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Says Chris Wiley of The New Yorker, “We take pictures to create the illusion of possession (of an object, a person, a moment), but the things that pass in front of our cameras inevitably wriggle from our grasp.” In his exploration of nude photography, Wiley tried to reason why it is often conflated with voyeurism in the popular imagination. In a conversation with Homegrown, Abhinav Kafare, who specializes in nude photography, had asked the audience to shift the gaze. There is a need to look at the beauty of skin beyond the skin.
India is not alien to photography that dares to go beyond the body, and following the need to provide a solid platform to artists who dare to look beyond the skin as they lovingly unfold the strata of external imagination, Homegrown invited creatives who explore the nude through their work to introduce themselves to us.
As we tried to explore conversations like the viewer’s gaze, the inspiration an artist finds in the body, and the importance or relevance of nude photography, we unravelled several strains of thought – all of which we have curated and put down here.
Say, ‘Bonjour!’ to 14 Homegrown Nude photographers who are shifting the needle and the way we perceive nude photography.
I. Siddhant Vaidya
When we asked Mumbai-based photographer Siddhant Vaidya about the purpose of nude photography, he expressed, “ The human body is a beautiful piece of art in itself and needs to be seen in the same manner. Nude photography helps the viewers inculcate the same habit and also makes the person being photographed free of all negative notions being attached to nudity.”
Siddhant, who has been photographing nudes since 2016, says that his interest in figurative art forms inspired him to take it up. He chiefly draws his inspiration from Helmut Newton, Prabuddha Dasgupta, Raja Ravi Varma, Osho, Annie Leibovitz, Bob Dylan, and Sixto Rodriguez.
A firm believer in the idea of freedom, says Siddhant about his method, “I try to make the person who is being photographed free of himself/herself i.e., being free from the thought that his/her body needs to be in covers because the society doesn’t like nudity or explicit content and always correlates it with sex, lust or something bad. Also, I try to make them feel comfortable in their own skin.
Find Siddhant on Instagram here.
Siddhant Vaidya
II. Bobby Khurana
Professional Editorial and Fashion photographer and Creative Director, Bobby, who draws his inspiration from Prabudha Das Gupta’s work, says about his work, “I try to tell a story each time I click a series. My pictures and very intimate and intensely erotic with a purpose to evoke all sorts of emotions in my viewers. Each time I click a subject there is always a story which we collaborate and try to communicate to the best of my abilities.”
Thinking about the viewer’s gaze and if it changes the intention of the picture, Bobby says, “I’d prefer my audience to stare at the pictures and through it, if they are able to see themselves in it, then I guess my job is done. Then it is the play between the nude and the spectator.”
Bobby, whose first instinct is to explore the ‘inner torment and silence’ in nude photography, captures the human body with finesse and clarity.
Each of his images, which undoubtedly evoke a defined emotion, can be viewed here.
Find Bobby on Instagram here.
III. Jithin Raaj
About the power of touch and bodily warmth, Jithin Raaj, a freelance photographer and cinematographer from Kerala, says, “I want to portray the tenderness and warmth of a person that is so comfortably ignored and forgotten by us. This warmth is the very basis of the connection between souls. I also want to portray the need to be touched and how touch is important to us all, especially to people who are lonely. Has anyone ever wondered what a simple touch can do to a lonely person? I feel as if touch is the language of being loved, the language of being recognised. Touch is the sharing of energy.” Jithin, who explores nude photography to “show the viewers the true self of a person, stripped of all their material possession,” wishes that people could spare the idea of perfection and instead, understand that we are all worthy. I want to say out loud that all bodies are beautiful and sexy. Body hair is normal. Having scars is normal. I wish that most of us would stop having this utopian desire for the ultimate body and reflect on the beauty that our body is radiating right now. All of us are literally glowing and I wish each of us to find and appreciate that glow.”
Find Jithin on Instagram here.
Jithin Raaj
IV. Danny
“I capture the emotion people carry. I believe the naked body is incomplete without our naked emotions. The vulnerability, the longing, our emptiness. I try to capture all these with a naked body.”
A lot of us stand mistaken about the concept of nude photography and the sexualisation of the nude. The slippage between ‘sexual’ and ‘naked’ often emerges from a lack of importance assigned to the context.
Pune-based engineer, Danny, says, “I started nude photography through my self-portraits only and gradually fell in love with the naked body. It was like a self-discovery for me. I met one such artist from Canada, Mariette Raina, who is an art model and a teacher. I did my first collaboration with her and learnt a different side of the human naked body. I learnt how to see it in an artistic way rather than in a sexual way. I feel that the naked body is the most beautiful form of art.”
About his method itself, Danny explains, “ I like to portray naked bodies in their most raw and surreal form – like how you look at a painting and keep staring at it. It’s the same way people need to look at a nude photograph and it’s a photographer’s job to portray the images with such emotions. I like to play with a single colour while processing my images because too many colours I find very distracting. Either I make back and white photographs or a single colour. I love shooting under natural sunlight. In fact, most of my works are shot in natural light only because it feels so raw ... the skin, the sunlight ... and I can watch both of them for hours and hours. I create self-portraits with my female muses because I want to connect with another human being through my body, through art. I love to explore this thing and create self-portraits with other artists.”
Find Danny on Instagram here.
V. Jyotsna
One of the questions we had asked our photographers was if gender had any role to play in nude photography. While most photographers claimed that the body as a subject is essentially beyond gender, Jyotsna from Delhi said, “I feel that gender is actually at the centre of nude photography. We might say it doesn’t matter, but it does. We breathe gender through our existence – sometimes subconsciously because that’s how deep-rooted it is. With women, there has never been a concept of gaze that is our own. It’s always the others, and that is what always leads how we look at ourselves – trying to not be ostracised/looked down by society, men, cultures. Even when we look at the mirror, how much of that gaze is actually ours? And I’ve evolved and learnt over time through my practice – that it allowed me to discover my very own gaze.”
Thinking of herself as both the photographer and the muse, she says, “ I am my own nude. So far. at least. And it has allowed a kind of self-intimacy and connect that I never even knew existed. Probably we don’t want women to find that out and it works in favour of patriarchy. It embeds it, empowers it, and fosters it, doesn’t it?”
Find Jyotsna on Instagram here.
VI. Sushobhan Patnaaik
Business analyst and hobby musician, Sushobhan Patnaaik considers the body a medium. He says, “The human body is a vessel. Its purpose is what we give it. It’s a tool. It can be a weapon, a paintbrush, or even a sculpture based on the mind controlling the body.”
Says Sushobhan about his story of exploring nude photography, “: I was 20 and with my then-girlfriend when I realised that the light fell on her skin in a way that could only be looked at as art. I started researching the concepts of boudoir photography and soon started doing shoots with friends as experiments. The whole experience gave me and my friends a new perspective on the art form and about respecting our bodies rather than being ashamed of them.”
Sushobhan says that his first instinct when he looks at his subject is to explore “vulnerability, transparency, and primality.”
Find Sushobhan Patnaaik on Instagram here.
Sushobhan Patnaaik
VII. Raqeeb Raza
Beyond aesthetic, what makes nude photography special is how it enables those who engage with it. Says Raqeeb Raza from Kolkata, “ Growing up as a person with body image issues, I have always struggled relating to the mainstream idea of the male body, and hence, wanted an outlet to my own perception and experience of male bodies. I have always tried to represent the everyday, regular male body which people can relate to. My aim is to normalise male bodies in its rawest sense and negate the trend of portraying men with washboard abs as the only ones worthy enough to be represented. I also try to normalise intimacy through my pictures, especially in reference to the queer community, trying to bring warmth and touch as main factors in an overarching sense of nudity. My work has always focused on the intricate details of intimacy where the hands touching the skin would be focused on more than the fact that they are naked.”
About the gaze of the viewer, Raqeeb, who looks up to nude photography as an outlet of his creative expression and an antidote to the existing representation of masculinity and intimacy, says, “The gaze of the viewer is diverse and valid. We can’t negate the gaze of a viewer who doesn’t like your work because they have their own perceptions of things that they look at. We, as an audience, are quick to judge as to what comprises art and what ‘non-art’. Many a time, we think that anything involving nudity is pornographic (not that pornography is not an art in itself, albeit having different purposes). So, shifting the gaze of the audience requires a good amount of interaction with the audience, trying to know their views, and also educating them on issues which might change their perceptions. I don’t think that it changes the intention because their perception of things would be an interpretation among many others.”
Find Raqeeb on Instagram here.
VIII. Kaya Chitra
Kaya Chitra, who is a filmmaker, like most of us, had only known nude photography in its boudoir form. Says Kaya Chitra, “It was on the New Year’s eve when a friend challenged me to take a few self-portraits and the experience it for myself! I loved it so much that I couldn’t stop. I later decided to start an Instagram page with another friend of mine who introduced me to other artists like Danny, Ishani Das, and @pauelini, who have now become my inspiration.”
Kaya Chitra, who captures bodyscapes and the twists and turns of the body, says, “it’s all about exploring for me!”
Find Kaya Chitra on Instagram here.
IX. Trusha Vyas
The gaze of the viewer can break and mutilate, but it can also enrich and enliven. Trusha Vyas from Rajkot says, “I believe, validation is necessary for me. The gaze helps me understand the societal norms/ideas but doesn’t affect my intention.”
Trusha, who mostly photographs herself, further says, “The only reason I started taking self-portraits was that I didn’t want to meet and have a proper conversation with new people. I just had to sit in front of the camera and direct myself to proper expression, easy to deal myself than to anyone new. Gradually, I started loving this entire process. I used to come home every day from college at around 5.30 (usually when the golden hour starts), make a number of different photographs and observe it while editing. I used to do this every day. I lost a lot of insecurities during this process, it affected me in a way that I grew a lot as a person. I got a lot of space in my head to think about myself, to think about why there are certain things about me in a certain way and then to tangibly put it in a photograph. Now, I think, self-portraits will always be a part of my life. I want to grow old taking self-portraits and when I die, I will have a big collage of my growth.”
Find Trusha’s art on Instagram here.
X. Mohit Tiwari
Mohit Tiwari, who explores boudoir through his art says, “I try to recreate some of my favourite paintings whenever I do boudoir and give it my own touch and my intention behind taking those pictures is to capture my subject in their most vulnerable form.” An artist who has previously been described by Homegrown as the creator of “photographs that bring out strands of private inertia, of being comfortable and accepted within the bounds of a loving environment with another singular individual,” Mohit says that the human body is in itself is a work of art.
Find Mohit on his Instagram.
XI. Atikant Arya (Drishygraphy)
Much like Mohit, freelance photographer Atikant Arya, who goes by the name Drishygraphy, believes in exploring the comfort level of his subjects. Says Drishygraphy, “It’s about capturing people in letting them being comfortable in their most vulnerable moments and through those pictures, I want to share their story. By that, I mean the changes brought by intimacy and love in one’s life. I wish to capture those.”
Talking about his journey, he says, “In 2017, I did my first nude shoot, but I felt like I lacked something. I realised there is no story – it was just my curiosity which had driven me to explore nude art but I also wanted to create images with stories. And so, by the end of 2018, I realised that nude art is about rawness. So, in 2019, I tried to explore my style of photography in this particular form of art by doing a series called ‘Project-V.’ The project was about capturing people and letting them be comfortable in their most vulnerable moments. Through those pictures, I wanted to share their story – stories about the changes brought by love and intimacy in one’s life. It was overwhelming to listen to my muse’s story about love and intimacy while clicking them in their bare skin. It was also healing for me because I felt connected when they talked about their insecurities.”
Find Drishygraphy on Instagram here.
XII. Anurag Pushkaran
It is often assumed that the viewer becomes a participant in a work of art. At any given moment, a piece of art negotiates, resists, and renegotiates the expectations of a viewer. How does that awareness impact the creator of the art, however?
One not to be bothered by a prospective viewer, Kochi-based visual artist Anurag Pushkaran says, “When I photograph someone, I don’t think about the third person’s gaze. It’s only then when I can get the best shot without any barriers. Third person’s mindset changes a lot of the photographers’ perspective. When we shut that, we get different people and different stories to capture.”
Anurag, who started his artistic exploration in October 2019 and who says that nude photography gives him the space to experiment and be creative with no strings attached, says, “Every time I capture, I try to get as much as emotion and rawness from the nude. What that moment gives me is what I want to capture. I like to keep it as minimal as possible and I try to connect with the person and understand him/her.”
Find Anurag on Instagram here.
XIII. Aryan Shrivastava
Aryan Shrivastava from Delhi believes that our body is not ours.
“People think that the body they are holding is theirs but actually it isn’t. It is a gift we’ve been gifted. It can be in any form – be it big or small, wrapped around in any colour, with any sorts of details on it which they call pimples/marks/stretch-marks/flaws or anything of that sort.
And you don’t deny or discourage a gift do you?
You accept it with a wide smile, cherish it and remember how special it is. Similarly, the body that we’ve got is just as a beautiful gift.”
To Aryan, the first point of notice is the skin. “For me, the skin is bare. It’s all about the feelings, the unaltered smile, the courageous laughter, and the unstoppable tears shining from the pores evidently. They don’t listen to anyone and are the most honest truth-teller.”
Find Aryan’s Instagram here.
XIV. Elina Banerjee
Lawyer and artist, Elina Banerjee says, “In my opinion, the human body is similar to a river and the marks on the body are barks of a tree. I believe our skins are havens that are only meant to be celebrated. Our bodies serve every purpose for our existence but it is also the most scrutinised part of ourselves emanating from idealism of bodies over centuries.”
About her project ‘Gayxswans’, she says, “ The project, for me, underlines the spirituality you find with your inner self while looking past the banality of your routine. The address to your body and skin, in my view, should be reflective of an effort of finding sexual persuasion and embracing oneself to the bone. The notion needs to be debunked that self-love is often an unjustified feeling of being pleased with oneself rather than nurturing one’s grace.”
Elina talks about the skewed concept of gender, Elina says, “our society, especially our country’s society is intimidated with something that can be a powerful symbol and a particular gender they consider the ‘weaker sex’ shakes that very moral core and to that they react variedly. The idea of gender associated with bodies is very linear and narrow and my work allows me to curb it. In the last 6 years of doing this project, I have observed individuals and their concepts of nudity which is attached mostly to how a certain gender must be, and how what is perceived as the “perfect you” rather than appreciation of human bodies. Gender in context of self-love isn’t a considered concept considering that like love all bodies have to be accepted as one’s own and as a whole. It would not be fair for me to say that all bodies are accepted altogether as same, male bodies have a set of liberation and acceptance that lacks in bodies of women and other genders. The concept of marginalisation of female bodies via censorship and body shaming is very prevalent on many social media platforms creating a hostile environment where the idea of bodies that don’t conform to a set of pre-existing ideals is rejected and in turn takes away the veracity of your own skin.”
Find Elina’s project on Instagram here.
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