There are two distinct schools of nude photography in the world today: glamour and nude art. Glamour is mostly American and is often described as 'artificial', 'over the top', or 'trendy'. It involves pop fashions, big hair and big breasts (often fake), and lots of smiles (often fake). Playboy and Page 3 are examples. Nude art is mostly European and is often described as 'natural', 'an art study', or 'timeless', and involves full nudity, natural or barren settings (which are actually unnatural for humans), and erotic poses (often fake). Met-Art.com and most art galleries are examples. Yet both glamour and nude art deal only with one half of reality, and so, inevitably, end up as repetitive stereotypes, ultimately unsatisfying. Glamour focuses on only the man-made things and nude art only on nature - but both are requirements of human existence. (That's why glamour photos so often include nudity and why art photos so often involve technical mastery.) Therefore any truly wholesome nude photo will purposely contain elements of both the man-made and nature, and will be presented in a way that respects and glamourizes their integration: working together to make human life on earth a little bit better. That's what we always aim to do at Body in Mind, and we wish others would too.
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