I discovered the project “Who’s That Nude in Your Living Room?” on Facebook. It immediately appealed to me. I felt like posing straightaway. Sitting nude was an idea I already had for a long time. As I discovered the project I found at last a step that met with my expectations: it is artistic, in no way vulgar and the pictures are beautiful, sober and simple; that was exactly what I was looking for. In spite of that craving, it took me over a year to make the appointment. It was a real personal challenge but I wanted to see a picture of me, as an anonymous individual, sublimated by the photographer’s eye. I wished I had sat on the red background but I should have had to wait longer and as far as I was concerned, it was “now or never”.
The most difficult thing I had to do during the shooting was to strip naked in front of another man, even if nakedness is generally not a problem for me when it is in front of a woman. Stripping off in front of a man is more embarrassing… indeed it was weird.
As minutes went by, I began to feel better, even at ease. The photographer is very clever at soothing people: I eventually came to feel like a star, which was very pleasant. When the photographer told me that only two or three shots remained to be made, I was disappointed and wouldn’t stop. It’s rather flattering to be made feel like a star: you wish the shooting to go on.
Then comes the time to view the shots: I can’t recognize myself. I would have liked to discard them all. Thank God the final choice is the photographer’s. I am quite reassured now. I like the photo he selected. There is something out of touch and a little pinup-like about it.
Nobody knows except my wife. I haven’t said a word about it to either my friends or my colleagues. I don’t dare. I fear somebody might come upon the photo and I don’t know if I could take up my nakedness and the sitting in front of them.
I got a lot from that experience: it has changed my relation to my body and my look at it. Now I want to look after it, to grow more attractive, to take care of it so that I could renew that experience and sit nude again.
If I were to retain two things from that shooting it would be first the photographer’s gift to put people at ease: it was so awkward for me that on my way to the studio I had thought of turning back. And the second thing would be that on a more personal level, I learnt to like myself and to look at me differently.