Photographer Poses Nude In ‘Nue York’ To Question the Role of Fashion in Society (NSFW)
BY IAN WONG
on 13 March 2016
After the first time you glance at the photographs in Erica Simone's
book 'Nue York: Self-Portraits of a Bare Urban Citizen', you may be
forgiven for thinking that Simone is just another model in New York
City, rather than an award-winning photographer who has had her work
printed in publications such as National Geographic, PHOTO, Resource, Le
Parisien, and El Mundo.
The
images in her series portray her all over the city participating in
simple activities such as taking selfies, boarding a taxi, riding the
subway, browsing the supermarket, and working out in the gym—the only
difference is that she does them nude to figuratively strip down the
barriers between her and her audience.
Even
though in this project she acts as both model and photographer, she
rarely works in front of the camera. In an interview with Konbini,
Simone spoke of having to slowly grow more confident with her body
during the project:"Since I am not naturally an exhibitionist, it took a
lot of strength and conviction, but over the years, I’ve become
extremely comfortable shedding my clothing in public, just by nature of
repetition."
Having
to accustom herself to posing nude was just one part of the
difficulties that needed to be overcome to get this book off the ground.
'Nue
York' was actually first shot in 2009, and over time she developed
enough material to make the series into a full book that has finally
been released. In Simone's artist statement of the project,
she explained:"Nue York: Self-Portraits of a Bare Urban Citizen was
born out of an initial questioning about clothing and the importance of
fashion in modern society. Clothes do so much more than just meet our
physical needs. What we wear acts as a silent language, allowing us to
convey who we are and want to be to the outside world."
By
disrobing as a social experiment to see how people would view her
without a carefully constructed veil, she began asking a few questions
to herself that she hoped the project would convey to the public:"What
if all we had was our natural state to express who we are? Could we
overcome our self consciousness and become fully confident in our own
skin? How would we assimilate or dissimilate? Could being naked in the
world transcend sexual connotations and why is nudity so taboo that it
is against the law?"
All images used with the permission of Erica Simone. Help support her by purchasing the bookhere.
At the moment she is planning a project with the non-profit organization Beauty for Freedomto travel to Cambodia and raise awareness for children who are victims of human trafficking.
Link nguồn:
http://bokeh.digitalrev.com/article/photographer-erica-simone-poses-nude-in-nue-york
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