*Naked !!!!!????? Offended / Outraged / Angry*
It amazes me that in 2012 there are still so many people offended by nudity. I find it staggering on a regular basis that a tasteful image of a gorgeous woman could cause the offence that it often does. I don't want to have too big a rant on this subject as I don't think I would ever be able to change the mind of someone who finds nudity offensive anyway. People rarely change or even modify their beliefs and to be honest, I don't care what people think anyway. I have two points to make and I don't want to cloud them with an excessive amount of collateral rantings

*Nudity vs Violence*
Some time ago on dA I looked at a group with the intention of joining and one of the stated submission rules was "violent images are fine but no nudity under any circumstances"
Now tell me how that is even vaguely rational ?
A piece of digital art or photo where someone is killing a person with a sledge hammer is fine as long as no one takes their top off, seriously people WTF !!!!!?????
At some stage we ended up living in a world where people watch the news, movies and TV shows that have a constant flow of graphic violence and they never think twice about it, but nudity, we can't have that
We are born that way, wearing clothes is a learned behavior
The funny thing is that even people who get outraged about violence don't carry it with them the way they do about nudity. People who get offended about nudity tend to be very passionate and in reality quite hate filled and venomous on the subject

*Objectified vs Empowered*
Objectifying women, blah blah blah we have all heard it. The stock and trade of what I do for paid photography is the boudoir / glamour / lingerie / nudity for female clients who want to do some sexy shots for themselves and or their spouse. Clients don't appear in my portfolios, my work with models demonstrates to potential clients what I do and how I do it
Including both models and clients I have done hundreds of shoots
The vast majority of clients had never been involved in a shoot before and as for models I have shot loads of first timers all the way up to and including experienced Playboy models who grace magazines the world over. In all of those shoots there is one commonality, the feeling of empowerment that women get from the experience and from the results.
For women who are interested in either modelling or personal images the chance to be their most beautiful, feminine, confident and empowered self seems to be a great thing
So tell me how someone is degraded by doing something that they feel great about, be it in lingerie or wearing nothing but skin
I have shot women with confidence issues, weight issues, skin issues, height issues, a multitude of body part issues in fact all sorts of issues you can't imagine and to give women images that make them look and feel beautiful is the least degrading thing you can do
Hating them for doing it is the thing that degrades them

*Live and Let Live*
To be honest I don't care what your issues are. Maybe your upset because you have lost your youth, maybe your jealous, maybe you cant think past some prejudicial shit your parents taught you, maybe its your way of getting attention, maybe you just cant think for yourself, maybe you just feel the need to agree with the crowd, maybe you cover your own dark twisted side by hating others, maybe you hate yourself, maybe you hate what you see in the mirror, maybe its all just so politically correct or maybe your just old and bitter
It must be exhausting to try and impose yourself on others all the time. The gossip, the manipulation and conspiracy, doesn't it make you so very very tired ?
Don't make your issues my issues
Here endeth the lesson

*Project Re-Edit*
Here are a few more recently updated images, well updated a while back actually but I think catches up on the backlog of stuff I intended to journal about, enjoy