The naked truth

Ann Flowers is the poster child for self-consciousness. This didn't stop her, however, from posing nude for a friend's photography project. She joins the ranks of several Murray State students who use their bodies as art subjects.

Flowers, junior from Columbia, is an art major and has taken drawing and photography classes which required her to have nude models in her work. In her photography class, however, she moved from artist to model.

"A friend of mine needed people to pose for her, and I wanted to help her out, so I did it," she said. "And since I've drawn people before and not seen them in a sexual way, I'm confident in modeling knowing they're not looking at me in that way."

Janey McClain, junior from Murray, is the photography student who asked Flowers to pose. She said it is sometimes difficult to find nude models, but Flowers was comfortable with the situation and agreed to pose with three other models.

"It was a little awkward at first because I didn't know the other models, but after a while, there was just no tension," Flowers said.

She added she has no qualms whatsoever about posing nude for art. She said it is a tasteful situation, there is no objectification of the models, and that is what she wants people to understand.

"This isn't Hustler magazine," she said. "This is tasteful, beautiful art."

Flowers might seem the confident artist, but she still has a few reservations. She said at this point, she would only model for photography as opposed to modeling in front of a class, because photography affords her a little more privacy.

When one thinks of nude models, the gentle form of a woman often comes to mind, but men's bodies are as much the subject as women's.

Jesse Cooley, junior from Buchanan, Tenn., started modeling in 2000 for a high school photography project and continued when he came to Murray State. Cooley said he got interested his freshman year when he was taking live drawing classes and had to draw nudes. The work is rewarding, he said, but he doesn't really see himself as the subject.

"It's always really rewarding seeing the outcome of someone's work and knowing you've been a part of that art, but I think they capture the body not the real self," he said. "I see it as just a body on a two-dimensional surface."

Murray State's art department puts out fliers each semester hoping to attract nude models for their drawing and photography courses. The department offers $10 per hour for live models to pose in front of classes.

Jessica Brown took advantage of that offer when she started modeling this year. The junior from Paducah said modeling was one more step toward being comfortable with her body. She also thought the department needed more diversity in their models.

"I chose to model because I was tired of drawing these skinny girls," Brown said. "I was like 'Y'all need some models who aren't size zero. You need models who are black. You need a model with some curves.'"

Brown stressed that the model isn't as uncomfortable as one might think.

"Being an artist as well, when I'm up there, I know how the model felt before because I know how it feels on the other side," she said. "But a lot of times the students are more nervous because they're looking at the model."

An issue Brown struggles with is her self-consciousness compounded by the fact that not every student will draw her in a flattering manner. She said she realizes, however, that is the way the artist sees the subject - that is their interpretation of her.

Brown demystified the nude model somewhat. She said the model doesn't unveil him or herself and stand stoically while the artist goes to work. She said to get more comfortable she will sometimes look for a friendly face in the class and smile at that person. She does athletic poses and sometimes even falls asleep.

She echoed the sentiments of her fellow models.

"You were born naked, it's a natural state of being," she said. "The body is a beautiful thing - why hide it?"

Nudes are a telling legacy of how our society has evolved. While those who dare to sketch or paint and those who dare to reveal their bodies to the artist have always met with disapproval, there is now a greater appreciation for the nude as a work of art.

"It's part of our social makeup to use nudity and nakedness interchangeably," Janey McClain said. "People see nudity as exposure and they're uncomfortable with that. The artistic community realizes the difference - that there's nothing awkward or unnatural about being nude."