 1970s. Attending seminars in psychotherapy, I found several serious and competent researchers who were doing research on group nude therapy, especially  in the treatment of body image issues. (Not "Body Dysmorphic Disorder"-anorexia and bulimia, etc.)  As this research continued, it was realized that nudity also encouraged people to be aware of their emotions.

I became aware that family and social nudity has been common throughout history. It was the norm in early Christian baptisms, and before that in most of the ancient world. (If you are interested in the history, read Aileen Goodson's book Therapy, Nudity & Joy. Chapter 6, Nudity in Ancient to Modern Cultures.)

As I continued learning about and eventually leading nude therapy groups, it became clear that social and family nudity have many positive effects. (For more information on this subject see the Federation of Canadian Naturist website.)

My photographs are nude so that the women who pose in them can show who they really are emotionally and in spirit. For the most part there are no props which are often used to hide the real person. Eroticism is in the mind of the beholder, so I cannot say that my photos are not ever erotic, but they are not intentionally so.  They are, of course, definitely not pornographic. The beauty of the women is not dependent on the tricks of glamour photography. Instead they celebrate the joy, beauty and honesty of each of the women.

• I often speak of exposing the "personhood", the spirit, of the woman posing for my camera.  Very rarely do I have "props" in my photos.  Props are a way of hiding, misdirecting the attention. "Don't look at me, look at my guitar (or other prop)." I don't mean to impugn the motives of the models. Rarely are any of us aware of the ways we manipulate reality. We think that we are all about music, or art, or cooking, or science. We are much more than these activities and the very instruments we use to pursue them become a screen for hiding our personhood.

I am especially pleased that a number of women whose opinions I value have appreciated my work and have seen it as celebrating, empowering and honoring women.

The Models. A word about the models. Most of the models are ordinary women, many of whom have initiated and volunteered to pose for my work. When possible, I have tried to say a word or two about the person within the photos. There are a handful of professional models included who have been willing to work with me without commercial payment and by doing so, have taught me about posing, directing, and helping models do their best. I'm very grateful to them.

These images are neither erotic nor pornographic, but they are unclothed. Please don't enter if you are offended or merely titillated by nudity. Please leave this website rather than insult either me or the models; you may judge whether we have done well or poorly, but we are attempting a serious project. I respect your adult ability to push the exit button and not enter the nude galleries.