Naked Montréal 2006

[hm0504]

Looks like Montréal is the hotspot for photographing the urban nude. Came across this today:
http://www.radio-canada.ca/url.asp?/culture/expositions...1-naked_montreal.asp (http://www.radio-canada.ca/url.asp?/culture/expositions/v2/200507/27/001-naked_montreal.asp)

(Radio-Canada is the French version of Canada's public broadcaster.)

Allowing for my somewhat imperfect French, it looks like the photographer, Henning von Berg is looking for au naturel models to sign up for urban Montréal photo shoots to take place in 2006. The article provides the contact email.

(Note: you can click on the >>> symbol under the photo to see three other photos by Henning von Berg taken in Berlin and Sydney.)

[hm0504]

Looks like Montréal is the hotspot for photographing the urban nude. Came across this today:
http://www.radio-canada.ca/url.asp?/culture/expositions...1-naked_montreal.asp (http://www.radio-canada.ca/url.asp?/culture/expositions/v2/200507/27/001-naked_montreal.asp)

(Radio-Canada is the French version of Canada's public broadcaster.)

Allowing for my somewhat imperfect French, it looks like the photographer, Henning von Berg is looking for au naturel models to sign up for urban Montréal photo shoots to take place in 2006. The article provides the contact email.

(Note: you can click on the >>> symbol under the photo to see three other photos by Henning von Berg taken in Berlin and Sydney.)

[Eric6420]

This photographer have taken photos of nudes (naked men and women)right in the german parliament in Berlin! No complaints! Some people even applaud him!

There is really a huge difference about the attitudes about nudity between the two continents, even if Montreal is more liberal than most of North America.

His photos was exposed for the Gay Pride in Montreal this week.

[Nu]

One gets the impression that since there is an e-mail contact to reply to in the report, that participants may be limited-unlike the crowds that are encouraged under the Tunick shoots.

Certainly, they should have little trouble finding people. I understand the Tunick shoot on Montreal's St. Catherine Street was very well attended.

[hm0504]

I think Spencer Tunick also asked people to sign up beforehand. I imagine any such artist would want to give some guidance directly, through email, to the models before the event.

[HvB]

Hello Albinus,
Here is Henning von Berg who is planning to photograph NAKED MONTREAL in the summer of 2006. I am a nudist by passion and since 7 years I am photographing naked people. As I am not looking for perfect bodies, I prefer to work with amatuers of all genders and all ages. Many of my photographs have been published in international books and calendars. Obviously people like my style.

In 1999, I photographed nude men inside Germany's parliament building Reichstag and on public streets of Berlin (http://www.henning-von-berg.com/English/Wirken/gallery/reichstag.htm).

In 2005, I photographed naked women on the other side of the globe in downtown Sydney.
In 2006 I would like to photograph nude women and men in the city of Montreal.

Often my art work is compared to the photographer colleague Spencer Tunick but actually it is totally different. When I started my group shoots with nudtity in public I did not know about Spencer. No question, I am a fan of his strong images but my pictures certainly are absolutely different. My main goal is to document the action (amateur nude models) and the re-action (passers-by and tourists) who are whitnessing the shoots. Most times, hundreds of pedestrians are standing around, whistling and laughing and applauding to the whimsical scene.

My photography is not about huge masses of anonymous
bodies. But I like to make controversal comments and social-political statements by showing the 'sudden interaction' caused by spontanious nudity in public.

In general my photography is very humorous. You can see that the members of my groups are really having fun.

My artistic motto: "Provocative photos for people who understand the fine difference between sexuality and sensuality!"

Sorry about my limited English.
Best regards,
Henning

[HvB]

There is a French article in the section arts & culture of Montreal's newspaper LE DEVOIR about the work of both artists, American Spencer Tunic and German Henning von Berg.

Please check at:
http://www.ledevoir.com/2005/07/27/87012.html

Sincerely,
Henning

[Journeyman]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by HvB:
I am a nudist by passion and since 7 years I am photographing naked people. ...My photography is not about huge masses of anonymous
bodies. ...
In general my photography is very humorous. You can see that the members of my groups are really having fun.

My artistic motto: "Provocative photos for people who understand the fine difference between sexuality and sensuality!"

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi Henning,

Welcome to the Forums! Judging from a quick look at your photos on your website, and having seen several of Tunick's, your seem to show more of an appreciation and ease with the nude body.

I remember seeing a documentary on Tunick on television, and at one of his shoots at a US naturist beach, he was quite uncomfortable, it seemed, with his own nude body. AND he didn't particularly like the naturists he was photographing!

Somehow I don't see you sharing his style; nor do I. I'm a self-taught photographer who has had to take photos of naturists to accompany some of my newspaper and magazine articles. My amateur models are as comfortable with me as I am with them because we are all naturists! (One of my shots is below)

best wishes,
Journeyman in Canada

[hm0504]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Journeyman:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by HvB:
I am a nudist by passion and since 7 years I am photographing naked people. ...My photography is not about huge masses of anonymous
bodies. ...
In general my photography is very humorous. You can see that the members of my groups are really having fun.

My artistic motto: "Provocative photos for people who understand the fine difference between sexuality and sensuality!"

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi Henning,

Welcome to the Forums! Judging from a quick look at your photos on your website, and having seen several of Tunick's, your seem to show more of an appreciation and ease with the nude body.

I remember seeing a documentary on Tunick on television, and at one of his shoots at a US naturist beach, he was quite uncomfortable, it seemed, with his own nude body. AND he didn't particularly like the naturists he was photographing!

Somehow I don't see you sharing his style; nor do I. I'm a self-taught photographer who has had to take photos of naturists to accompany some of my newspaper and magazine articles. My amateur models are as comfortable with me as I am with them because we are all naturists! (One of my shots is below)

best wishes,
Journeyman in Canada </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi Henning,
Thanks for the info. Your English if fine, indeed better than that of some native English speakers here; please continue to contribute to ClothesFree Forums.

With regard to Journeyman's comments on Spencer Tunick at the nude beach...

Based on the information in the documentary, the problem was Spencer wanted to do a serious piece of art whereas many of the nudists thought it was a "let's have fun" event. I'm not blaming the nudists, but I think the reality is that for a Spencer Tunick shoot, it is more important that one have at least a minimal understanding of art than it is to be a nudist.

I also didn't get the feel Spencer was uncomfortable with his body, not at all; rather that he was uncomfortable not having pockets which he needed for his work.

[Journeyman]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">...in the documentary, the problem was Spencer wanted to do a serious piece of art whereas many of the nudists thought it was a "let's have fun" event. I'm not blaming the nudists, but I think the reality is that for a Spencer Tunick shoot, it is more important that one have at least a minimal understanding of art than it is to be a nudist.

I also didn't get the feel Spencer was uncomfortable with his body, not at all; rather that he was uncomfortable not having pockets which he needed for his work. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, I did see the doc quite awhile ago, so I stand corrected if this was indeed the problem.

But wouldn't you say that if the naturists just wanted to "have fun", then wasn't it miscommunication imparted from the Tunick organizers?

I do think Tunick's photos are very artistic and beautifully crafted and posed: I'm just not a fan of the "mass bodies" ones I've seen. IMHO, many of his individual and couple shots are quite evocative.

[HvB]

Hello everybody,

Its difficult to express a complicate subject in a foreign language. I will try to do as best a possible. Please excuse if I am using the wrong words.

In 2002, when I finally heard about Spencer's work I checked his website and watched two TV documentaries on him. Very interesting way of doing things. I was astonished to realize that from the very FIRST group shoot every further step was kept on video camera by assistants. For me that looked like a very organized PR campaign. Someone started out with a big vision and his friends are documenting even his very first steps into the art world on tape. That is media perfection, isn't it?

No doubt, I love Spencer's beautiful photographs of huge masses. But I think he often is not interested in individuals. He wants many bodies to create scenes. He can not talk to every single model. He wants big crowds of anonymous human material. That is his way of creating artistic images. Thats fine.

My bio is different. After working as an civil engineer and architect, in 1997 with 36 years I started doing snapshots of friends and neighbours. Out of the blue and certainly just for fun. I never studied photography. At the beginning I did not use assistants. Nobody did a documentary about my first shoots.

Obviously my images were strange and unique. Therefore my hobby snapshots immediately were published in books. High-profile periodicals from around the world asked to print my bizarre photographs. I became known super quickly without planning any PR campaign.

For me, its important to have a comunication between photographer and model. I do know the name of every single model.

While I am working with those individuals, I am suddenly getting the final ideas for the shot. Yes, l love to have fun in live and many people say that the atmosphere on my photo locations is very relaxed. Perhaps that shows on some images.

My portfolio is very big and divers. I am photographing all kinds of people. Preferable amateur models. Romantic ideas and strange sceneries, solos and groups, male and female models, sensitive portraits and kinky fetish pics, mainstream photos and unusual pictures. Every day something very different. My oldest model is a 108 y/o housewife.

I try to catch the variety of life and that means for me that I love to know many personal details about my individual models.

You see, its a completely different idea of photography work.

Best greetings from sunny Berlin,
Henning

[hm0504]

I do not know the details of the event, but I would guess Tunick about the same level of organization that he did for the others. The impression one gets from the documentary is that many of the nudists simply would not, or could not, co-operate.

I think the difference is that nudists are used to doing fun things nude, particularly for photos. For most of other Tunick's works, the participants, not being nudists, may have understood that they were doing it (being nude) for art (and would not have been doing it otherwise). That distinction may not have been clear for many regular nudists.

Note that I'm not saying that all nudists are clueless about art. I know many nudists who are fine art models, fine artists, or both. I am also not saying that nudists can't make good Tunick models -- they can, I know one (or maybe more) who have been.

[HvB]

Last month I visited Canada to exhibit my work in Montreal. The mostly traditional and conservative journal LE DEVOIR wanted to do an interview about my controversial work.

The interviewer was hard but fair. His final text was published on July 27th: http://www.ledevoir.com/2005/07/27/87012.html

The photographer, a very young lady asked me to show nudity myself. So I did, I stripped naked right away in a public park in downtown Montreal. Some security guards nearby were not amused.... Who cares?

Let's have fun in life. Nudity should be a natural part of our daily life.

Smile,
Henning

[Jason Lee]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by HvB:
Hello Albinus,
Here is Henning von Berg who is planning to photograph NAKED MONTREAL in the summer of 2006. I am a nudist by passion and since 7 years I am photographing naked people. As I am not looking for perfect bodies, I prefer to work with amatuers of all genders and all ages. Many of my photographs have been published in international books and calendars. Obviously people like my style.

In 1999, I photographed nude men inside Germany's parliament building Reichstag and on public streets of Berlin (http://www.henning-von-berg.com/English/Wirken/gallery/reichstag.htm).

In 2005, I photographed naked women on the other side of the globe in downtown Sydney.
In 2006 I would like to photograph nude women and men in the city of Montreal.

Often my art work is compared to the photographer colleague Spencer Tunick but actually it is totally different. When I started my group shoots with nudtity in public I did not know about Spencer. No question, I am a fan of his strong images but my pictures certainly are absolutely different. My main goal is to document the action (amateur nude models) and the re-action (passers-by and tourists) who are whitnessing the shoots. Most times, hundreds of pedestrians are standing around, whistling and laughing and applauding to the whimsical scene.

My photography is not about huge masses of anonymous
bodies. But I like to make controversal comments and social-political statements by showing the 'sudden interaction' caused by spontanious nudity in public.

In general my photography is very humorous. You can see that the members of my groups are really having fun.

My artistic motto: "Provocative photos for people who understand the fine difference between sexuality and sensuality!"

Sorry about my limited English.
Best regards,
Henning </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

http://clothesfreeforums.com/eve/forums/a/ga/ul/327...rlin-NakedSydney.jpg (http://clothesfreeforums.com/eve/forums/a/ga/ul/3270031663/inlineimg/Y/NakedBerlin-NakedSydney.jpg)

where in Sydney did you photograph those naked ladies ?

any problems with police or tourists ?

[HvB]

Hi Jason,

In Spring 2005, I photographed the group of brave ladies in front of many important tourist highlights and in the corporation district of downtown Sydney. In example I did nude pics in front of the famous Opera House, on Carthill Expressway, on Martin Place in front of the TV station Chanel 7 News, in front of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the Supreme Court of Australia, Underground Stations, Luna Park, Harbour Bridge.

We met the police several times; the officers were quite angry and not very relaxed. But at least, I accomplished to finish the whole session with a group of completely nude women at many public locations.

Obviously Australia's historic influence of prudish Queen Victoria still shows a bit nowadays. In Berlin in 1999, the people re-acted much more open minded. Thousands applauded and whistled and smiled.

In a few months, the story with images will be published in a high-profile art photo magazine in Australia. Please be patient.

Thank you. All the best.

Greeting from Berlin,
Henning

[Naturist Mark]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by HvB:
There is a French article in the section arts & culture of Montreal's newspaper LE DEVOIR about the work of both artists, American Spencer Tunic and German Henning von Berg.

Please check at:
http://www.ledevoir.com/2005/07/27/87012.html

Sincerely,
Henning </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

For those of us who barely get by knowing a single language, here is that story kind-of translated to something resembling English:
Photographs - Very naked in the city (http://tinyurl.com/ccqxo)

-Mark

[usuallylurk]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by HvB:
Hello everybody,

Its difficult to express a complicate subject in a foreign language. I will try to do as best a possible. Please excuse if I am using the wrong words.


Best greetings from sunny Berlin,
Henning </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Henning,

Most people whose first language is not English always apologize -- and they should not.

Your English is fantastic.

Here in the United States, most people only speak and know one language - English.

In Europe, in my travels, I had little difficulty communicating because almost everywhere I went, somebody spoke SOME English and in major urban areas (Frankfurt, Paris) and tourist areas (Strasbourg, Maastrictland) I had no problems communicating at all.

Here in America - we are the people who have to apologize for not knowing other languages!

[FLTony]

IMOP, I do not think it is necessary to trump Henning's polite gesture for his own perception on his mastery of the English language. An English person would do the same if speaking a foreign language in another country; I know I sometimes do. None-the-less Henning, your ability to communicate in English is very good http://clothesfreeforums.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

On another note, I have seen some of your work and have to say it is both whimsical and very artistic indeed! Your use of amateurs is a real refresher and departure from the professional models that one usually sees in these type of artistic expressions. Naked in Berlin was a really fun and unique piece - especially with some of the reactions captured from the general public. With that said though, I would have to agree with some of the other member's comments that, while this form of art may be viewed as whimsical to some, most naturists would not necessarily condone it. I say this based on the fact that most naturists strive to have the general population accept naturism as a normal part of life - one that does not necessarily induce shock value. In the US, the Victorian attitude toward nudity is prominent. Although I see some momentum for gaining more acceptance, I think some might conclude that the artistic nudes in your work equate somehow to all naturist's attitudes - i.e. exhibitionism. Of course this depends on how you present your work and the level of open-mindedness of the audience it reaches. I have not seen all of your work but from what I have seen, again I say I enjoy it and can distinguish between art and shock value.

Keep up the good work. I would enjoy seeing more of your projects take place in US cities. Keep us updated!

[HvB]

Hi FLTony,
Thanks for your kind compliments about my work. Being a self-taught photographer I try to create pictures "out of the gutt'. Technically I like to learn much more every day. My ideas and compositions are not done academically but 'out of the blue' and 'by feelings and emotions'. I am photographing with passion and I often heard that it shows.

Yes, I do agree with your comments and opinion. And therefore I want to add on thing: I like to work with nudists but do not prefer to work with nudists.

Sure, after 7 years I have seen various international nudists in front of my lens by now. But my photography is about nudity, naked people, nudes in public .... not about nudists.

I understand the difference in actual behaviour, personal attitude and social political statement between a regular naked model and a nudist. Two different things. Therefore I don't want to mix that up.

My goal is to document the action and re-action of naked people in public. See pic below. Often the passers-by are sooooooo funny to look at.

By incident and via google I found this web forum last week because someone posted a note here about my planned group shoot NAKED MONTREAL 2006. So I also posted a message because I am a nudist in my personal life. In my professional life I am working with thousands of naked people but normally not with nudists in specific.

Greetings from rainy Berlin.
Henning


Picture: HvB and nudes in public on
Berlin's main shopping boulevard Kurfuerstendamm

[hm0504]

I tend to think of Henning's work as being like Matisse's Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe in contrast to classical nudes. As I understand it, part of the idea behind Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe is to surprise the viewer with what would be regarded in general society as somewhat too casual, somewhat out-of-place nudity. In classical nudes of course, the nudity is not intended to be unexpected or whimsical.

http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/r/images/Luncheon%20on%20the%20Grass.jpg
Matisse -- Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe, 1863

[hm0504]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by hm0504:
Looks like Montréal is the hotspot for photographing the urban nude. Came across this today:
http://www.radio-canada.ca/url.asp?/culture/expositions...1-naked_montreal.asp (http://www.radio-canada.ca/url.asp?/culture/expositions/v2/200507/27/001-naked_montreal.asp)

(Radio-Canada is the French version of Canada's public broadcaster.)

Allowing for my somewhat imperfect French, it looks like the photographer, Henning von Berg is looking for au naturel models to sign up for urban Montréal photo shoots to take place in 2006. The article provides the contact email.

(Note: you can click on the >>> symbol under the photo to see three other photos by Henning von Berg taken in Berlin and Sydney.) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Looks like the artice for the web site is now
http://www.radio-canada.ca/culture/modele-document.asp?...itions&idEntite=3614 (http://www.radio-canada.ca/culture/modele-document.asp?section=expositions&amp;idEntite=3614)