Building a Naked Snowman

[description: series of videos depicting a naked man building a snowman]

I tell you, I had no idea building a snowman was such vigorous exercise - rolling an increasingly heavy snow boulder around while in a perpetual crouch works quite a few muscles. I was sore for days!

You're probably thinking that it must be cold going out in the snow without any clothes on. And you're right. But there are some tricks you can use to extend your endurance. The key to lasting longer out in the cold is to limit your contact with the snow. The air may be cold, but the snow is wet, and cold is worse when you're wet - especially when temperatures are below freezing. So if you're planning on diving into the snow, you should expect to come inside immediately afterwards to dry off and warm up. Otherwise, wearing boots and/or gloves will prevent the snow from coming into direct contact with your naked skin.

Weather is also a factor. Obviously, if there are arctic winds blowing flurries around, it's going to be colder. But if the sky is clear and the sun is shining, you may be surprised by the extra warmth it provides to your skin. Plus, if you're moving around and getting exercise, that will also raise your body temperature. Just be reasonable. If you start to feel cold, go inside. I wouldn't do this every day, and you don't want to spend hours out in the cold without proper protection. But if it's just an occasional stint here and there, it's not going to kill you.

It might seem crazy to go outside naked when there's snow on the ground. But if you're a nudist, and you enjoy the thrill of nude recreation - especially outdoors - there's nothing like being naked while building a snowman or, say, shoveling the walkway, to cure your cabin fever and melt the wintertime blues away!

Spent

Retrospective: At first, I thought this was going to be the perfect year to do a 365 project - it was the ten year anniversary of my first daily nudes project, and I had just moved from an apartment building into a house for the first time in several years, with a yard I could go naked in. But aside from that, and for several other reasons, it actually turned out to be a terrible year for a 365 project. But I still did it!

I wanted to do more holiday-themed shoots, and celebrate things like the 100th, 200th and 300th days of the year. I also intended to shoot more dSLR photography (the vast majority of material ended up being produced with my cell phone). The project started out early being very structured like that. But then we got an unexpected extended house guest who is not a nudist. And even if I had felt comfortable enough to still go nude without reservation, I would have been very self-conscious performing my photography - some of it quite scandalous in nature - without sufficient privacy.

So daily shoots turned into a feast-or-famine type situation, where I might go days or even weeks without shooting much of anything, only to get a few short hours here and there in which I would go hog wild and shoot as many different concepts as I could before time ran out. This helped to buffer my output for those times when I couldn't shoot anything, so that I'd still have something to post on my blog every day.

It got to the point where I had weeks, even up to a month's worth of posts waiting in the wings of my blog, ready to be posted at any given time, so that the sharing of my activities began to lag behind the activities themselves (quite a bit in some cases), making it hard to post anything relevant to the day it was being posted (that said, I ended up doing a pretty phenomenal job winding down to the last day of the year - I still have concepts I'd like to shoot, but not really any leftover material except what you see in this post).

Nevertheless, the outcome is a completed project (several times I wanted to quit, but I had enough material to coast through those low points) - 365 days of blog posts, each one containing a nude, erotic, or fashion-oriented photograph (or video) of me, many supplemented by my writing. I hope you've enjoyed it - though the experience had its ups and downs, I certainly did. Now it's time for me to take a break. If I can step away from the camera...

[description: a naked man poses with an unopened wall calendar held in front of his body]
Happy Nude Year!

What's next: Obviously, I'm not done with photography, but I'm going to try to take a break from shooting every day, and spend that time on some other things that I've been neglecting, like game development. In the photography world, however, I'd like to switch from creating new photographs to showcasing some old ones. With the sheer volume of material I pump out (especially this past year), it can be a full-time job just managing it. I'd like to go back and finish an earlier project in which I've been sharing some of the best of my older phone selfies on...FetLife [defunct], I guess*. I believe I have two more years' worth of selfies to post.

And, of course, I'd like to shift my focus back to posting my more serious and artistic photography on deviantART [NSFW]. I'm still a year behind on that. At this point, though, differentiating my photography by medium - "spontaneous" cell phone selfies versus "serious" camera portraits - becomes difficult, as with the advent of my getting an iphone, the line between the two have blurred, and now I use my phone camera for all kinds of serious, artistic, and planned shoots. I suppose I'll need a little more time to figure out how I'm going to handle that. In the meantime, though, you can stay connected to my blog here for all the latest news and photoshoots!

*I was going to say Tumblr, but they engaged in a massive purge just this past month, banning all nudity and adult content. I had previously enjoyed their service, but after a gut-wrenching move like this, I'll be happy to see them fade into obscurity. On the other hand, some of the changes in store under Flickr's new management include no longer needing a Yahoo account to log in. So, no guarantees, but I might actually be able to access my account again after years of being locked out due to an annoying glitch! Don't expect my celebrated return, however - free accounts will be limited to 1,000 photos, and I'm already well past that mark.

Dance Dance Resurrection

[description: video demonstrating playing DDR naked, from various angles]

Have you ever played DDR naked? There's nothing quite like the feeling! I gave myself the gift this Christmas of revisiting an old and beloved pastime - with two new dance pads! I was first introduced to DDR by some friends in high school. My initial reaction to it was to avoid it out of embarrassment - me not being the sort of person who likes to get up in front of people and dance (although I've learned that this is actually a good way to do it, since the arrows give you a sort of script to follow - it's like dancing on training wheels).

I went out on a limb and tried it again in college, mainly because it gave me an excuse to interact with a girl I fancied within the context of a social environment (i.e., it gave me the illusion of having a life). I discovered at this time that DDR was actually quite a lot of fun, and subsequently got hooked on it, dragging my best friend into my obsession. We bought dance pads and hooked them up to a projection screen, and danced with anyone who happened along and wished to join us. At the height of our obsession, we swapped out Dance Dance Revolution with StepMania, a DDR-based computer application with hundreds of songs.

Following the inevitable scattering of friends post-graduation, my dance time dwindled, as the dance pads I had in my possession gradually wore out. There were periods when I would run DDR tracks purely for the exercise, even without a controller connected (not a bad idea, if you don't care about the grades). Such an experience even made it into my Daily Nude Videos project [broken link] from eight years ago. Since then, though, I've let my DDR Max discs collect dust on the shelf, and have resigned myself to the very infrequent occasion of happening upon a DDR machine "in the wild", so to speak - at an arcade.

Until now, that is. DDR lives again!

Shopping Season

[description: a man stands in a public restroom, wearing boots and nothing else under a winter coat]

I've always preferred warm weather - where you can go out without even putting on a jacket. But if there's an advantage to the sort of cold, winter weather that requires a heavy coat, it's that you can put just the coat on, and nothing else! The strange thing is that you feel more exposed, even though you're actually covered in a thicker layer than you would be on a summer day in a light, airy dress and sandals (especially if you've opted out of wearing panties). Clearly, it's a psychological thing. Just make sure you don't get overheated in that coat, or forget what you're [not] wearing underneath, because you can't just unbutton it to let the breeze in, or take it off and hang it over your chair. :-x

Clearing Up A Misconception

One of the most common criticisms levied against nudism by the uninitiated textile world is this idea that "nudists are never the people you want to see naked." What's obvious to us nudists is how much this criticism misses the point. Nudists aren't judgmental about people's bodies the way textile culture is, and the benefit of this approach is a much healthier attitude towards our own and each other's bodies. But listen, that doesn't mean I want to see saggy, wrinkly bodies in the nude - or that I enjoy hairy old men's assholes winking at me from the sand court during a game of volleyball - any more than anyone else in the textile world. I'm not that much different from you. I've just cultivated a more mature approach towards it - an ability to behave civilly and simply not focus my gaze on anything I don't need a vivid mental picture of, and not let my petty feelings get in the way of others' freedom to disrobe, knowing as I do the physical and psychological benefits of doing so. It's just that it's a balancing act. And not all bodies you encounter in nudism are going to be unappealing - the few gems you get to see in a way that textile culture would never allow more than makes it worth it, in my opinion.

There's this idea that, in contrast to nudism which allows all body types, textile culture - "pornified" as it is - already has a more "reasonable" approach towards exposure: attractive people are allowed to show off - indeed, their bodies are plastered all over the media and advertising and pornography we're bombarded with every day. But I don't think it's that simple. Sure, you're more likely to see attractive people (although not exclusively) in short shorts and miniskirts and skimpy bikinis at the beach. But they're not naked. And though they do tend to be naked in porn, as much as our culture is obsessed with sex, it's relegated to the corners of our society. These corners may be crowded, but they're still fenced off from everything else, with the letters N, S, F, and W plastered large on billboards blocking the view. And textile culture is so pornified, you can't appreciate nudity without making it into a sexual thing. (Call me weird, but I like to watch beautiful naked people doing things other than having sex). Hop the fence into pornland, and everybody is so myopically focused on sex, there's no time for subtleties like artistic composition, or softcore eroticism.

[description: a nude figure greets a clothed person at the door]

"You're a nudist? Isn't that, like, a sex thing?"

"Is sex the only thing you textiles do while naked?
(It's no wonder you bathe alone!)"

If you're attractive, you still don't get a free pass to walk your dog around the block without clothes on (well, your dog can be naked, it's just you that can't). You might get away with it, if the people who catch you don't mind, and like what they see, but that's not the same thing - and clearly it doesn't make this phenomenon exactly common. There's nowhere you can go to watch a sports match performed by naked athletes - because watching the amazing feats the human body is capable of is a wonderful thing - even though said athletes are presumably more physically fit than the majority of the population. (And I've been called a freak and a pervert for even suggesting that gymnastics should be performed...well, gymnastically - that is, nude, in the original Greek sense of the word). Even model-caliber beauties aren't issued licenses for public nudity, protecting them from indecent exposure charges (including when public exposure is part of their vocation - e.g., for a photoshoot). And silver screen-ready actresses, though always pressured to do steamier roles, rarely revel in those opportunities to expose themselves unselfconsciously to the world (without, say, a body double, or coy lighting - or, these days, having a team of fx artists to photoshop out their undergarments).

So, no, textile culture doesn't permit us to enjoy attractive naked bodies to a sufficient extent. Our sexual obsession, amazingly, doesn't obliterate but rather intensifies the nudity taboo. Only nudism provides an alternative and a solution to it. And if it takes a general attitude of "nudity isn't inherently sexual", and "all bodies are welcome" (meaning ugly bodies are as free to bare all as the beautiful ones) to get there, then so be it. I'm down with the program.

Good Naked vs. Bad Naked

As an aesthetic artist, my goal is to portray my model in a flattering light. I don't really take pictures of "matter-of-fact" nudity - which is why I am concerned about the ability of my art to accurately reflect the nudist ethos and lifestyle. Even picture-perfect models can look downright unappealing if photographed in certain poses, and from certain angles. (Jerry Seinfeld discovered the difference between "good naked" and so-called "bad naked" on that episode where he dated a nudist - although I'm inclined to agree with George, that Jerry was acting like a "spoiled, spoiled man"). There is an artifice to art of this sort - I make no illusions about this fact. I don't pretend that I have a perfect body, and that, to whatever extent I am attractive, it isn't still a challenge to consistently portray myself in pictures in the best possible light.

[description: a nude man sits hunched over in a chair]
Matter-of-Fact Nudity

There are certainly uses for art that depicts people's bodies from a more realistic perspective - I fully acknowledge that. I'm just not that interested in that subject as an artist (at least at this time). I agree with the nudist philosophy - that appearance only goes so far. But I won't pretend that it has no value. (Maybe I'm being idealistic, but I don't think that rewarding physical attractiveness necessarily goes hand in hand with punishing its lack thereof, other than the inevitable envy of those that lack it. I want things other people have that I don't have, but I don't disparage them for having it. I certainly wouldn't argue that a world-class guitarist shouldn't be praised for his proficiency at guitar just because I don't possess the same level of skill).

I worship beauty, and art is one way that I can honor that. Perhaps that constitutes an obstruction to communication of the pure nudist ideal (which seeks to draw attention away from the perceived importance of physical beauty), but the truth is that nudism is another way I pursue beauty. Not because nudism is about beauty (it's not, really), but because nudism lifts a veil that textile culture clings to (i.e., that naked bodies are taboo), which prevents one from fully appreciating that beauty outside of nudism. It would seem that, through nudism, the ability to appreciate that beauty requires one to humble oneself about the limits of beauty's virtue - because you can't go very far in nudism while clinging to a superficial mindset.

But if, like me, you can simultaneously acknowledge the transcendental power of naked beauty (albeit of a privileged subset of the population) to ravish the soul, and the seemingly contradictory fact that beauty truly is only skin deep (a beautiful person isn't automatically also smart, or strong, or kind, or even happy), then there is much that can be gained from the practice of a nudist lifestyle, that may very well be impossible to acquire elsewhere. As such, I vehemently deny the statement that "beauty isn't everything, it's the only thing", and replace it instead with "beauty isn't everything, but it is something," as well as its corollary (which is important to keep in mind, lest one's priorities fall out of proportion), "beauty is something, but it isn't everything."

Antitoxin

Some people might say that feminism's attack on male sexuality is unjustified. But even giving feminists the benefit of the doubt, and assuming that male sexuality is problematic (e.g., characterized by an instinctively rapacious impulse), any solution we come to has to first understand this sexuality, and be sensitive to those who are "afflicted" by it. This isn't a softened way of saying we should give leniency to rapists, but we must understand what is driving the male sexual impulse, what it means - the value that it has - to the individual male, why it is manifesting in ways that are problematic for society or womankind, and what alternatives are available that enables the male to achieve full sexual satisfaction, and not what essentially amounts to figurative castration.

Saying that "men's sexual urges are wrong and must be curtailed" is nothing less than a declaration of war, and it's not going to inspire anything other than full-scale retaliation (hence: men's rights activism). You'd have to be daft to expect any other outcome. There's plenty of talk out there about how "male sexuality is problematic". I want to hear more understanding of the significance of the sexual drive to a male, and discussion of ways that it can be fulfilled, to a satisfying extent, that are acceptable to society. In other words, you can't just stand there and tell men what they can't do with their penises. You must acknowledge the joy their penises bring them, and then suggest ways they can acquire that joy that we all can be happy with.

For example: don't tell men, "enough with the dick pics already!" Tell them, "yes, penises are fascinating organs. But most people aren't going to want you to stick yours in their face without warning. Be courteous. There are lots of websites on the internet where you can share pictures of your dick with people who will appreciate them. An exciting world of consensual exhibitionism awaits you!" See? Not condemnation. But redirection - into appropriate outlets. It's about learning the contexts in which certain behaviors are or are not appropriate. Not labeling an activity as bad, identifying the male sex drive as the motivating factor, and then tarring and feathering it, demonizing it wholesale, throwing the baby of sexual ecstasy out with the bathwater of inappropriate sexual misconduct.

[description: a man undresses, exposing his erection to a secretary at the office]

I don't want to sound conceited harping on about how dumb the human race is (but if that's what it sounds like, then so be it - I'm not going to hold my tongue for the sake of image) - I know people have accomplished some amazingly intelligent feats, and I'm not half as smart as I wish I could be. But I swear, when I look at society, I see a whole lot of dumbing things down to appeal to the lowest common denominator. I mean, it's just statistics, right? But black-and-white thinking is for people who don't possess the processing power to render a hundred different shades of grey. And it's very frustrating living as a greyscale being in a black-or-white world.

Layers

Playing around (again) with the transition between being nude and being dressed.

[description: lineup of photos comparing different stages of dress, from fully clothed to nude]

I threw the erection in just for fun, and because it really punctuates the erotic element of getting undressed. I know it's probably not kosher to the nudist mindset, but sometimes just taking off your clothes can be exciting. Maybe I really am that weird, but I don't understand why sexual arousal has to always be accompanied, in people's minds, with initiation of sexual activity. Can't somebody just get turned on, enjoy the sensation, and leave it at that?* Without running to hide (or finish himself off)? Like a lot of people probably do while dressed? (I wonder what it must be like for female exhibitionists engaging in nudism, since their arousal is somewhat less conspicuous than a man's). And if this isn't possible for some people, why can't those people refrain from letting themselves get turned on in public, instead of insisting that those of us who can control ourselves not be allowed to either?

*I was thinking just last night, as I lay in bed, that most people probably view attraction as a means to an end - a tool to facilitate pair-bonding and family-building, which in other words is the biological mandate to procreate. Of course beauty is a virtue - everybody (pretty much) envies those who have it, and are capable of recognizing it in others (subjectively speaking). But self-conscious about their appearance they may be, I feel like they must understand deep down what nudists often preach. You don't have to be beautiful to live. You don't even have to be beautiful to be happy. You can find a mate, raise a family, and make a life for yourself, even if you don't look like a supermodel.

It's me that's different. Beauty isn't just a virtue, it's a lifestyle. It's not a means to an end, it's the end itself. Attraction isn't a form of sexual foreplay, it's the climax. I revel in the buildup. I'm not even particularly concerned with intercourse, I just like the arousal. And I want to fill my life with it. I want to be surrounded by beauty on all sides, at all times. Art, modeling, fashion, people-watching. I suppose it's a superficial way to live, but I'm not a shallow person. The assumption is that if you care about physical beauty, then nothing else matters, but that's not true. I guess I just value it more than the average person, because it fills me with joy.

I tell you, it's gotta be tough being a lunatic - being utterly convinced that it's not you, but the world around you that's crazy. I just want to know if I'm alone in having these so-called "crazy" thoughts. Am I? Do you think people should be judged for their state of arousal, or should they be judged for how they conduct themselves while aroused? Is it enough to condemn a man for having an erection, or should we consider what he does with it?