When I was asked last month to photograph around twenty female nude university students for charity, it got me thinking about that phrase that hardly needs any extra explaining or context:  “… as long as it’s tasteful”.

This is the addendum that usually tells us more about the speaker than the preceding phrase “I don’t mind x/y/z…”, because it speaks volumes of our view of being naked.

At this point, it must be stated that I have no hang-ups about such a photography assignment, nor do I have any more excitement than I would have for any other type of assignment. Work – whether it features the naked or the clothed, the pretty or the less pretty, male or female, animal or vegetable or mineral – is work. In fact, work featuring twenty naked 19-20 year olds running around a field with horses for two solid days is hard work.

I imagine nudists will tell you that it’s our natural state – but for the rest of us, looking at naked people ‘in the flesh’ is something we do that involves only those who are very close to us. Of course, the internet generation – liberated as it is – finds it perfectly okay to look at photographs of naked people, moreover share with online contacts. A friend from school might have a ‘risque’ photo shoot and upload and tag photos on Facebook completely unabashed, caring little that their fathers or mothers will probably eventually see it – let alone friends of friends. But in the flesh – this is a little different.

When photographing naked people, one has to be aware of the typical British stance; we Brits are liberal enough to think it’s not immoral, but stiff enough to think it should nevertheless be done according to a generally accepted (and pretty abstract, if you think objectively) view of what is tasteful. In nude calendar terms, this means:

1. No using props to hide body parts
2. Moody faces work better than big grins
3. Focus on the sensual aspect of nudity rather than the sexual aspect

The above maxims provide a generic and acceptable creative brief on which to base a set of modern photographs for a nude calendar.

They don’t address my deeper concerns about depicting nude women in this way, such as

1. Women fought for the vote, why are they still taking their clothes off for men nearly a hundred years later?
2. Why are nude calendars and Page 3 socially acceptable at all, unless we believe the same things as nudists?
3. I’ve a very soft spot for the Futurist movement in art, and the philosophy behind the renaissance depiction of nude women that dismisses it as impure. (Note, this is not related in any way to a moral view; I have few moral views on the matter of impurity, just artistic views.)

Now I have got that out of my system, here are some of the out-takes from the Nottingham University Nude Polo Club Calendar.

For more information about the Nottingham University Nude Polo Club Calendar, please visit their Facebook group.

Below is an out-take from the calendar that didn’t quite make the cut. More photos to follow once the calendar has been released.

Hannah and Mini