I often wonder whether we can be held guilty for slandering beauty or not. There are a lot of websites out there that are trying to commercialize beauty, and those often leave you wondering about what they're really selling. Are they charging you for nudity or are they charging you for the cost involved in creating beautiful pictures?
I think that it all depends on the website in question. Some websites seem to have a philosophy that's more about objectifying the models: offering their pictures for sale in a way similar to how a purveyor stacks up his/her goods to lure potential customers. I think that it is not a humane or even an ethical business model, and I am really sorry to see it succeeding. It just seems that people are less picky about what they buy than ever before. Human females aren't goods, neither is nudity. There's a human aspect involved. Models have unique personalities, they're not just pretty faces or beautiful bodies.
A pretty face withers away, so if a beautiful body, what really remains is the beauty that will shine through, even 50 years later.
Beauty isn't something that can easily yield to commercialization, that's why most of the websites out there offering all daily updates almost always don't get it right. It's more like junk food, you get cheap artery-clogging food that will make you feel transiently satisfied, but that will leave you feeling lethargic afterwards. It is this mental lethargy that threatens the status of beauty, and that impairs the judgment of men regarding what constitutes real beauty and what is nothing but commercial trash.
I don't think that I really get it, what's so attractive about a model in a bad location who's being forced to spread her legs in almost every pose? I think that most of us know how vulvae look like, and the mere degradation of females and making them nothing but "vulvae and breasts" seems to be the common subliminal message that those websites are promoting, and that may be the reason they're so appealing to a wide base of users, they may be appealing to a hidden instinct, some form of digitalized prostitution that is being passed off as "erotic art".
No wonder some models still feel some shame about their nude pictures, not because they're nude, but because beauty is a powerful value that needs an experienced photographer, someone who actually values beauty, to handle and capture it.
It may be true that we will never be able to capture all the beauty out there, but beauty is powerful enough to shine through in most good pictures. That mere glimpse of beauty is what we see, and the powerful effect of it just leaves me feeling optimistic.
I think that Body In Mind is one of the few websites out there that apparently care about the models. The human aspect shines through in their images, take this gallery of Maya for example, it may look like an average gallery that may appear at any other website, but what I really like is her attitude. I can't claim that Maya is a prototype of beauty, there's no such prototype, but I think that the thing that makes her that beautiful in this set is her "I will fight for my rights" attitude that shines through in a two images or so. They do make their own mistakes at choosing some galleries, but I think that Dwayne is doing a pretty good job so far.
I think that what we need out there is more people who actually care about the models and who enjoy what they're doing. We also need more confident models who are strong and who believe in what they're doing, who are active participants in the creation of such galleries. I am surprised to learn that it is a very rare attitude.
Nothing is worse than degrading and destroying the beauty of a model for the sake of earning some extra dollars. How can we fight it? I think that we can try to fight them by supporting the movements that are about true liberation of women and about good representation of their beauty. There's no perfect movement out there, but I think that Super Beauty is somewhat close, but yet a bit far. Maybe one day I will be able to realize that dream or to change that general attitude through my work or my words, I hope.
Think about it!
Fragile rose on a field
Merrily swaying with the breeze
Sharing her beauty with the world
Not caring about anything
A harsh wind suddenly blows
Determined to deprive the world of that beauty
Thinking that innocence isn't there to stay
Not caring about the rose's pleas
The rose clings dearly to the ground
Trying to defend her beauty
No one care to help her
Of this cruel world she is suddenly aware
And slowly realizes the no one has ever been there
And surrenders to this horrendous grim fate
The helpless ocean rages in the distance
But he knows that he can't help
He knows that he can't help
It's over and another innocence has been raped.
Save beauty!
There are a lot of views regarding the way with which beauty can be shown in art. The main two philosophies that have proved to be successful in the last few years are simple nudes and super nudes. They both are trying to show the grace of the female form in a way that can truly capture its beauty. They have succeeded in doing this, but some differences do exist between them both.
I personally prefer the philosophy of Simple Nudes led by Domai to the philosophy of Super Nudes that's led by Body In Mind. One of the reasons I prefer the simple nudes philosophy more is its simple outdoor settings and the simple way with which its message is delivered.
The philosophy of super nudes seem to somewhat focus on the bust of the model in most of its galleries, but it has succeeded in producing a lot of graceful nude galleries. I believe that the main reason they are so successful is that they sometimes do combine a lot of elements to produce beautiful complex images. I mainly like their use of lighting to highlight the beauty of the female form.
This is one of the super nudes galleries from Body In Mind. You can see what I mean by saying that they do use lighting techniques to show the beauty of their models.
What really matters is that we can enjoy the different approaches to the feminine beauty and be inspired by their masterpieces.
I hope that you will enjoy this gallery of Paulina by Dmitry Kurapov from Body In Mind.
"Some female bodies are so beautiful that we think they should be photographed and documented and meticulously archived for future generations. We think Maria's got one. After all, if they'll do it for paintings, books, and other works of art, why not beautiful women? Or for that matter, why not a full fledged beauty museum with a section devoted to each of the classic female beauties we have worshiped over the millenia and into today? While we're waiting for such places to be built, enjoy this latest gallery of Maria in the BodyInMind beauty 'museum', here." - BodyInMind
The Russian photographer Dmitry Kurapov uses the shadows technique better than the photographer from the last MPL-Studios set. The only negative thing about this gallery may be Maria's blond hair which is hiding her face, something which may be interpreted as a sign of shame. There's no need to be ashamed.
Maria (aka Maria Kenig, Maria Koenig, Mariah, Mariah) is a model who has been featured on many websites including Met-Art, Domai, BodyInMind, FEMJOY, First-Nude just to name a few. She is also a photographer whose works has been featured at Met-Art. I may add some of her works to Graceful Nudes if they prove to be of a tasteful and artistic nature.
I have featured another BodyInMind set called "Ribbon", you can easily access that set by clicking on the BodyInMind link under the "Sort By" menu.
Enjoy!
Very rarely does a model come along who loves posing in front of the camera as much as we like to see her there. Marilyn Monroe, Bettie Page, Anna Nicole Smith. All broke through the chilling snows of censorship and denunciation. Not many others. Maria is one of those rare beauties. Her playfulness and exuberance seems to know no bounds. Not even a freezing cold Russian winter can contain this lady's love of life, and love of being a beautiful woman. Perhaps that's why we love her so much. She is so obviously enjoying herself that for a moment we can forget all the negative things people say about nude women and the men who admire them, and we can enjoy looking at her in a totally pure and happy way. We are not only witnessing beauty in Maria and those others, we are witnessing beauty freed, sanctioned, and exalted, even if they're only playing in the snow.
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