As an artist and a nude photographer, there are certainly themes that I like to consciously address in my work - including non-sexual nudism, which is a lifestyle I both support and practice. But what draws me to nudity - aesthetically, as a visual artist - is not limited to a single doctrine. While it can be a fascinating intellectual exercise to parse the difference between the merely aesthetic and the erotic, particularly when the subject is the naked human body, unless I am limited by external influences (e.g., hired by nudists to illustrate the lifestyle, as a hypothetical example), as an artist, I am driven by instinct to explore what my eye perceives as an appealing depiction of nudity, whether that includes an erotic element, or not.
Although nudists may sometimes express an attitude of derision towards the so-called "sexualization" of the naked human body, I do not allow myself to be limited by such things. I do not impose my will onto nudity, in an effort to make a symbol out of it to further a personal cause. I merely serve that power which nudity exerts (in whatever context) over the human mind, to honor it and communicate its effect on me - both erotic, and otherwise - to the world. Because, in the end, I think erotic imagery is legitimate, too, in addition to "fine art nudes" and non-sexual depictions of nudism, and I am devoted to them all, because they all include nudity in a form that intrigues me. Some say that you cannot mix those interests, but I say that you can, and that it may in fact be perfectly natural to do so.
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