When most people hear the term fine art nude photography, a very typical image comes to mind. Black and white images of a nude woman, often looking away from camera. This photograph of the woman shown here, lit from the side showing the lines of her body, is a typical example. These photographs are beautiful and creating them really requires and understanding of light.
But some fine art nudes photographs are about showing parts of the body that are not typically thought of as attractive or beautiful. The following photograph demonstrates this idea. Most people would not consider someone spine to be beautiful. What the photographer is showing is how the light and shadows bring this feature out to create this interest in what the viewer is seeing.
Whenever I do a fine art nude session for a client, I will always shoot a wide variety of types of images. This gives them some images that they would not have typically considered when they request the session. Through the session I will show them some of these photographs on the camera to get feedback on their likes. Most of the time I hear them say they hadn’t really thought of anything like that and they really like it.
As with other areas of photography, it is really about looking at the subject a little differently than expected that can create some of the most interesting photographs. Fine art nudes are no exception, and may offer more opportunities to go off the beaten path.
