Three about girls going to German saunas and getting naked. I

boahbayern.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/inside-the-nude-german-sauna/

mostlyamelie.com/vabali-spa-berlin/

reddit.com/r/gonewildstories/comments/kj0y2c/was_told_to_post_here_please_delete_if_it_doesnt/

More stories...

1. Ethiopia - people in the village watch tourists pee outdoors
hxxp://www.tembo-and-the-dustsuckers.de/53286897ff0c25518/53286897ff0c82437/index.html

2. India - girl swims topless
hxxp://carlynsjournal.blogspot.com/2012/03/hasta-la-vista-india.html

3. Italy - various breastfeeding experiences including around male friends and in-laws
hxxp://www.myvillageinumbria.com/2012/01/got-milk.html

4. Japan - visit to a mixed onsen
hxxp://chopstickwanderlust.blogspot.com/2012/10/getting-high-and-back-again.html

5. Korea - trip to the gyno
hxxps://jrkorea.diaryland.com/week3.html

6. Mexico - couple goes to a nude beach
hxxp://www.wanderfullivin.com/2018/05/31/the-oaxaca-coast/

7. Netherlands - girl meets up with in-laws at the sauna
hxxp://girlamsterdam.blogspot.com/2008/09/naked-mixed-saunas.html

8. Spain - topless at the doctor
hxxp://zicomo20.blogspot.com/2016/01/visitar-de-medico.html

9. Sweden - couple goes to the sauna
hxxps://www.treksnappy.com/2016/09/hiking-the-kungsleden-south-to-north-day-2.html

10. Zambia - local women ask to see her breasts
hxxps://thewandererinzambia.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/things-i-never-thought-id-do/

More stories...

1. France - walked in on while she was peeing
hxxps://bonjourdejour.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/embarassed/

2. Gabon - mention of western women going topless for ceremony
hxxp://thomasriddle.net/gabon/index.htm

3. Ghana - video blog where woman talks about going to the topless shrines
hxxps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFJ6PC8zD8Y

4. Japan - woman goes to the doctor for a hemorrhoid
hxxp://users.livejournal.com/_sumimasen_/68783.html

5. Korea - woman experience Chinese medicine
hxxps://plasticwhales.wordpress.com/2013/04/04/that-time-i-decided-to-try-out-chinese-medicine/

6. Namibia - girls pose topless on a mountain (shot from behind)
hxxps://gornewiththewind.wordpress.com/2016/03/06/commitment-to-the-rhino/

7. Senegal - changes into local clothing in front of an audience
hxxp://alexadorris-blog.tumblr.com/post/4134585120/hello-all-the-second-village-stay-and-my-time-in

8. Spain - couple goes to a nude beach
hxxps://hikerdawn.blogspot.com/2006/11/spain-andalucia.html

9. Sweden - couple has nude sauna experience
hxxp://jkingaroundineurope.blogspot.com/2016/01/copenhagen-part-2-with-bonus-malmo.html

10. Uganda - non-private bath outdoors
hxxp://almostfourmonthsinafrica.blogspot.com/2011/03/rural-homestay-in-kitgum-uganda.html

a couple more from German saunas:

mabelnashgreenberg.com/thoughts/2017/3/14/new-yorker-gets-naked-in-berlin-and-has-a-meaningful-life-experience

expateyeongermany.wordpress.com/2015/11/05/a-visit-to-a-german-sauna-a-treat-for-ball-enthusiasts/

boahbayern.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/inside-the-nude-german-sauna/

More stories...

1. Botswana - doctor gives woman a shot in the butt
hxxps://aamour.livejournal.com/54275.html

2. Finland - caught swimming naked after going in the sauna
hxxp://anamericaninaland.blogspot.com/2008/04/think-poop.html

3. Germany - nude in the sauna
hxxps://intothegloss.com/2015/05/baden-baden-baths/

4. India - woman gets a massage
hxxps://burbletravel.wordpress.com/2015/12/03/cults-awkwardness-and-scenery/

5. Japan - woman goes to the doctor
hxxp://bigbrotherbillyboy.blogspot.com/2011/12/latest.html

6. Kenya - shaved by a male before giving birth
hxxps://swinkeltoes.wordpress.com/2016/01/04/cheating-the-birth-exam/

7. Panama - bikini mishap in the ocean
hxxps://www.choosepanama.com/blog/the-gringa-and-the-sea-a-panama-tale

8. Peru - woman gets a massage
hxxp://www.teresathetraveler.com/sand-dune-boarding-in-huacachina.html

9. Thailand - doctor calls in nurses to "inspect the carpeting"
hxxps://pleasedontdieinthailand.wordpress.com/2016/05/01/no-my-freckles-arent-a-medical-condition-the-trials-of-getting-medically-cleared-for-peace-corps-while-abroad/

10 US - woman tried nude yoga
hxxps://www.health.com/fitness/i-tried-naked-yoga

More stories...

1. Bolivia - caught tanning naked
hxxps://k8bolivin.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/la-paz-and-lake-titicaca/

2. China - breast exam
hxxp://lucydang.livejournal.com/68406.html

3. Columbia - couple goes to a nude beach
hxxps://tashandkit.wordpress.com/2018/07/09/tayrona-national-park-et-al-colombia/

4. Ethiopia - member of tribe takes her bra and her shirt is transparent
hxxps://www.goletrax.com/read/726-the-day-i-met-the-mursi-tribe-in-ethiopia?lang=en

5. Honduras - couple caught skinny dipping by a family
hxxps://issyhoustonhonduras.wordpress.com/2014/08/26/hola-from-honduras/

6. Israel - wants a female gyn, but settles for a man
hxxp://blancheandguy.blogspot.com/2010/02/here-in-israel-we-take-off-just.html

7. Japan - woman goes for gyno exam
hxxp://greeneyedgeisha.blogspot.com/2008/07/but-im-lady.html

8. Malawi - caught peeing outdoors
hxxp://kendallwholeheartedly.blogspot.com/2014/05/dont-be-sorry-just-dont-let-it-happen.html

9. Nepal - got bikini waxed
hxxp://justclaraelise.blogspot.com/2014/07/return-to-kathmandu.html

10. Russia - clothes off in front of others after coming in out of the rain
hxxp://clementinececil.blogspot.com/2016/06/voyage-to-siberia-continued-2-arrival.html

More stories...

1. Botswana - tries to break record for most naked people in the pool
hxxps://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-East/blog-919212.html

2. Cameroon - crazy neighbor walks in on her while bathing
hxxp://cynthiaincameroon.blogspot.com/2012/07/at-request-of-edwin-to-update-myblog-i.html

3. China - topless for medical exam
hxxp://nomadicgypsy.blogspot.com/2007/05/xian-v.html

4. Finland - naked swim after the sauna (includes picture in water)
hxxp://annaleesekulic.blogspot.com/2015/03/you-swam-naked-where.html

5. Ghana - woman gets topless at a shrine
hxxp://nodrugforthetravelbug.blogspot.com/?view=sidebar

6. India - woman gets a massage
hxxps://zaradoesbangalore.blogspot.com/2007/10/touched-by-stranger.html

7. Japan - woman accidentally flashes the doctor
hxxp://www.laurenlovesnoodles.blogspot.com/2014/09/eye-exams-and-x-rays-in-japan.html

8. Mexico - couple goes to a nude beach
hxxps://tableforonetravel.com/oversharing/zipolite-mexico-nudist-beach/

9. Peru - accidentally flashing while swinging on a vine
hxxps://morganhannah.wordpress.com/jungle-life-part-two/

10. Sweden - naked sauna and swimming
hxxps://www.ottsworld.com/blogs/places-to-stay-in-sweden-countryside-rewilding/

More stories...

1. Brazil - woman visits a tribe (includes pictures)
hxxps://marianaviaja.com/outras-viagens/vivencia-aldeia-indigena-tehuhungu-parque-do-xingu-mato-grosso/

2. China - non-private exam
hxxps://tinchina.wordpress.com/2016/03/10/my-experience-in-changchun-hospitals/

3. Ethiopia - man took her breast in his hand to ask the word for it
hxxp://globalmidtown.com/2013/11/03/utopia/

4. Germany - woman in the sauna
hxxp://jeweledconcrete.blogspot.com/2007/01/sauna.html

5. Italy - topless sunbathing
hxxp://melissa-hetherington.blogspot.com/2011/05/thing-about-going-topless-in-amalfi.html

6. Japan - trip to the doctor
hxxp://melissabraden.blogspot.com/2015/11/34-weeks-pregnant-in-japan.html

7. Mexico - doctor's English wasn't great, said some funny things
hxxp://on-mexican-time.blogspot.com/2012/10/another-lost-in-translation-post.html

8. Russia - experience at the banya
hxxp://arussianabroad.blogspot.com/2017/05/a-russian-beating.html

9. Spain - topless at the beach
hxxp://telltaletraveler.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/monokini/

10. Unknown - woman talks about loving her body and does a nude photo shoot (includes pictures)
hxxp://www.thisamericangirl.com/2014/12/08/beautiful/

More stories. (Hope you have a great Thanksgiving Day tomorrow)

1. Brazil - water pulled down her bikini bottoms
hxxp://haileyinbrasil.blogspot.com/2013/11/rio-de-janeirooo.html

2. China - Woman is worried she'll be examined in front of a crowd. Not the best ending, but I like the way she tells a story...
hxxps://chloedoeschina.wordpress.com/2014/08/03/gawkers-in-the-gynos-chloe-does-confused-in-the-chinese-hospitals/

3. Germany - couple goes to nude spa
hxxp://thediaryofsugarandspice.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/mini-honeymoon-in-the-alps/

4. Greece - stripped down to enter natural pool
hxxps://youngbarbieradventures.wordpress.com/2016/08/11/greece-city-sea-and-homer-part-2/

5. Jamaica - woman's bikini was more revealing than she initially thought
hxxp://www.freecandie.com/2013/06/my-awkward-photo-shoot-at-ys-falls-jamaica/

6. Japan - gyno exam
hxxp://littlegaijin.blogspot.com/2012/11/little-pregnant-gaijin-in-big-city.html

7. Namibia/South Africa - naked swimming and setting record for most naked laps
hxxps://gornewiththewind.wordpress.com/2016/03/06/wine-tasting-final-goodbyes/

8. Russia - basketball player gets her physical
hxxp://nicolefawcett.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-first-practice-and-russian-physical.html

9. Sierra Leone - clothing malfunction getting out of a car
hxxp://mussobabe.wordpress.com/2013/11/02/full-moon/

10. US - naked at a spa
hxxp://libbyteal10.blogspot.com/2011/04/spirit-springs-day-four.html

More stories...

1. China - not a lot of privacy during exam
hxxps://chloetalksabouthervagina.wordpress.com/2020/10/04/chloe-talks-about-being-treated-abroad/

2. Germany - woman goes to a spa
hxxp://lajesperanza.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/265/

3. Guatemala - couple gets naked in a sauna
hxxps://camducketttravel.wixsite.com/camduckett/single-post/2016/11/04/the-tale-of-a-mayan-sauna

4. Japan - woman goes for a health check
hxxps://sillybollocks.wordpress.com/2015/06/03/japanese-health-check/

5. Kenya - woman's massage wasn't very private
hxxp://meganannedaley.blogspot.com/2012/10/diani.html

6. Micronesia - woman talks about dressing like the locals including going topless (pictures with covered nudity at 1:14 and 3:57, talks about dressing like the locals starting at 18:18)
hxxps://media.csuchico.edu/media/Thinking+Beyond+BordersA+Micronesia/0_0edw3q4y

7. Namibia - naked photo shoot (includes picture) Warning: one of the people is a guy with long hair
hxxps://mrcupsaver.wixsite.com/kaiaroundtheworld/single-post/2015/04/19/namibia-road-trip-part-ii

8. Philippines - topless cliff jumping
hxxps://jillianadventures.wordpress.com/2014/06/25/june-24-boat-trip-and-cliff-jumping/

9. Spain - topless at the beach
hxxp://www.awkwardcafe.com/2016/08/alicante.html

10. Turkey - woman at the baths with male attendant
hxxps://dujour.com/beauty/richmond-nua-spa-turkish-bath-experience/

More stories...

1. Burma/Myanmar - woman is bathed by her host
hxxps://www.vergemagazine.com/articles/beyond-the-guidebook/2234-showering-with-a-friend-in-burma.html

2. Germany - saw friends at the spa by accident
hxxps://travelandrepeat.com/2018/02/19/baden-baden-germany/

3. Ireland - posed for Spencer Tunick (includes pictures)
hxxps://janetnewenham.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/the-irish-sea-of-nakedness/

4. Japan - experience at the doctor
hxxp://alwaysleavingthingsunfinishe.blogspot.com/2011/11/fanny-cam-japan.html

5. Korea - woman goes to the gyno
hxxps://laurenalyssaames.wordpress.com/2020/02/23/itching-for-understanding/

6. Micronesia - woman goes topless with the locals
hxxps://caroistaa.wordpress.com/2016/08/27/d-d-d-d-dj-noiz-noiz-noiz/

7. Senegal - showed host sisters her boobs
hxxp://omalleyausenegal.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/going-going-gone-native-6-uninterrupted-weeks-at-site/

8. Thailand - had a "tube up the ass" at the doctor
hxxp://thetravelingkaytia.blogspot.com/2013/06/ursula-vs-ovaries-epic-battle-for-my.html

9. US - woman goes to a nude beach
hxxp://www.beckbamberger.com/beinguncomfortable/2019/5/26/uncomfortable-experience-nudist-on-a-nude-beach

10. Vietnam - top pulled up for an EKG
hxxps://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Northeast/Quang-Ninh/Halong-Bay/blog-411116.html

Wow, how do you manage to find so many stories?

I found these over many years of Google searches. I’ve been trying to go through my links and post them here when I get a chance. Below are a few more.

1. Czech Republic - woman goes topless in a forest
hxxps://woodelftraveldiaries.wordpress.com/2014/07/27/choose-your-workaway-carefully/

2. Germany - couple talks about their spa experience
hxxps://independenttravelcats.com/getting-naked-germany-relaxing-friedrichsbad-baths-baden-baden/

3. Korea - woman poses nude for art students
hxxps://hallaroundtheworld.com/blog/2017/1/6/2016-recap-part-2-

4. Thailand - woman gets naked on a beach
hxxps://mehmehsasa.wordpress.com/2017/03/10/naked-beach-koh-phangan/

This story is a huge pain to look up on her Tumblr, so I'm gonna post it here.

Lost at Sea..
A story about the most embarrassing moment of my life to date..

Attachment 12199585

Whilst holidaying in Ibiza this summer a few of us decided to try some water sports at Reggae Reggae Beach. Only four of us could fit on the chosen float so Naomi, Leslie, Jodie & I got fitted into our life jackets and proceeded to lay on a giant float which would be dragged all over the sea by a speed boat. We started off slow, but soon i realised the speed boat driver's intension was to make us fall off the float as he throughly increased the speed.

Leslie went in first, one minute she was there and the next she was overboard. We couldnt contain ourselves as we tried to help her back on. Naomi was the sea's next victim, looking so helpless in the water, all we could do was laugh as the speed boat sped off. We had to alert the driver so we could drive back round to help her back on.

My grip was even tighter on the handles as my legs dangled, stopping before jodie's face. Speeding along, the sea water hit my face at ridiculous speeds, temporarily blinding me a raised a hand to wipe my face and thats when the sea claimed me. The float sped forwards as my legs fell and dragged in the water. I looked like a cross between a rag doll and a drunk mermade. i hung onto the handles for dear life and scremed at my peers for help.

The boat slowed down and Leslie shouted down at me to pass her my leg so she could help me. I put one arm into the water to help it out but i felt an unusual amount of bare skin. My hands felt around and soon to my horror i discovered that the sea had taken my bikini bottoms. Reality setting in a let out a distressed cry to leslie saying i couldn't pass her my leg because i didn't have bikini bottoms. the float errupted in a fit of laughter as i refused to get back on it. After some convincing i reluctantly gave leslie my left leg so she could pull me besides her. in this transition my legs were wide open and Jodie got a clear view of my everything. I was now back on the float laying on my front with my bare bum just out for the fishes to perv on.

As if that wasn't a big enough ordeal we pulled up to the shore seconds later to be greated by other holidayers laughing at me. Fisherman had gathered at our point of exit, that beach was recieving alot of fish that day! i wondered how i would get up without showing the world my vagina and bum.

My attempts to save some dignity failed as i tried to put Leslies life jacket around the front of me and ran to the life jacket stand, arse jiggling. The guy manning the water sports area gave me a towel and made a comment about my bikini loss in Spanish. Now it was time for the walk of shame to the rest of the group. The WHOLE beach was laughing at me and pointing, they had seen Everything. Never in my life had i felt so violated by water and it was all because my bikini bottoms decided to get lost at sea.

Zipolte Nude Beach
 

youtube.com/watch?v=zc73OIzmyuQ
Mexican american couple visits

Flight attendant goes to first nude beach and ends up getting body painted
 

Incredible..
awheelinthesky.com/nude-beach/

Thanks! I really missed this thread... one of the best on this website!

more stories…hope no repeats

1. Columbia - woman went to a nude beach (picture from behind)
hxxp://ibbydibbydow.blogspot.com/2012/03/channeling-pippi-longstocking-barefoot.html

2. Czech Republic - woman gets topless in a forest (includes pictures)
hxxps://woodelftraveldiaries.wordpress.com/2014/07/27/choose-your-workaway-carefully/

3. Italy - woman gets a massage
hxxps://emietannam.wordpress.com/2016/04/17/give-me-a-spa-break/

4. Japan - group of friends goes to mixed onsen
hxxps://www.kristinosani.com/why-everyone-should-get-naked-with-their-friends/

5. Thailand - couple goes to nude beach (includes pictures)
hxxps://mehmehsasa.wordpress.com/2017/03/10/naked-beach-koh-phangan/

More stories…

1. China - Woman has to strip for dermatology exam
hxxps://dashingwell.weebly.com/blog/health-check-2018

2. Guinea - woman bathes topless in the river
hxxps://yesimgoingtopeacecorps.tumblr.com/post/179007554224/becoming-naked-to-become-comfortable

3. Japan - woman went to her first mixed onsen
hxxp://thelifeofawildwoman.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html

4. Micronesia - woman bathed outdoors without privacy
hxxp://stephinmicronesia.blogspot.com/2009/05/2nd-semester-in-nutshell.html

5. Thailand - neighbor lifts her shirt and bra to see her boob
hxxp://ericachristiethailand.blogspot.com/2012/10/what-does-farangs-white-personforeigner.html

More stories…

1. Canary Islands - woman gets comfortable with her body at nude beach (includes pictures)
hxxp://www.sobadass.me/2014/10/19/scars-how-i-overcame-my-insecurities-by-going-naked/

2. Ethiopia - woman gets topless with the locals
hxxps://mudvardi.wordpress.com/2015/04/25/a-hamar-utopia/

3. India - woman gets an IUD
hxxps://insidedecember.wordpress.com/about/ramshackle-greetings/

4. Tibet - woman naked at hot springs
hxxp://lucyobryan.blogspot.com/2010/02/monday-oct-19th-2009.html

5. US - went skinny dipping (picture of covered nudity)
hxxps://www.gardenbetty.com/backpacking-through-little-lakes-valley/

Tour d'Afrique
 

Some of you may know the Tour D'Afrique, a long bicycle trek across Africa. There's a tradition where cyclists (males & females, but separately) go nude for a mile in Namibia. About 10 years ago we had some epic pictures and reports from this event, including a group of 13 women who ended up spending the whole day riding in the nude, even stopping at a roadside motel (still fully naked) for drinks and skinny dipping in the pool.

Well, there hasn't been anything as great since, but it's still happening. I found a blog post from last year that doesn't really mention the naked mile, but if you scroll down there's a good picture:

hxxps://jendycksprout.medium.com/life-lessons-from-cycling-across-africa-part-2-2786617aa4c

More stories…

1. Costa Rica - mature woman goes skinny dipping (includes covered nudity picture)
qiyamahinislam.blogspot.com/2008/08/visions-from-costa-rica.html?m=0

2. Ecuador - girls strip down on a porch and are surprised by a man
phoebebay.wordpress.com/2016/04/05/it-all-depends-on-how-you-define-it/

3. Senegal - guards talk to girls while they are swimming naked in hotel pool
nangeendefetbonjour.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/weekend-in-saly/

4. Thailand - woman given massage by a man while naked
wanderlustgame.wordpress.com/2011/07/10/thai-massage-relaxing-and-awkward/

5. Turkey - couple goes to mixed hammam
laurel3d.blogspot.com/2017/08/turkish-bath-experience.html

More stories…

Australia - woman with a mastectomy goes skinny dipping with thousands
hxxp://www.mamamia.com.au/social/taryn-brumfitt-sydney-skinny/

Bali - woman is massaged by a man
hxxp://eatdrinkplaypray.blogspot.com/2011/12/dharma-do-i-have-wish-once-again-hes.html

Benin - host father walks in a woman in the shower
hxxp://meginbenin.blogspot.com/2012/12/first-few-weeks-at-post.html

Brazil - journalist in the rainforest meets a tribe. They are curious to confirm she's a woman.
hxxps://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/19991031mag-brazil-tribe.html

Cambodia - woman is massaged by a man. Includes a boob massage.
hxxp://crookedanddangeroustrails.blogspot.com/2014/03/another-excuse-for-holiday.html

Chad - a female doctor has a breast exposed by one of her patients in front of a crowd
hxxp://missionarydoctors.blogspot.com/2016/05/a-hoot.html

China - a woman getting examined has a friend called over to help translate
hxxp://cdngrlnomi.tumblr.com/post/52215639136/awkward

Cuba - woman goes skinny dipping in a river. Includes topless picture taken from behind.
hxxps://www.escapingny.com/home/guantanamo

Europe - woman talks about being naked at spas
hxxps://sightseeingscientist.com/getting-naked-at-a-european-spa/

Below are various stories that take place in Japanese onsens…


Boats going by can likely see her in the onsen.
hxxp://kimonokaren.blogspot.com/2007/08/this-piece-certainly-warrants-at-least.html

Couple went to a mixed onsen.
hxxps://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-548254.html

Male bath attendant had a view of the women’s bath.
hxxps://50onsens.com/2017/03/20/kamenoyu-neighbourhood-sento/

Trip to a mixed onsen.
hxxp://blunty.travellerspoint.com/12/

Guy walks in on a woman while she’s changing.
hxxps://www.theodysseyonline.com/hannah-in-japan-part-five-leave-me-in-hakone-forever

Woman’s experience in mixed mud and sand baths.
hxxp://megami-no-ushi.livejournal.com/12217.html

Woman recalls her experience at an all-girls school and how they would streak to avoid punishment from a stern teacher:
hxxps://joyamour.wordpress.com/2021/05/18/school-shenanigans-running-butt-naked-with-head-in-a-bucket/

A collection of women's embarrassing skinny dipping stories:
hxxps://www.kortnijeane.com/blogs/kortni-jeane/embarrassing-skinny-dipping-stories

Willingly experiencing an ENF situation
 

I can imagine women watching Kate Winslet in Titanic say, "Jack I want you to draw me like one of your French girls." and dreaming they are her in that scene, feeling both vulnerable and beautiful.

There is an artist in Toulouse, France that advertises an experience called, "Take off your clothes and let yourself be drawn." Girl-next-door, everyday women who are looking to have an interesting travel experience book with him and have a piece of art to take home as a souvenir. What better way to live that fantasy, and how appropriate in France.

The reviews on travel sites give a glimpse of the emotions ladies feel as they choose to experience an ENF situation - from nervous at the outset to euphoria afterwards. One says, "I’ve always wanted to be drawn naked but was terrified going into this experience. [He] was very professional and made me feel comfortable. Definitely something to do while in Toulouse and check off your bucket list. The drawing also came out amazing!"

The first link is to a travel website with most of the reviews I've seen. The second is of the artists website with examples of his work.

https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/235250
http://www.olivox.com/dessin/index.html

Be warned. Many of the blog stories in this thread are women declaring their embarrassment loud and proud. This is different. In truth, many of the reviews are too subtle for our purposes. It takes quite a bit of empathy to appreciate what these ladies are feeling.

peacefuldumpling.com/nude-beach

"How Baring It All On A Nude Beach Changed My Perspective About The Human Body"

Enjoy

Fango

Indonesia - French woman visits Mentawai tribe
 

hxxps://www.routard.com/forums/t/immersion-mentawai/362049

An interesting read, its in French but Google translate exists. She talks about going topless and even includes a pic of herself in tribal garb!

New series on artistic nude modeling
 

Hi all,

I wanna revive this thread with a series of posts about nude modeling for art classes. I've got loads of real-life texts on that, like articles, interviews, etc, so it can be a really long series if there is some interest.

If anyone here has their own stories/texts/anything on that topic, please share them; I'd love to see them too.

Unless it's directly related to the posted text, I'll not put any pictures here, as there are two other excellent threads for that:
forum.oneclickchicks.com/showthread.php?t=67756
forum.oneclickchicks.com/showthread.php?t=269720 (new one)

So let's get to the thing. Here's an article about two student girls doing nude modeling for art classes in Alaska (I'm not giving the link as it's already dead):

Undressing the highest-paying student job: nude modeling

In the Fine Arts Building, in room 101, adjunct professor David Pettibone teaches Life Drawing and Composition, where twice a week, a model stands up on a platform surrounded by budding artists, completely naked. For $14.86 an hour, models stand on the stage and pose for anywhere from a minute to 20 minutes to give the artists an in-depth experience with figure drawing. Some may think it’s taboo or uncomfortable, but for nude model Dylan Kenyon, a cultural anthropology major who works about once a week and occasionally on weekends, it’s a sweet gig.


Kenyon said that she felt less nervous once the professor explained that the students have been studying models for weeks and that the environment is very mature. The artists should know not to be inappropriate or make anyone uncomfortable because models are there to aid the learning process.

“I’m glad I’m doing it because it’s a great experience, I can look back at it and know I was a nude model in college,” said Kenyon. “It’s a cool job, you just have to try to get over the fear of it. I had to sit in the office for about ten minutes before I went out for the first time just trying to gather my thoughts and not freak out, but once I got up there it was totally fine. This guy model told me a story about how another male model once got a boner on the stage and it was the most embarrassing thing, but he said some comment like ‘my girlfriend gets back into town tonight’ to break the ice and not have it be so awkward, and everyone laughed and that was the end of it.”

All around the room, posters of the human body with detailed diagrams of muscular and skeletal structures hang on the walls. During one class period, Kenyon did one pose at a time in between five-minute breaks. In between poses, the models can wear a robe and mingle with the artists.

“Using the figure itself is a great way to learn all the elements of design, composition, line, and weight. If I could get all types of shapes and sizes and colors of people in here that would be ideal. A good model is someone who is able to hold their pose and also give us some sort of energy in their pose, like a twist of the rib cage in relation to the pelvis which gives the students a rhythm to work from. First we did gesture and now we’re doing specifically anatomy, so we’ve covered the skeletal system and now we’re doing the superficial muscular system, so all the muscles that you see on the model.”

While the students sketch the model, Pettibone had Johnny Cash and the Beatles playing quietly from speakers in the room creating a comfortable and respectful vibe. Occasionally, the artists held up their pencils to estimate the proportions of the model or take a moment to check out the angles. The professor casually roamed the room to check on the drawings or give advice.

“Models are great, models are really appreciated,” Bryce Fredrick, a print-making major who also does some nude modeling herself, said. “I know how it is, in terms of getting naked in front a bunch of people you don’t know. My other model friend Iris really said that she gets meditative because it’s all about directing attention and being okay with eyes on you.”

Fredrick has been doing life drawing for over six years and appreciates nude modeling as crucial to the learning process for artists.

“The best way that you can connect with people is to draw people. It’s much easier than looking at a flower and being like ‘what is this flower feeling?’ We’re so tuned in to body language and facial cues and even tiny, subtle gestures that having live models is really essential,” said Fredrick. “Every single time you learn something different, and something new and awesome. It’s not just skinny girls like in fashion, it’s every single shape that you can imagine, every age you can imagine, and you learn something from absolutely everyone so it really helps deepen your appreciation for people in general.”

Even as an artist Fredrick has had to grapple with some of the awkwardness about nudity, but through supportive friends and confidence in her own work she was able to feel more comfortable.

“I just put up two pieces in Middle Way Cafe and it’s a nude portrait of myself and my boyfriend, and I’m getting a lot of people who tell me they’ve seen my pieces and could recognize that it was me. It is sort of weird, but a friend of mine commented on an Instagram post and said something really nice: ‘if anyone complains about it they need to look in the mirror at their own humanness.’ Like, everyone is naked at some point, it’s about vulnerability and recognizing beauty.”

Kenyon said she feels more comfortable in her own skin and about nudity in general as a result of being a nude model, even though being naked is often considered a taboo topic in society.

“Some people are really against this whole thing, like my grandma freaked when she found out. She was like ‘I cannot believe you’re letting people see that, that’s sacred.’ I think this generation takes it differently, which I’m glad about because I do really think it’s helps people learn. I think the human body is beautiful in every shape and size and I’m glad that they have to learn that. They paint everything and they think everything is beautiful and they make it beautiful in their art. I feel comfortable getting naked, so everyone else should too.”

Fine arts and modeling plays a big role in self-exploration and understanding the world, and nude modeling is one way to see a whole new side of art and humanity. Student-run life modeling sessions hosted by the Art Student Association will start around mid-March on Saturday evenings in the Arts Building room 101. The first session is free and all are welcome.

Hope y'all find it interesting :)

part 2
 

Time for another story.

It's an article about university models in Michigan. It's long, I shortened it by removing some parts about male models. If you're interested in those too, just read the original:
hxxps://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/nude-models/



“You know that dream that everyone has when you wake up and you’re in the middle of a classroom and you’re naked?” Colleen Cirocco asked rhetorically.

“I’m over that.”

Cirocco, an LSA senior, is “over” the age-old naked-at-school nightmare because she faces it head-on. She gets naked at school, and she does it a lot. Cirocco is one of about 30 models employed part-time by the School of Art & Design to pose nude before students in figure drawing, painting and sculpture classes.

Naturally, the idea of walking into a well lit classroom, mounting a stage and disrobing in front of a group of University students doesn’t appeal to everyone. Nude modeling pays well, though, and it offers an unorthodox employment opportunity in a college town where part-time work can be excruciatingly normal.

Nude modeling gigs at the University are available to students and non-students alike, and while many models came to pose after hearing about the money-making endeavor through friends, others stumbled upon it as a new avenue to self-enrichment.

In Cirocco’s case, nude modeling offers the chance to interface with art and participate in its creation.

“I really am interested in helping people learn how to do art,” she said. “This was another way for me to offer myself, to show people a different skill and to help the students learn how to draw better.”

When she’s not modeling, Cirocco commits her time to the Prison Creative Arts Project, through which she gets another chance to contribute to the conception of art by assisting prisoners with writing. Nude modeling offers her something different, though, because it allows her to challenge her self image.

“Growing up, I always had body-image issues, and I think I overcame a lot of those in college,” she explained. “And modeling — being naked in a room full of people who are looking at you really closely and drawing all of your imperfections — was a way for me to sort of conquer that, once and for all.”

More than self confidence and social courage, what models depend on to survive a posing session is a creative mind capable of keeping itself stimulated. The strategies vary, but the models all have a few go-to methods for preserving their sanity while they arrest their motion in the center of the classroom.

Cirocco, on the other hand, takes an approach less steeped in reality, often role-playing characters as she poses for a class.

“Most of the time I direct my own poses, and I try to really tell a story with them,” she said. “I try to think of a person who might be doing this pose. Like, where are they? Who are they? Where are they going? And I try to create a persona.

“I don’t know if that comes across for the artists in the class,” she conceded.

In Cirocco’s estimation, the role-playing method not only serves to keep her occupied, but also acts to the benefit of students because it lets her find more authentic human body positions. While she models though, she’s dedicated to remaining aware of her situation, because she appreciates the novelty of the opportunity. In her eyes, modeling lets her “walk the line between fantasy and reality.”

For other models, the mid-session mental aerobics tend toward banal survivalism. Jenny Cunningham, a recent University graduate, spends her time posing thinking through grocery lists, reflecting on her other part-time jobs and coming up with ways to make rent.

“It still gets boring,” she said, despite her best efforts to make the experience stimulating.

Most poses, however, do not allow the figure models the pleasure of kicking back in a reclining position. Instead, they often take positions which become surprisingly strenuous, especially when the model holds them for a particularly long amount of time. The models are given a few five-minute breaks every session, but, in the end, the physical exhaustion of modeling rivals the mental exhaustion.

In the most extreme cases, exhausted models have been known to faint on their feet and slump to the ground. Cirocco, who nearly lost consciousness while holding a standing pose in one of her first sessions for a sculpture class, recalled one story told to her by a professor.

“He told me about one time when a model passed out, she fell off the pedestal and he had to catch her,” she said.

Shockingly, none of the students in that particular class even rose to help the professor shoulder the burden of their fallen model, ostensibly because they were so ingrained in their work that they had begun to perceive of the model as an infallible object.

Of course, the models are never perfect in their posing, even if their injuries and mishaps don’t require heroic professor intervention. Most of the time, they simply get tired and sore.

It’s natural to assume that the greatest impediment facing any nude model would be sheer nerves, but after talking to them, it’s no surprise that most of them claim to have gotten over their inhibitions in the first few minutes of a session and never looked back. Indeed, by allowing themselves to appreciate the artistic process they are making possible, or by temporarily perceiving themselves as merely a collection of lines and shapes, the models can approach their work high on satisfaction and low on reservations.

Impressively, the models all seem as cognizant of the importance of nude models as the professors and students do.

“It’s never about me as a naked person. It’s about the body in its natural state, and it just happens to be my body that day,” Jenny Cunningham explained. “It’s really professional.”

“I understand the importance of having live bodies to work off of. It’s totally different if they’re wearing a leotard, or if it’s a sculpture that’s already there. You really need an individual’s body so you can study how the muscles react when you shift weight, and how somebody’s bones look and where everything’s situated.”

Amanda Olson, an Art & Design senior who has studied nude models in figure drawing classes, agrees that studying nude models, as opposed to clothed models or objects, is essential to “understanding the form of the human body.”

Jeremy Daly, also an Art & Design senior, put it similarly: “There’s nothing like drawing from life.”

In a form he hands out to students at the onset of drawing classes studying nude figures, Art & Design and Residential College professor Larry Cressman offers his feelings on the importance of nude models.

“Drawing from the nude model is considered an essential part of artistic training. It refers to the larger experiences of life, with all its shifting meanings and nuances.”

He also shows a deep appreciation for the figure models making the art possible.

“For the model it is hard work. We treat them with great respect.”

Given the propensity of part-time work to crush enthusiasm through monotony, it’s encouraging to see how seriously most models take their work — Jenny Cunningham quickly recounted how immensely guilty she felt after accidentally sleeping through a scheduled modeling session. Not to mention how much most of them enjoy it — Steve Cunningham said that, even if modeling didn’t pay, he’d pursue it as a part-time hobby.

Because of the professionalism and commitment of the models, and the context in which they’re working, there’s simply nothing weird about nude modeling for the parties involved. The study of nude figures is a time-honored educational technique that endures for good reason: The students, professors and models all find it constructive.

Fortunately, university education can provide a learning environment free of taboos, and in Jenny Cunningham’s opinion, nudity is no exception.

“It’s totally normal here in the art school.”

Thanks!
 

Thanks so much for the Alaska article. I have been looking for it and couldn't find it anymore. It must be at least 15 years old. As you said, it's not available.

You wouldn't happen to have the pics that go with the article would you? The one of Kenyon is really cute.

Thanks again!

The article was from 2016, so I'm surprised it's no longer available. The pic I remember, but don't have it unfortunately.

Glad you enjoyed. And I still have loads of texts to post! :D

Asian
 

Who likes asian? :D

This is an article about an Asian-American model. It even features some pics. Not too revealing, as usual in such articles, but still nice to see them ;)



When Guillermo Tapia invited me to participate in a nude drawing session, I envisioned a French parlor room setting where steely-eyed, mustachioed artists slaved away over large sheets of paper. The actual class couldn’t have been more different.

Five artists and I recently gathered in a cozy artspace just north of Race Street in the Riverside area. The night’s model was in high spirits. Grace Pham, wearing an oversized rain jacket to cover her nude body, told me the drawing sessions are a great way to meet other local artists.

“Were you nervous the first time you did this?” I asked.

“No,” she replied without hesitating. “I’ve always been pretty outgoing.”

Tapia soon got down to business.

“Tonight, we’re doing five one-minute sessions, three five-minute sessions, and one 30-minute session,” he said. “You guys ready? Start.”

Pham casually disrobed and assumed a seated position with her left hand resting on her elevated left knee.

I’ll admit, I was a little skittish about what to expect. And it took me a few minutes to feel comfortable resting my eyes on Pham without feeling like I was gawking. Once I got over that barrier, though, there were many more challenges to come.

Digital artist Alan Linnstaedt, presumably sensing my befuddlement, offered some advice.

“I wouldn’t get into super-fine details,” he said to me as I fumbled my way through the first couple of drawings.

With my weapon of choice, a stick of charcoal, I barely outlined one side of Pham’s body before Tapia called time. The opening exercises, I later found, were warm-ups, intended to prepare the hands and mind for the longer stretches to come. Pham proved an adept model that evening. Each pose — whether with her arms outstretched, with her fist pensively supporting her chin, or while dreamily lying on her side — was held patiently. Over the next hour, I learned how hard drawing from a model can be. My attempts were more human-ish looking than human.

As the drawing session ended, the young artists thanked Tapia for hosting the event. Many commented on how difficult it is to find local, affordable events like the one they just attended. The participants donated what money they could to cover the cost of the model.

The figurative sketching classes are barely one year old. Last summer, Tapia employed the concept to attract locals to a different Race Street studio, one in need of tenants. The sessions proved so popular that Tapia began hosting them regularly, along with fee-based classes led by local artist Alexa Alarcon and others. Tapia branded his concept Artluck. More established artists like Jeremy Joel, Brandon Pederson, and Jay Wilkinson had opened a group studio nearby dubbed Bobby on Drums just months earlier. The timing was auspicious. Tapia began hosting figurative drawing sessions at Bobby on Drums, and young painters flocked to see the popular artists’ workspace.

That summer, Noel Viramontes, founder of the artspace/venue FWBLACKHOUSE (pronounced “Fort Worth Black House”), connected with Tapia via Instagram. The two shared an online interest in the Riverside area, and the friendship soon led to artistic collaborations.

“We like to bring the arts into locations that don’t have it yet,” Viramontes said, adding that he and Tapia “both saw potential in neighborhoods” along Race Street.

By the River Art Fest, held off Race Street last June, featured 11 artists, including Tapia, Wilkinson, Atticus Broadbent, and Julian Gonzales.

“FWBLACKHOUSE really helped us out” with that show, Guillermo said, adding that Artluck is “about collaborations.”

Over the following year, Artluck’s programs expanded to include pop-up shows, lectures, mixers, and other artist-related events. Last March, Artluck presented the pop-up Good Bones at the nearby venue The Post. The open-air event space on Race Street drew several dozen fans to see paintings and photographs by Tapia, Laura Bacigalupo, John Fernandez, and several other artists.

Tapia credits businesses like Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer and The Collective Brewing Project for donating product, providing spaces for his shows, and boosting the resources available to Artluck.

Dee Lara, a friend of Tapia’s and founder of the hybrid art gallery Art Tooth, said Artluck “taps into Fort Worth’s rich tradition in drawing and painting and expands it by establishing a community space for access to educational art without the typical barriers for entry.”

Lara and many of the artists who attended the recent drawing session noted that those opportunities are largely limited to academic settings.

“We’re still figuring out the best use of our time,” Tapia said, referring to the balancing act of organizing shows and providing figurative drawing sessions. “We’d like to reach outside of the Riverside area and see where that takes us. We’re expanding the arts scene in Fort Worth, and the best way to go about it is through collaborations. We hope to expand into the city and beyond.”


hxxps://www.fwweekly.com/2017/05/10/welcome-artluck/

new one
 

This time, a bit shorter text from Canada. There are two pics (sadly, not showing any highlights, as usual) but I couldn't add them here for some reason.


hxxps://www.guelphmercury.com/life/fine-art-models-dispel-myths-about-posing-nude/article_1ef8d01b-678e-563e-b8ef-4443ee668a17.html


WINNIPEG — Since taking her first uncertain steps into a University of Manitoba sketch class eight years ago, Marley Rae McDuff has been inviting people to look.

Now, the fine art model wants them to listen.

“I want people to have a better understanding about what it is that a fine art model does,” said McDuff, 40. “It’s serious. It’s work. It’s hard work for many people. And it’s not something to be ashamed of.”

Because sometimes shame is pushed on fine art models, McDuff said. Shame, and stigma: the guy who told her that what she was doing was immoral and “no better than pornography.” The friend who told her that it wasn’t “really work.”

Not so, say the 286 members of the reDEFINEartsconnective. It’s a group of fine art models aiming to fight stigma, strengthen the industry, and show the world how beautiful their work can be, even before it makes it to a gallery wall.

McDuff founded the group in 2008. At first, it was slow to grow. “It was more like me by myself,” she says with a laugh. “Some big collective.”

Now, the models are uniting behind the cause: in the last year, reDEFINE’s membership has exploded.

Shortly after Muriel Torchia stumbled on the reDEFINEartsconnective’s Facebook page of job opportunities two years ago, she found herself standing nude before members of the Winnipeg Sketch Club.

Now, she’s hooked. “I didn’t expect I’d be doing it for this long,” said Torchia, 27. “It’s been really rewarding. It’s made me a lot more confident.”

But Torchia, who models for the Winnipeg Art Gallery, has also seen the stereotypes. One would-be photographer asked if she did anything “extra, off-camera.” Others assume her relationship with her fiancé must be on the rocks.

“Artistic modelling is not sexual in nature,” she said. “There is a difference between nudity and sexuality. If this was Europe, or South America, I don’t think there’d be the same derogatory idea that comes with it. Here, people are like ‘Oh my goodness, you pose nude? What do people think of this?’ ”

Torchia, McDuff and other members of the collective are ready to show Winnipeg just what the art modelling world is made of. They’re working on a breast cancer benefit show; they hold safety seminars; they advocate for healthy wages and increased awareness of the challenges of posing for an artist’s pen.

“It’s essential,” said Winnipeg artist Robert Sim. “You need to be familiar with what a body looks like, how they move. You can work from photographs, but you’ll learn far less about the construction of the body. And then when it comes to constructing figures out of your imagination ... it will be exceedingly difficult.”

To help artists master that understanding, Torchia, McDuff and their peers will explode in goosebumps in an unheated studio, twist their bodies into striking poses, and hold still for hours.

They can make anywhere from $15 to $40 an hour.

“I would like to see someone else actively stand or lie in the same position for even 15 minutes without moving or appearing different.” Torchia laughs. “It’s not always an easy job to do.”

pics for previous article
 

Here are the pics from this article. Interestingly, the captions in the article say that the artist shown is actually another model.

NZL
 

Here's the next story, from New Zealand!

From a nervous first-timer to relaxed model (and a nice MILF if you're interested in such stuff :P). The photo shows her with a drawing from when she posed pregnant.

hxxps://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/summer-times/completely-composed-life-model-confides

Life drawing model Rhia Robb went from being a bundle of nerves as a first-timer to a regular who has become so relaxed she has gone to sleep while posing.
Miss Robb, who has three children and is a master's student studying social policy, has been a regular life drawing model for the past couple of years, modelling while pregnant and breastfeeding.

"After my pregnancy with my second child I thought, `My body's amazing, I can run, I can have babies, I can do these things'."

She also recognised she was getting closer to 40 (she is 37), and wanted "a story when I'm older".

Following naked fear, elation
Life drawing fundamental skill for artists to attain
Of her first time as a model, Miss Robb said she was extremely nervous.

"I knew it was one of those things; I just had to drop my robe and do it.

"I was in the middle of the room, there were about 20 people.

"It was just like `drop your robe', and I did, and I was naked in front of 20 people."

She said during her first stint she perspired a lot, was "quite uptight" and strongly aware of her feelings of modesty in front of younger and older people, and men.

Now, however, it was just a job

"It doesn't bother me any more.

"I feel capable, confident, they're not there to critique me; more than anything they're concerned about their line or their drawing, they're not there to judge me."

She had modelled right through her youngest son's pregnancy, and taken him to life drawing sessions, allowing the art students to draw while she breastfed.

"It's a good little job.

"I like it; it makes me think about my body in different ways.

"I'm not really concerned at this point in my life about wrinkles or cellulite or things like that, and it's quite nice to just see beauty in the shape and the change."

new
 

This time, a teenage model for change (19)! Enjoy :)


hxxps://www.denverpost.com/2013/04/26/nude-models-are-crucial-figures-in-csu-art-class/

FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Makenna Caballer wakes up, puts on makeup, chooses an outfit and makes her way to the Visual Arts Building on Colorado State University’s campus.

Then she undresses—all eyes turn to her figure made warm by overhead lights as the work day begins.

The 19-year-old is one among a handful of students working as models in the university’s art department. Their bodies—some lean, others muscular and curvy—are analyzed, measured and assessed by artists who take the image of a living, breathing person and splash it upon the blank canvases before them.

These people are muses, subjects of intense scrutiny by budding art students learning the idiosyncrasies of the human form.



REKLAMA

“I don’t see them as a nude person,” said Gracie Stamps, a 20-year-old sophomore studying art and journalism at CSU. “I just see them as a problem you have to solve. Taking them from real life to paper.”

“It’s a different way of drawing than using a picture,” she said, explaining the challenge of visualizing a person’s mathematically complex proportions or using reality to break preconceived notions of what a head or arm really looks like. There’s something intricate, different about taking a model from the third- to second-dimension.

A tan blanket wrapped around her petite but “curvy” frame like a bathroom towel, Caballer waited for the Introduction to Figure Drawing course to begin on a recent Thursday morning. When seven students were seated and waiting upon wooden benches, Caballer’s bare feet carried her across the cool, paint-speckled concrete to a short stage splashed with light.

For the next 20 minutes or so, she’d bend at the waist or raise a graceful arm above her head in a series of faster-paced gestures. Onlooking students made quick to capture her changing curves and motion in the reds and browns of conte crayon—a claylike medium.

Caballer’s face stayed calm, focused. If she minded fellow students looking on upon the Mickey and Minnie head tattoos near her collarbones—or anything else, for that matter—an observer couldn’t tell.



“It just kind of came naturally,” Caballer said of modeling nude for a class for the first time last semester. After taking the job her roommate and friend, Shelby Thomas, saw advertised online, the undeclared major was “honestly mostly nervous about the modeling and gesture aspect, than my body.”
While there was a time not that long ago when Caballer’s confidence dipped low, that time is no longer. “I’m pretty confident about my body,” she said, adding that modeling has helped grow appreciation of herself.


Eyebrows raise and voice pitches creep up a decibel occasionally when the models tell people what they do.



Associate professor Gary Keimig knows times are changing.

For one, there’s no more talk of controversy that once had people objecting to enrolling in classes that used nude models. The last of such talk ended roughly 15 years ago, he said.

More recent, however, is the shift to a quicker-paced artistic world that’s seen its fair share of digital integration. At some institutes, students work solely from printed images and digital projections.

“It would be a completely different experience,” Keimig said of a figure-drawing class absent a living model and the opportunity to see, up close, the anatomy of a human being.

“It’s the difference between something that’s real and something that’s virtual,” said Keimig, who believes our culture, in some ways, blurs the two.

But that isn’t the case at CSU, where the three models interviewed by the Coloradoan agreed something would be lost from art education should digital images replace them.

“It’s a rare treat,” Hasler said of students’ opportunity to draw with a sense of urgency that comes from having a model set before them.

“Students quickly move beyond this naked person” to recognizing their bodies as art, she said during a class break.

“You really look at a person in a different way.”

Deutschland!
 

This time something from Germany. No link, cause it's unavailable + it was in German anyway. There were no photos either.


Eichstätt. A room flooded with neon light, where tables are arranged in a U-shape. It smells of acrylic paint. There's a lounger in the middle of the room with a nude woman on it. The students at the tables are constantly scratching with pencils in their sketch pads. No one is talking. An electric radiator by the lounger is buzzing steadily. The students raise their eyes on and off timidly from their pads and scrutinize the young woman. She's slender, her body feminine. In the sketchpads, from the lines, dots and shadings, the model's contours slowly emerge.

The nude woman is Rosi Bundz. She studies journalism at the KU and works as a nude art model once a week. She doesn't do the job because of the money. She says she wants to try new and unique experiences.

After 15 minutes, Rosi changes the pose. Now she's lying with her legs bent. It looks like she's sleeping. However, for her modeling is far from relaxing. "After having to stay in one pose for 10 minutes straight, everything hurts!"

Slowly, the focused silence in the room disappears. The students start to chat about everyday topics. The tutor walks through the room giving advice. A young woman rustles through the contents of her wooden case. Rosi is still sitting there without moving.

Nude for art.

"The first time I appeared nude in front of the students, it was kinda weird for me", says Rosi. She wasn't scared, but it felt uneasy — under all those looks.

The students' pencils are still dancing over their sketchpads. Various works of art take shape in this paint-splattered art room with loads of easels and paintings. Some painters recreate the model with huge attention to detail, while others draw in an abstract and distorted style.

Rosi laughs when she says she has already seen the wildest drawings of her. "Once I had huge breasts, another time countless body folds. Sometimes I couldn't recognize myself at all." She always squints at the clock while holding a pose. A student pulls her jacket on. The cold slowly crawls across the model's naked skin, but Rosi stays resilient.

She has already seen many crazy situations in her job as a nude art model. "Once I stood in a flowerbed and couldn't move — meanwhile, many small insects climbed up my legs!"

After 3 hours, Rosi is done. She earned €48 today. She slips into her black coat and makes herself coffee to warm up. An eraser scrubs a drawing for the last time. Then the neon tubes in the art room go out. In a week, Rosi will stand here again and get undressed in front of the students.

English one
 

This time something from the UK.
hxxps://gwtoday.gwu.edu/literary-disrobing


In 2002, Kathleen Rooney suddenly found herself unemployed after resisting the advances of a supervisor. But in her next job, Ms. Rooney, then a GW senior, received a lot more respect — even with the no-clothes dress code.

Ms. Rooney’s experience working as a nude model for students at the Corcoran College of Art and Design led to her 2009 book, “Live Nude Girl: My Life as an Object,” in which she combines her personal experiences as a nude model with stories of other models and artists.

“[Nude modeling] is meditative and interesting and you get to meet all kinds of talented people you would never encounter otherwise,” says Ms. Rooney, who now lives in Chicago. “These days, though I don’t need to do it for the money, I still pose privately for artists and classes just because I enjoy the work so much.”

Ms. Rooney discovered the nude modeling job in the Washington City Paper classifieds. Her salary was double that of her old job and—ironically—she was “more respected and less harassed” as a model than in her previous position.

Ms. Rooney says the response to her book has been positive.

“When the artists who I work with and my fellow art models read the book, their feedback is typically either ‘I’ve always wondered what models were thinking or how the process feels from their perspective,’ or ‘You really nailed how it feels to be an art model,’” she says. “One of my goals was to be as accurate and honest about the nude modeling experience as possible, and I feel as though I hit that target.”

But nude modeling is just one of many subjects Ms. Rooney has written about. She has published two other works of nonfiction—“Reading with Oprah: The Book Club that Changed America” and “For You, For You I Am Trilling These Songs”—as well as several works of poetry.

“For You” is a collection of personal essays about experiences ranging from her former job as an aide in Senator Dick Durbin’s office to falling in love. The title of Ms. Rooney’s book is a line from the Walt Whitman poem “O, Democracy,” which she chose because of the “loving and ecstatic” way Whitman can write about himself and the United States “even when he’s writing about hurtful and disappointing subjects.”

In her essays, Ms. Rooney weaves in words and experiences from authors she admires, including Whitman, George Orwell and John Berryman. “I also used a lot of fictional techniques like putting pieces in the third person, short-story style to experiment with distance and point of view and to write about subjects and events that might have been impossible to tackle from a first-person perspective,” she says.

To create her poetry, Ms. Rooney says she draws on musings jotted down in a personal notebook. Poems e-mailed back and forth between Ms. Rooney and her friend Elisa Gabbert have also led to a full-length book and two short chapbooks of poetry. “I love to appropriate the language of other venues—especially of business and the ‘professional’ world, since I’m fascinated by ‘work’ and how much time Americans spend at it—into my poems,” she says.

Ms. Rooney attributes her love of poetry to her parents, who were “constantly reading” to her and her sisters, and to two children’s books—“ Richard Scarry’s “Best Mother Goose Ever” and “ I Wish I Had a Computer That Makes Waffles: Teaching Your Child With Modern Nursery Rhymes” —which she describes as “the touchstones of my super-early literary development.”

As if writing doesn’t keep her busy enough, Ms. Rooney also helps manage Rose Metal Press, an independent, nonprofit publisher. The press, founded in 2006, publishes works out of the mainstream and “not so easily categorized,” including prose poetry, flash fiction or novels-in-verse. Ms. Rooney and co-founder Abby Beckel “do everything” from taxes and selecting new manuscripts to setting up book tours and printing the books themselves.

“Because we are independent and nonprofit, we limit ourselves to releasing two full-length books and one chapbook a year, but we also have the freedom to do whatever we want, which is one of the best feelings ever,” she says.

When she first came to GW, Ms. Rooney says she was more interested in pursuing politics than writing, but was drawn to GW’s English Department because of “stellar” professors, including Professors of English Jane Shore and Tara Wallace.

“Tara is probably my number one role model of what a college professor should be in terms of being a total expert in her chosen field, conveying that knowledge with incredible depth and enthusiasm, and always treating her students like the independent and free-thinking adults that they are,” says Ms. Rooney.

Associate Professor of English Margaret Soltan, who served as Ms. Rooney’s thesis adviser, also helped Ms. Rooney start her research for her first book, 2005’s “Reading With Oprah.”

“Writing and reading have always been pursuits that I loved, but GW, much to my surprise, taught me that they were things that I could—and probably should—do professionally for the rest of my life,” she says.

As for anyone considering disrobing for art, Ms. Rooney says she encourages it. “Art modeling is one of the few arenas in which all bodies—all sizes, ages, races and genders—are equally necessary and admired, which makes an art studio a refreshing space to occupy,” she says. “You might discover that it’s not for you—not necessarily because of the nudity, but because, if you don’t like to sit very still and have nothing to do but think, you’ll find it violently boring—but then again, you might find it unexpectedly entertaining and addictive.”