[Fango]

It's been a while since we've checked in with this project. There's nothing new, but I did discover that Erica turned the photos into NFTs a couple years ago:

opensea.io/collection/nue-york-by-erica-simone

The photos are available on that site in the highest quality that I've ever seen them in. Several have been posted in that quality before, in the posts immediately above, but not all of them, and I believe there are also some photos there that were never posted in this thread. So, I decided to put together a definitive collection of all of the Nue York photos in one place. There are 50 "official" photos in the project. These are ordered according to the numbers that were assigned to them on the NFT site. I'm not sure what the significance of these numbers might be; it's not strictly chronological, since the photo she says she took first is #2 and the photo she says she took last is #42. The photos are officially unnamed, but I decided to give them descriptive/clever(?)/funny(??) titles, just for fun. There are also 9 "outtake" photos that were only ever posted at her personal website years ago, but are no longer there, and are harder to find now outside of this thread. If anyone has or knows of any more of these "outtake" photos, please post.

There are also 3 videos associated with the project, two interviews and one promo, which obviously can't be uploaded here, but they'll be available on my MEGA for as long as my MEGA exists:

https://mega.nz/file/QT5lmSRD#boTKAB...DYRlta6SNM pg

I also love some of the things that she's said about doing this project over the years:

With a tripod and a dose of adrenaline, I took to the busy streets to get a taste of New York in the nude. The point is not to be naked for shock value. I am simply an artist looking to humorously explore some interesting thoughts about society and question who we are and embody as human beings.

ericasimone.com/the-book

WINS: It sounds like it's a lot of fun, I'm sure it takes a lot of guts to do it.

Simone: It is a lot of fun, that's most of the reason why I do it is because it's so much fun and it's thrilling. I'm not an exhibitionist, I'm not particularly somebody who loves to be naked, I'm not a nudist. But it is fun and it's definitely an adrenaline rush and it's different from going out and shooting other stuff, definitely more interesting.

cbsnews.com/newyork/news/photographer-erica-simone-bares-all-on-new-york-city-streets-for-new-exhibit/

I don’t tend to think of the sacrifices I make as being “sacrifices,” but more so just experiences. In my nude project, I gave up the privacy of my own body, but it’s not in any way a sacrifice to me. I would never part with anything I couldn’t stand losing. I am passionate about my work, but if I hadn’t been comfortable giving that up, I would have never done it.

https://web.archive.org/web/20150424...ne.com/?p=8487

Simone was also intrigued by the challenge of staging the shots – which she took using a remote sensor – and stripping down to her birthday suit.

“At first it was like, ‘Can I really do this?'” Simone said. “I was into the idea, but I didn’t totally have the [nerve] to do it – I’m not totally an exhibitionist.”

She landed five usable images on her first day of shooting in the West Village.

“And I didn’t get arrested,” she said.

Simone wants to draw people to the playfulness of the shots.

“It’s not about sex, it’s silly,” she said. “It’s crazy that it’s illegal to be naked.”

https://archive.ph/CK5nV

“Taking the photographs is quite exhilarating and challenging—first I have to actually disrobe, and in sometimes very busy environments, which is an adrenaline rush in itself, then I have to make sure to not get caught, and all of that while remaining focused on the outcome of the actual photograph, taking in consideration of all the passerby’s and the composition of the image,” Simone told artnet News in an email.

“People on the street sometimes don’t even notice me, which I love, but when they do, their eyes typically just widen in mild shock or they laugh. I rarely get outrageous reactions from people to be honest. It’s New York City, nothing is crazy here.”

news.artnet.com/art-world/meet-erica-simone-photographer-getting-naked-new-york-407384

Konbini: On a personal level, how freeing was this experience?

Erica Simone: This project has been quite an experience — on many different levels! When I first started it, going nude in public was very challenging.

Since I am not naturally an exhibitionist, it took a lot of strength and conviction, but over the years, I’ve become extremely comfortable shedding my clothing in public, just by nature of repetition.

In that, it’s been extremely freeing-—to not even pay attention to the fact that I’m being observed or care what people think has been a really wonderful learning and personal growth process.

https://web.archive.org/web/20160311...d-photography/

Why did you decide to use yourself as the model?

Several ideas came to mind when I was conceptualizing this project. Initially, the thought was to photograph someone else, but as I thought more about it, it seemed like a much more interesting project to do the series as self-portraits, which would also unify them as a collection. As the photographer and the model, I was able to manifest exactly what I wanted from the image and create greater challenges and therefore rewards. It also became intriguing for me to put myself in that vulnerable place and experiment with going outside my comfort zone. I’m not an exhibitionist, so this wasn’t something that was particularly easy for me—but it was definitely a huge rush, a risk, and has been a lot of fun.

Since you took the images over a six-year period, did you make an effort to keep yourself looking the same during that time?

Not really, although I’ve always tried to stay healthy and in decent shape regardless. My weight has fluctuated over the years, and I just embraced it as much as possible. It was important for me to feel the same sense of bravery and to do my best to not let vanity hold me back from creating, which was another goal of this process: to overcome certain insecurities... some of which I did, some of which I still haven’t. But that’s just human nature, I guess. The project is really about feeling complete in our skin, without the need for clothing or fashion to dictate who we are as people, so within that, it was important for me to be comfortable, regardless of how I was feeling about myself physically.

Penthouse - March 2016 (Included in the ZIP file.)

The last photograph I ever shot for Nue York became the cover of the book. I dreaded the idea of shooting in Times Square, but I knew this book would not be complete without it. Turns out, streaking in public is scary.

twitter.com/ericasimone/status/1620857892189372423

One of the selfies that she took for this photo:

twitter.com/ericasimone/status/1483879404996415490
twitter.com/ericasimone/status/1483877460257099777

Like KeiXght LeiXghn, Erica presents another fascinating psychological case study of a woman who, self-professedly, is not an exhibitionist, who felt all of the nerves and vulnerability and discomfort and fear that getting naked in public could possibly entail, and yet still pushed through all of it anyway, receiving a thrilling rush of adrenaline each and every time she disrobed for all of New York City to see, bravely baring all for the sake of her art. It just makes an already sexy (OK, sorry Erica, "silly/humorous") photography project that much sexier.

Enjoy

Fango