In my own dealings with WNBR riders, the majority recognise that what you might term 'serious photographers' - ie people there for the primary purpose of getting decent quality coverage of the event, which requires fairly heavyweight equipment - pretty much have to be dressed as they'll be flitting about the streets away from the ride a lot of the time.
In the rides I've covered, it's definitely your demeanour and interaction with the participants that marks you out as OK or not. Given that you had men who were taking part walking about trying to get women to pose with them (and their prominent erections), I think just being naked is definitely not a guarantee of being accepted. Any more than being dressed will mean you get a bad reaction.
The famous/infamous Mr Tache is a good case in point. He takes part in the rides but is always fully dressed. And yet he obviously has some charm about him as numerous people, male and female, were more than happy to pose with him in Brighton last year. I got a few shots of him with various people.
|