The Sanitised Nudes

Our fascination, indeed obsession, with images of the human body has been with us since forever!

Circa 330BC Praxiteles, the Greek sculptor, crossed the line between elegant and erotic with ‘The Cnidian Aphrodite’ - by shifting his model’s weight onto one foot he caused her hip to swing and men’s jaws to drop.

Then, in 1839 the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris unleashed the daguerreotype. Soon after images of nudes started to appear and by the mid 50’s the erotic daguerreotype was commonplace but, being a direct positive, each was one-of-a-kind and outrageously expensive – ergo it was a gentleman’s toy. Later, when photographers learnt how to print multiple paper images, prices tumbled and the common man was able to collect filthy French postcards. Trade flourished.

Naturally enough, not everybody was happy – particularly in Victorian England where the nude was considered an aberration and the viewing of erotica was a transgression of conventional social behaviour that had to be repressed.

Enter the censor - the person who tells others how they ought to behave. It didn’t slow trade one iota, it simply shifted it around and created a grey area between law and morality that still exists today.

No matter, my nudes have been thoroughly sanitised to preserve and protect our moral and spiritual health – that is, they have no navels, no nipples, no vaginas… and no heads.