Being nude in public - is it a kink, a fetish, a perversion or what?
Actually, I don't really care, since labels have never really bothered
me all that much. All that I do know is that I find it rather interesting
and a lot of fun, so I thought I'd write about it and tell you a little
bit more about what I think Nude in Public (NIP) is, and why, if you
haven't tried it, you might like to consider it.
Let's start with a few basic definitions. NIP isn't about flashing; at
least, not to me it isn't. Guys wearing dirty raincoats with nothing
underneath and exposing themselves to women for a shock value isn't NIP -
it's indecent exposure, nothing more, nothing less. It's also done for a
particular reason, generally to shock, upset or otherwise disconcert a
woman. It's not fun, it's not clever and it's rather sad. It's also
illegal.
This article is about women being NIP (well, there's a surprise!),
which is a whole different ballgame (ball-less game might be a better
description perhaps.) NIP isn't about shocking or upsetting people either.
It's true that people may well be surprised to see an entirely naked woman
standing in the middle of their pub, or on the pavement, but the purpose
isn't to cause discomfort or upset.
Is it consensual? Well, I'll admit that's a difficult one, since most
of the people who see a NIP event won't have been asked beforehand. To
that extent I'd agree that no, it's not consensual. However, on the other
hand, let's emphasis the 'public' bit for a moment. People who see a NIP
event can walk away from it, they're not put in a position where they have
to see it, and they don't feel threatened because it IS in public; it's
not aimed specifically at them - they just happen to be there at that
moment in time.
So that's a few things that NIP isn't - so what is it? Well, my
definition, which isn't necessarily the same as anyone else's is that it's
a woman who is nude in public.
Oh dear - that doesn't actually help very much, does it? Let me try
again; it's an everyday situation - being in a pub, or a shop, or walking
down a street perhaps - the kind of thing you or I would do every day, and
the only difference is that there's a woman in that situation who doesn't
happen to be wearing any clothes.
It's taking a normal everyday event and putting a slight twist onto it.
Why? Because it can be fun, it can be very amusing to watch the reactions
of people, it can be a turn on (both for the person watching and the
person being watched), and it's a challenge to do it properly.
My partner and I do quite a lot of NIP - she does the taking off her
clothes bit, and I do the photography or videoing. Over the course of a
few years we've done it a lot. To give you an idea of the places that
we've done NIP, here's a brief list. In castles, tourist attractions,
woods, parks, gardens, by the side of rivers and canals, across the river
from the Houses of Parliament, with Buckingham Palace in the background,
in Oxford Street, by the roadside, on golf courses and in pubs. There's a
few more, but you get the general idea.
You might wonder what sort of reactions we get. "Very little"
is the answer. If people see, they generally act as though they haven't.
If they look, they do it out of the corner of their eyes. We've never had
a situation where someone was nasty, abusive or threatening. On the very
few occasions when we have had a reaction it's always been a very positive
one; a guy will ask to be in a picture or someone will wait until we've
finished and then come up and ask us questions out of curiosity.
We're always on the lookout for new places to do NIP pictures, but it's
surprisingly difficult to find good places. Of course, we could always go
out into the middle of the country, but that's not exactly public (in the
sense that there are no members of the public around), so it doesn't
really appeal.
We're keen to do a NIP in a shop, a restaurant, a fire station, with
some builders on a building site; indeed almost anywhere we've not done
one before.
The only restriction that we have is that it shouldn't be where
children are likely to see, partly because we believe that children don't
need to see the female form in an out of context (for them) situation,
partly because they may be confused or upset by it, and partly because we
don't want any furious parent chasing us down the road! Other than that,
we're keen to try anywhere really. (If you do know of anywhere, or you own
a restaurant or work on a building site etc. and you'd like us to come and
do a NIP shoot, drop me an email to webmaster@naked-exhibitionist.com)
If you want to try it yourself, how should you go about it? The first
thing to do is buy or convert a dress so that it can be removed and
quickly replaced if needs be. Then practice at home - take it off, throw
it to your partner/photographer, pose for about 5 seconds, then get it
back and dress again. Keep doing it until you've got it right - it sounds
easy but in actual fact it can be quite hard to do.
Once you've done that, you need to practice a little bit more under
field conditions as it were, so find a nice quiet spot and practice again.
When you're happy, it's time to try it for real. You don't need anywhere
special - in fact quite the opposite is the case usually.
An easy way to begin is to get up early, say 5am. Yes, it's a pain, but
sometimes you have to suffer for your art! Take a drive and find a village
or street that you like the look of, and try NIP there. Because it's early
there won't be many people about, but the light will be good to take
photographs, and there's always the possibility that you will be able to
get someone in the background.
If you really must, just open the dress for a quick flash. Personally,
I'm not in favour of flashing, but then I take a fairly straight line here
- nude in public should mean fully nude and fully public. But hey - I'm
not you, so do whatever floats your boat!
Once you've done it a few times, you'll begin to get a bit more daring.
Find a nice pub and have a quiet word with the landlord, see if he'll let
you take a set there. Get into conversation with a garage attendant and
see if he's up for a quick shoot. Talk to trusted friends to see if they
can suggest a venue. Always keep a camera handy, just in case the
opportunity arises - there's nothing more infuriating than seeing the
perfect opportunity going to waste because you left it at home.
Remember; NIP should be fun. It might be difficult, frustrating and
challenging, but it should always be fun. If it doesn't always work out,
don't worry, there'll be another opportunity shortly.
If you'd like to try it, but you're still a bit nervous, send me an
email, because it's quite possible that my partner and I could turn up to
do a shoot with you - it's often easier to do it if there's a small group
of you.
I remember a while ago we were in Birmingham on a Sunday afternoon,
with 3 women models and about 6 photographers, and they literally walked
the streets NIP while we were taking photographs - because there were so
many of us, it all looked very 'official' and no- one got in the way,
complained or objected. In fact one chap asked us all into his shop to
take some there!
So, next time you wake up early, or you're heading home after a fetish
night and dawn is breaking - don't go to sleep - make the most of the day
and take some NIP shots!
If you want to know more about the author, his website address is www.jaggery.com
and if you'd like some more ideas, hints and tips on being NIP, take a
look at the article he's written on the site on a
Beginners Guide to Exhibitionism which should give you some more
ideas!
Article (c) Jaggery 2002
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