Naked and exposed

As a child of the 70’s, social nudity was a normal part of the era for me. In the uptight 00’s, it seems like an act of extravagant spectacle and an opportunity for flaunting and acting out. The Fremont Solstice Parade seems to be becoming our city’s statement for the right to be nude in a crowd.

Mysterous Traveller points out how everyone in the crowd seemed to have uploaded their digital photos to Flickr within hours. A search there last night under "Solstice and "Recent" results in thousands of photos, the majority of them of naked bicycle riders.

"You are so heterosexual," accused Robin, when looking at my take. I was looking for good body paint. And shooting at a slow shutter speed, so it could count as artistic. Yeah, right. Half the photos I took yesterday are of naked people on bikes. To be fair, a third of them are of guys. "At least you’re not afraid of penises," Robin said. Hardly any of them are very good as photographs. That came later, when I got into the parade myself and made contact. You can look at a selection here, with the usual caveat—not workplace friendly.

As I learned yet again, being on the sidelines makes for ordinary photographs, no matter how compelling the subject. The good stuff happens when you immerse yourself in the event and the moment, and connect with your subject. When I got into the parade the photographs became relational, and they got better.

At Fremont, this is not a big deal. Half the floats have music, and dancers surrounding them. Robin and I two-stepped to the Cajun band, then we wandered upstream and I worked with the belly dancers, then on to the marimba orchestra.

If I really want to get compelling naked body-art bicyclist shots, I may have to strip and paint myself and ride with my camera next year.

Comments

[Karen]

So glad you got the one of the belly dancer who wore the gold chain-link tunic. There was something about that costume that made her stand out from the others; it's a dynamic and compelling photo. You didn't happen to get the one of the fellow carrying the religious photo atop a pole, did you? He was turning, turning, turning as he walked, with the most eery, intense expression...