Nude is an artistic genre in sculpture, painting, photography and cinematography, depicting the beauty and aesthetics of the naked human body.
Although the nude human body can be highly sexual when photographed, nude body photography in the visual arts tends to actually reduce sexuality to a minimum. Generally, the aim is simply a celebration of art, light and form.
Lighting that accentuates the shape is common, as is the choice of poses, which can be radically different from conventional portrait photography. A popular method is to treat the human body as a landscape or architecture. The emphasis on texture and form prevails in the fine art of nude photography.
Frank De Mulder
Frank De Mulder is known as one of the most outstanding experts in the genre of erotic and nude photography. His artwork is adorned by Playboy, FHM, Maxim and Elle; and his prints are used in advertising campaigns and purchased by art photography collectors all over the world.
Frank De Mulder was born 1963 in Ghent. The first camera he received was at the age of 12 years and soon he invested all his pocket money in photo equipment and books dedicated to photography. After studying film directing in Brussels, he graduated with distinction from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. His career began as a cameraman and director of short films and commercials, and at 29 he decided that photography was his true passion. Since then, De Mulder has worked in major advertising campaigns and well-known magazines.
Today he is known as one of the most outstanding professionals in the genre of erotic and nude photography. De Mulder has published a number of photo books: Senses (2007), Pure (2010), Glorious (2013), Heaven (2015) and Tribute (2017).
Tim Walker
Tim Walker is a renowned fashion photographer. He began his solo career at the age of 25, having signed a contract with Vogue, before that he was an assistant to Richard Avedon. The director of the magazine, was so stunned by the portfolio that he immediately offered the young man a job. As soon as his photos appeared in the magazine, many fashion houses and magazines wanted to cooperate with a young talent.
Very often the works of the photographer are compared to the mysterious world of "Alice in Wonderland". Customers have already got used to the demands of a master who can demand anything from ostrich eggs to Cadillac of the 60s. Although Tim works mainly in the areas of Rococo and Surrealism, often inspired by literary tales and feature films and does not position himself as a nude photographer, in his works he often presents the aesthetics of the female body, showing sensuality and expressing his vision.
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Yoshihiro Tatsuki is a living legend in Japanese photography, whose career spanned more than 60 years. He has created memorable visual images in advertising and editorial photography and, you might say, the female motif found the most beautiful expression in Tatsuki's work. Among his exceptional works are nude photographs taken in the 1970s.
Yoshihiro Tatsuki was born in 1937 in Tokushima where his family managed a portrait workshop. He had studied at the Tokyo Professional School of Photography (now Tokyo Polytechnic University) and joined a photography agency in the late 1950s, then became a freelancer. Fame came to him with the publication of his first book in 1965.
Tatsuki has published many photo books, the quantity and quality of which makes him one of the leading photographers in Japan. In our selection of black and white photos of the author in the genre of artistic nuance photography, in particular from the book "Eva", published in the 1970s.
Kirsten Tis van den Audenarde
This Brussels photographer was disappointed with the perfection of digital photography, and she began to shoot Polaroids, appreciating their perfect imperfection. Kirsten Tis van den Audenarde takes her shots primarily in her favorite genre, the artistic nude photography. And the technique and photo materials resemble their dreamy and visionary pictures.
In 2016, Kirsten bought an Impossible Project's I-1 instant camera. This acquisition changed her life. She remembers creating her first Polaroid image as love at first sight. Kirsten found everything that she lacked in working with numbers. Shooting a unique moment as it was, brought back a sense of authenticity.
The trip to Utah, documented exclusively on Polaroids, was another turning point. Inspired by the scenery, Kirsten drove around Utah and California for weeks, accompanied by a friend who posed naked. In pictures taken at that time, she combined the fragility of the human body with the harsh landscapes and rock formations.
Text by Lisa Lukianova @llukianova_