WNBR 2022

[schlubby]

Originally Posted by aquafreshh

I find it hard to believe that there are so few 2022 PDX photos out there, especially when it consistently produced some of the best WNBR in the past. Is it possible that Portland really could have gone from tons of women freely dancing and openly posing for pictures (see a small sampling below) to an event where there’s barely a trace of its existence in such a short time span?! [Sigh] I miss the likes of Clickr73, cocofiji, Antwon, Irishboy, etc.....

There may end up being more pics or there may not, but it's only been 5 days. If you look at the uploaded dates on Flickr, clikr73's classic 2019 album was uploaded the Thursday after the ride: flickr.com/photos/27228519@N02/albums/72157709454567171
cocofiji's Fremont sets were at least 2 weeks after the Solstice parades: flickr.com/photos/cocofiji/albums/72157682644935794
Antwone's sets came out a week or two after the event, when they didn't come out years afterward. The point is, it's still very early.


Not photos, but relatedly, posted this morning, a very nice 7.5-minute video of the starting location taken by a guy who was not part of the ride:
youtube.com/watch?v=60V_0obcbHI

[Whitey_6]

The Portland WNBR is probably the best WNBR in the world but has the least amount of coverage.

When I went in 2016 it was awesome and really fun but anyone with a camera or cellphone out would get verbally harassed even though it's right in the middle of a busy public park with some regular bystanders who didn't even know the event was happening.

I don't want it to end up like all the lame UK rides with 10000 photographers for every 1 naked girl though. Next year when I go I'll just be naked and mix in with the crowd...with my camera out lol

[aquafreshh]

Originally Posted by GirlsandBeer

I guess you didn’t read my post on the previous 2 pages. I live in Portland and was there, there were LOTS of naked and topless girls, a good amount were hot too.

However, any photogs who were not part of the ride were hindered from taking photos with extreme prejudice.

I did read your post, but like Whitey_6 also just attested to, photographers in previous years were hounded as well, yet the majority of participants didn’t seem to be too concerned with being photographed nude (it is Portland after all), and loads of incredible photographs were still taken and widely circulated. How could have such a drastic change occurred in such a relatively short period of time? It has to be more than just an uptick in photographer harassment....could the changes to Flickr be responsible, at least in part? I have to believe that there are huge caches of photos out there, they just need to be uncovered.

[eskimojoe]

The Portland WNBR is notorious for being anti-photographer. The ones who seem to be ok with being photographed are in the minority by far. Most of the ride occurs at twilight or after dark, the photos you see of afternoon pre-gamers are the few bold enough to appear nude in public and, sure, I guess they're more likely to pose for pics. This was also a year of poor showings in London and Brighton, and there is the ongoing trend of these pictures being circulated online for years after the ride takes place, means women are less likely to participate in general. Or at least that's the feedback I've heard from them.

[fyzyx]

the portland ride is not anti-photographer. there are plenty of ways you can film the crowd without getting harassed. personally i would suggest bringing a bike and taking your clothes off - be a part of the party and you're just another person having fun documenting the experience. many, if not most, of the riders are taking pics of themselves and other people throughout the event. you can walk around with your phone out (get an app that turns your screen black while recording and you can be pretty DL about this), you can attach a go-pro to your bike and walk it through the crowd or just chain it up somewhere with a lot of foot traffic.

what if you want to keep your clothes on, and bring a camera with a huge lens? well, maybe some people will give you a hard time... but if you are taking people's pictures with a camera like that, while not being vulnerable yourself, and not taking part in the event, and not asking for permission, i can see why people would take exception - let's say you're at the park one day, fully clothed, just hanging out with friends. do you want some random stranger with professional camera equipment following you around and taking your picture without permission? it's easy to imagine that you wouldn't want that (i sure wouldn't), even if you were wearing all your clothes. add nudity to the equation and i think it's only fair that people expect a little bit of common courtesy.

the solution is simple - before shoving your zoom lens in somebody's genitals, ASK for permission. i mean, duh. "can i take your picture?" the worst they can do is say no. this is just common sense. this is literally the way that antwone gets most of his pics. he walks up to a hot girl or group of girls, and he asks them. if they say no, he moves on.

another easy solution for people with huge cameras, is to use the zoom from far enough away from the crowd that you aren't bothering them. i've seen new cameras that can zoom in on shit from like a mile away. keep your distance and nobody will care. i've seen plenty of guys taking pics this way. i would expect people here know better than to bring a zoom lens to the nude beach and walk directly up to people and start taking their pictures from 10 feet away without permission. which is essentially what these dudes are doing at WNBR. it's just rude behavior (even though i appreciate the results).

ALL OF THAT SAID, i would not expect a huge bounty from this year's ride. usually the pre-party starts at 5 or 6, this year it started at 8. it also happened at the end of july instead of right after the solstice, meaning the sun set earlier that day. by the time the crowd started getting large, it was already dark enough that getting good pics with cheap equipment was pretty tough. also, antwone wasn't there, and he always had the best pics.

[nancytt]

When the wnbr first started in 2004 in my hometown of vancouver the first couple of years most of the women were militant about people not taking their photos. People with cameras reminded them that it is legal (in canada) to take pictures of people in public. Most of these women did not ride again. One year two guys and a gal left the pre-ride complaining about the photographers and i yelled -good riddance we do not need you anyway. I mean (and this has been remarked on this site before) --u are naked in public what the hell do you expect.

My suggestion would be to just get naked and they will loosen up---also you might just find it very fun. Vancouver does not get many repeat women but from the rides I have been to (which is 14 out of 18 rides) most women on the ride were ok with being photographed with the odd exception.

We did have one ride though where a person with mental problems was trying to smash peoples cameras at the pre-ride body painting--but the police took care of him. Actually (sorry to ramble) it was kind of funny in some of the earliest rides there was one or two women that would complain to the police with the expectation that people taking pictures would be arrested. They were in for a rude surprise

[fyzyx]

portland and vancouver are about exactly the same size, population wise, yet i think most would agree that portland has a much larger wnbr and also produces much better photography. so i'm not sure "it's technically legal to creep the girls out so they don't come back" is a great strategy.

[brunettesrule]

Originally Posted by nancytt

When the wnbr first started in 2004 in my hometown of vancouver the first couple of years most of the women were militant about people not taking their photos.

I mean, for crying out loud, the whole point of the event is to bring public awareness to a cause -- human-powered transit, instead of petroleum, among other things. There SHOULD be people out there with cameras - especially the press. It's not called the "Secret Nude Bike Ride, Shhhhhhh!" That being said, I do get the discomfort of being bum-rushed by a bunch of socially awkward, rude photographers. But that's a different issue (keeping a polite distance).

[nancytt]

Originally Posted by fyzyx

portland and vancouver are about exactly the same size, population wise, yet i think most would agree that portland has a much larger wnbr and also produces much better photography. so i'm not sure "it's technically legal to creep the girls out so they don't come back" is a great strategy.

Vancouver has always been a hard place to find pictures because the only significant publishers are myself and irishboy. The pictures are out there in the hands of many older Asian men and wnbr participants who just don't seem to publish for whatever reason. As for bigger rides Vancouver is straight up prude compared to portland, and don't forget portland big ride is a nighttime one.

I did not mean to give the impression that I think it's a strategy or funny to creep out any women participants. This does happen sometimes and is unfortunate. The women I was referring to would like canvas the whole area verbally berating photographers that were like 30-40 feet away from them. They were just pissed that someone took their picture without unrequired permission-naked or not.

Again I do not want to make anyone uncomfotable and I do keep somewhat of a distance (I mean who doesn't have a zoom lens today) but this is a ride to raise awareness.....

[fyzyx]

sorry, seems i kinda misunderstood you

i just find the behavior of some the "vultures circling" type photographers to be counter productive. the portland ride really does make an effort to keep women comfortable, which i think is a big reason why the ride here is so successful.

The pictures are out there in the hands of many older Asian men and wnbr participants who just don't seem to publish for whatever reason.

pretty much every year i see thousands of people taking pictures and think "oh there'll be a ton of great pictures", but most people just hoard them for themselves. i've got stuff going back to 2015 and haven't released any of it so i guess i can't complain. kinda a lot of work to edit down to the good parts.