I started shooting suggestive landscapes in response to my work getting censored for being “inappropriate”. It was nudity in the purest and most beautiful form. Its absurd that it was considered offensive. It wasn’t porn,violent or meant to demean. It was simply art for arts sake.
Since the 1500’s artists have been commissioned to render nudity in scuplture and painting to illustrate biblical stories. Those masterpieces are on display in many churches and cathedrals. Still people, especially here in Temecula, who claim they are “christian” or “biblical” are afraid to display art that shows body parts even if its entirely innocent or abstract. To me its a small-minded fear based way to view life. It is feared that a child will see it or feared that an adult will be offended, but it is ok to listen to violence on the news and in the theatre for entertainment. Something is wrong with the picture when parents cover their childrens eyes during the sexual scenes yet allow the violence and killing to be viewed.
I don’t display my nude work in Temecula. I was banned from facebook once for showing artistic pics of a topless man (who someone thought was a woman and reported me). A posse of five cop cars tried to arrest me for shooting a topless two year old with her clothed pregnant mom in a field near my home. They wanted to confiscate my equipment and evaluate the images as well (I was shooting film). Luckily, a friend in a high place saved me.
Most of my nude work is personally commissioned portrait sessions by couples and women. I also enjoy occasionally photographing shapes in the landscapes where mother nature exposes her parts. Its fun and its my way of telling the pious conservatives to fuck off. What are they gonna do? Not let me show my work of a tree in public because its suggestive?! Or maybe they’ll cut the tree down when they notice its trunk resembles a vagina.