Skyclad Robert

I got to spend two hours au naturel on the beach, and a beach-side abandoned casa, in Olon, Ecuador. In case you are wondering, there are no naturist beaches or accommodations in Ecuador. One has to make do where conditions are ripe for occasional nudity.

So far, there are nine writers who have agreed to contribute to an anthology of short stories about murders in various naturist/nudist venues around the world. It appears that Germany, Croatia, Canada, The Netherlands, The U.S.A., France, and Britain are represented by one or more authors.

If you are interested, please let me know either via Twitter, email, or message here. I will need your email address to send you an invite to the cloud space where the stories will be posted, edited, and then formatted for publication. All profits from the anthology will be going to a registered charity which has yet to be decided. An editor for the collection is in place, a publisher is in place, and all we need are more writers.

I wake up early each morning here in Ecuador. The first thing I do is to shut off the fans, open the door, go outside and check the weather, and then take care of morning ablutions. Once cleaned up and hair brushed, I put on the coffee maker and head out to our patio to wait.

After a while, my wife brings out the coffee and joins me. I am the only one who embraces naturism, but that doesn’t mean we spent many of our moments apart. It’s about mutual respect.

How do you manage, if both aren’t naturists, giving up the idea of trying to appease the other, or control the other?

Does a "micro" photo have a sexual agenda, all the time? Is there perhaps a message or art or psychological statement that is valuable to be found in a micro shot?

For example, the readers here know that I post full body shots for the most part. And when I don't, it is because there is a mood or message that is being communicated. With my photography this results in bodyless "head and upper body images that focus on light, on emotion, etc. No one has an issue with any of these images.

When I have full body images that are full frontal, the focal point is not the genitals. The complete scene is part of the story. Yet, if I were to take a pose that was simply about proudly announcing that I have a penis, regardless of the fact that my full body showing, would the photo be acceptable? Many, many photos here have no message other than, "Hey look! I have a penis. Look!"

Now, in 2010 my wife took a photo of me. I was in a state of depression (go figure that a psychotherapist has issues) and that had impacted on our relationship (no, we're not divorced or separated). For some reason she placed a bandage on my penis. An image was taken with the intent of portraying the wounded masculine. She is a creative person, a real woman of the earth (think Gaia). Now, that image is powerful. Yet, because of the policies here and the sensibilities that only see black and white, that photo can't be shown here.

A second photo that is in my collection dates from almost forty years ago (yup, been at this photo thing a long time), a photo that was for an exposition at a university along with several other photos in the Fine Arts gallery (the rest being of architectural or nature scenes in black and white). It featured my wife's breast in black and white. It was all about texture, shadows and light with no suggestion of sex to be found. There was no head or the rest of her body either in the image. That photo can't be shown here.

I realise that there are photos that likely don't belong here, but I am not so sure that those photos don't belong because of their being "micro" photos. Censorship is problematical because the lens through which we each, individually, view and understand a photo, is personal and subjective and tainted with our personal prejudices, hangups, complexes, and unconscious associations with images. It is those lenses which turn us into fundamentalists, a dangerous and unhealthy way to be if one is truly trying to be non-judgemental and unconditionally a whole human being.

I am ready to invite participation in my next Naked Poetry book. The book is divided into three sections (there will be three blog posts – one for each section) with the first section looking at the vulnerable, naked human couple. The Naked Poetry series features a photo with every poem. I am looking for submission for nine poems for this "WE" section. Any photo submitted must not be exhibitionist (I decide) nor lewd. Genitals are not to be the focus though that doesn't mean they aren't visible. The idea is to be the focus as the fifteen poems in the section are looking at the conscious development of men and women in relationship. The section focuses on the story of Tristan and Isolde. Submit as many photos as you think would fit the needs. I will, in the end only select one photo per person until I have the ten needed photos. There is no money to be made for you or for me. I keep the costs as low as I can (still too much in my opinion) so that I don't lose money – print-on-demand. Now, the needed photo scenes:

We – Naked Poetry Three Photo Plan

Photo 1 – Tristan & his mother – man in grief, mourning woman posed as dead mother
Photo 2 – Tristan & his anima – sword & harp – masculine & feminine
Photo 3 – Isolde & Tristan – Isolde nurses wounded Tristan
Photo 4 – Tristan & Isolde – drinking love potion
Photo 5 – Tristan & Isolde – in the enchanted forest in love with eyes only for each other
Photo 6 – Tristan & Isolde – veil falls away revealing Isolde (withdrawing projections)
Photo 7 – Tristan & Isolde – leaving the forest (fallen out of love – return to normal life)
Photo 8 – Tristan & Isolde – accepting the loss of fantasy for reality
Photo 9 – Tristan & Isolde – Isolde mourning the dead Tristan

I am ready to invite participation in my next Naked Poetry book. The book is divided into three sections (there will be three blog posts – one for each section) with the first section looking at the vulnerable, naked human female. The Naked Poetry series features a photo with every poem. I am looking for submission for ten poems for this "SHE" section. Any photo submitted must not be exhibitionist (I decide) nor lewd. Genitals are not to be the focus though that doesn't mean they aren't visible. The idea is to be the focus as the fifteen poems in the section are looking at the conscious development of a woman. The section focuses on the story of Aphrodite and Psyche. Submit as many photos as you think would fit the needs. I will, in the end only select one photo per person until I have the ten needed photos. There is no money to be made for you or for me. I keep the costs as low as I can (still too much in my opinion) so that I don't lose money – print-on-demand. Now, the needed photo scenes:

She – Naked Poetry Three Photo Plan

Photo 1 – Psyche – Feeling lonely and misunderstood in outdoor setting
Photo 2 – Psyche – the bride (maybe bouquet and veil)
Photo 3 – Psyche – the Knife/Sword – setting the weapon aside in favour of consciousness
Photo 4 – Psyche – the Light in the Darkness (candle, scented oil lamp, etc.)
Photo 5 – Psyche – Task One – Bringing order out of chaos – sorting scene
Photo 6 – Psyche – Task Two – Gathering gold – Twilight and gathering bits of cloth or wook in nature
Photo 7 – Psyche – Task Three – Filling a crystal goblet with water from a mountain stream, or in a tower going up the steps
Photo 8 – Psyche – Task Four – Opening empty jewelry box
Photo 9 – Psyche – the woman in the mirror
Photo 10 – Psyche – mother and daughter (two women appropriately aged to make representation work)

I am ready to invite participation in my next Naked Poetry book. The book is divided into three sections (there will be three blog posts – one for each section) with the first section looking at the vulnerable, naked human male. The Naked Poetry series features a photo with every poem. I am looking for submission for ten poems for this "HE" section. Any photo submitted must not be exhibitionist (I decide) nor lewd. Genitals are not to be the focus though that doesn't mean they aren't visible. The idea is to be the focus as the fifteen poems in the section are looking at the conscious development of man. The section focuses on the story of the Fisher King. Submit as many photos as you think would fit the needs. I will, in the end only select one photo per person until I have the ten needed photos. There is no money to be made for you or for me. I keep the costs as low as I can (still too much in my opinion) so that I don't lose money – print-on-demand. Now, the needed photo scenes:

He – Naked Poetry Three Photo Plan

Photo 1 – Fisher King hunting (rifle or bow) in forest
Photo 2 – Fisher King being denied wine from the Holy Grail
Photo 3 – Parsifal – innocent fool – country side, garden
Photo 4 – Parsifal – approaching, getting ready to enter a tent
Photo 5 – Parsifal – being a fool and having a young princess laugh at his antics (need a young woman in the photo as an extra)
Photo 6 – Parsifal – riding a horse
Photo 7 – Parsifal – mourning the death of his mother (need an older woman in the photo as an extra)
Photo 8 – Parsifal – meets a man in a boat on the shore (need a second man in the photo as an extra)
Photo 9 – Parsifal – alone in the desert, dry country
Photo 10 – Parsifal – meets a hermit at the front of a cave (need a second man as an extra)