But I am still a man who enjoys a picture of a happily nude woman. One day, a few years ago, an internet buddy posted a picture of a gorgeous lady, a "normal" woman, a bit padded in the same places that my wife is padded. Smiling at the camera, she honestly looked like she was happy with being photographed. THIS was something new!
So I tracked down the source of the photo, and discovered Domai.com. A very happy discovery!
Based in Europe, Domai.Com was founded in 1996 by Eolake Stobblehouse, photographer, bon vivant, artist, and a man whose fight to bring tasteful nudes to the general public took many paths during his long and adventurous life. The bottom line is that he has succeeded in creating a business based on beauty, art, and the appreciation of a woman's natural elegance.
Dozens of photographers in countries all over the world contribute clear high resolution photographs of... women. Not models, not "perfect", not abused, not porn, not sexual. Just. Beautiful. Nudes.
Eollake admits to having a message. If you look through his well designed web site, you'll find out a lot about the man behind the camera, his goals and dreams. But his message is important. Eolake writes:
"And what message is that? Actually, there are more than one.
Looking is good
Beauty is important
Nudity is natural
"They are easiest understood in reverse order. The least important (but still important) is "nudity is natural". This is also a message which is being well disseminated by Nudist groups all over the world. So I will limit myself on this issue to saying that if the state in which we come from the hand of the Creator is an evil one, then mankind is truly in a bad spot."
"The second most important message of DOMAI is "beauty is important". This is perhaps a slightly more unusual message. Artists and experts in art through history have said this in various forms. Now, it is rather obvious to anybody that we need food, water, and shelter to survive. Slightly less obvious is it that we need friends, work, and a purpose in life. And much less obvious is it that we need beauty. And yet, if you look at how people live, everybody on the Earth (except perhaps those who live in the utmost poverty) will have arranged things with some beauty, according to their taste. They will have at least a few pictures on the walls which they like. So even at the low level starting where starvation is no longer a daily issue, beauty enters as something important. And DOMAI simply specializes in the kind of beauty found in the design of Woman."
Article comments
1 - swingingpuss
Nice post, and tasteful site, Bennett.
Sex kills - a million little deaths
2 - Dave Nalle
Ok, but where are the nude guys?
Dave
3 - Bennett
Yo! Dave wants a site for Simple Tasteful Nude Dudes! Anyone have a link?
:-]
Hope this helps!
4 - gonzo marx
oh my stars and garters!
Mr Nalle sez..
*Ok, but where are the nude guys?*
very brave of you, Mr Nalle to come out of the closet right here on BlogCritics
i admire the nerve it took you to do so..have you switched to the Log Cabin sect of yoru cult formally?
{8^P~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excelsior!
5 - Nicolette Rivers
Awesome. Sending hubby the link!
6 - Dave Nalle
Actually, my (too subtle) point was the sexism inherent in a site which only shows nude women.
Dave
7 - Bennett
That's funny Dave! Anything else?
8 - Nicolette Rivers
Dave -
Most male nudes geared toward women are "tasteful" to begin with...see Playgirl.
9 - Dave Nalle
Do I have to see playgirl? Please don't make me look at Burt Reynolds nude again.
Dave
10 - swingingpuss
Very few male nudes are sexy; Brad Pitt being an exception
11 - Nicolette Rivers
Burt Reynolds was nude in *Cosmo*. Sheesh ;)
12 - Tan Hoang
Davis is funny.
13 - Bennett
"Brad Pitt being an exception"
Fight Club! Hottest 15 second sex scene I have ever witnessed.
The rubber glove thing kinda scares me though...
14 - rohin
i disagree.
i think many nudes of men are quite sexy. a lot of them tend to be portraits taken by gay photographers -- stuff that's not quite in the mainstream. Greg Gorman's "as i see it" is a fabulous book and is just amazing in its depiction of masculine beauty.
i think that the female form is just inherently more beautiful, but for some reason, objectifying men hasn't ever been as popular as objectifying women and perhaps that's why there's some kind of disparity in the nudes also....
15 - gonzo marx
hurm..
i bet that's not what MIchelangelo said to the model posing for the "David" statue...
but i digress..
Excelsior!
16 - Victor Plenty
There's a large paying audience for images of women, in the nude or not. There may also be a similar audience for images of men. However, with a few exceptions, these tend to be two distinct groups.
So, if there is a kind of sexism in the choice to focus on images of nude women, it is a sexism found throughout society, not only at this one web site.
17 - Bennett
"So, if there is a kind of sexism in the choice to focus..."
Exactly Victor, it's about a business being free to choose its focus. I don't care what you focus on, some pinko liberal is going to come along and accuse you of being some type of "ist" just because you have the clarity of thought to seek a focused market.
Sad really...
:-]
18 - 老康
delicious!
19 - qq309228989
sorry,
i have been seeing this site since 2002
20 - Bob A. Booey
Do a weekly porn review, Bennett.
I won't read it cuz it's not my scene, bu we need one resident skeez around this site, ya know? And it better not be all tasteful either.
That is all.
21 - Bob A. Booey
I'm sorry, I should say SECOND resident skeez.
Didn't mean to slight you there, RJ :)
That is all.
22 - Bennett
Heh. Nah Bob, not my thing either. I posted this during the days a few months ago when we were invaded by some serious preacher types - suxual purity and all that.
A reactionary post of sorts.
23 - Silas Kain
Greg Gorman's "as i see it" is a fabulous book and is just amazing in its depiction of masculine beauty.
This book is a treasure. Of course I am biased as I love the male form but that doesn't take away from the female's body. Women have more curves and have a smooth sensuality that translated better on film whereas men are a bit more defined and come across as rather 'hard'.
24 - Bob A. Booey
Expert Pakistani sex worker? You don't say. Your parenthetical remark really clarified it for me since I wasn't sure what a "sex worker" meant.
Isn't that illegal in your country? Aren't you illegal in your country?
That is all.