A) Hang a print like this over your couch?
B) Why or why not and be honest…
C) and if you did as an experiment what would your friends say?
It does not need to be this print per say it would need to resemble the same genre…. I have plenty of answers but am curious who out there would or would not and why.. express your concerns for divorce below.. or even better if you are female would you?
PS: If you are selling your own prints on large canvas you might want to check out what +500px is now offering on their site for sales..
Example link: https://500px.com/photo/52460332/canvas?from_photo_page=true#on-the-wall
I have had really good luck with their print service.. I will be honest and say that I have only used it to print landscape work for my offices, but.. really decent pricing and great quality for the money. Zero damage on 5 large canvas prints delivered so far.. I do not work for them but real life feedback is very good so far….
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I have lots of prints of women over my couch. It kind of makes my guests uncomfortable sometimes though
Not this one per se (it doesnt quite fit here) but I could see hanging something in the same genre. It would have to be the right piece and as they say "I'll know it when I see it". But, you've seen a lot of my art, and a good potion of it is on my walls…
+J. Rae Chip but do you care?
+J. Rae Chip eff them, it's art, right? 🙂
LOL
+Olav Folland yea. I don't make friends easily. lol. but meh whatever. If they don't like naked people then they can't go in my hot spring.
+Brent Burzycki a little bit
No- I would not. Let me state that I have no problems with things such as nude figure drawings, etc. I had to get over that when my husband was in art school. This image, unlike classic nudes, has a bit of a 'come hither' feel that I would not chose to display in my house. I have five kids and other people's kids coming in and out of my house and I feel it would be inappropriate. On a personal level- I am a bit older and have a body that has borne 5 kids … Society tells me enough that I don't meet the definition of ageless beauty- why would I want to see it above my couch? Why would I want my husband to see it continually, or my son's? I don't feel any more insecure than the next woman… It's a nice photo and I can and do appreciate it for that, but not enough to want to have it above my couch. 🙂
A) No, I wouldn't.
B) She's pretty, but I wouldn't hang a picture over the couch unless it resonated with me in terms of a deep and lasting significance.
C) I doubt my friends would care or mention it.
A. No
B. I prefer scenic art
C. Since my friends know me, they would ask why I hung it. I would have to tell them because +Brent Burzycki asked me to.
I think this is also a tough question to ask photographers as in many cases we might all want our own images in our own homes…
I am not sure even I would hang this or similar images over my own couch… I am a bachelor as say this.. As God forbid I ever get a date to bring home this would not be the first icebreaker I need to talk about…
That said I know there are people out there that would… And clearly kids as mentioned by +Pamela Reynoso is an issue. But I also know many non US residents that view exposure to sexual style material totally differently….
Back in the day I had friends with nagel prints all over their house…
Would this be different if it was B&W?
No. Same answer for B&W. I even prefer abstract over people in my wall hangings.
Can consider something like that in the bedroom. Not in the living room.
Yes I would. It is a fine piece of art. And I'm a single man who doesn't have to worry about what the little lady of the house would think.
No issues at all…I've got photos/drawings/paintings that range from fine art nudes, to what some consider pornographic….all mixed in with my business architecture photos/blueprints. What's funny is it always seems the guys have more conflict than the ladies. The ones who I have grown up with don't even blink an eye. If I hung your photos my friends would wonder when all of sudden I acquired good taste!
+Brent Burzycki now I'm on my high horse. I 'm just talking about this specific photo. I would have a problem with anyone who declared this particular photo a problem. I walk across the the street everyday (southern cali) and women/girls have outfits that are more "sexy" than your picture. When i can go to the grocery and cut-offs have an inseam of a micro-inch, too me nothing really offends anymore.. iMy neighbors all have teenage daughters and I can guarantee this would not offend. Sorry for being long winded, we've been drinkn'!
No. Because I've seen a woman before.
No. I wouldn't hang it. It's just not my thing. Like +Pamela Reynoso says, it just doesn't fit into my lifestyle.
My art is fairly eclectic but the only people I hang up are either family or have an air of mystery so that they are unrecognizeabke and could be anyone.
Nothing against the woman or the photographer. It's just not what I would prefer to look at, or have looking at me every day.
No, I wouldn't hang it. Not in good taste for a guy and particularly not with a 15 yr old daughter. When I was 15, I had posters of women like that on the wall, Heather Lockleer was one if them at the time, even then it was chalked up to adolescent puberty by my mom.
On another note, I think if this was in your house it's a major "creeper" alarm today versus let's say in the 80's or 90's. Photography is no longer a hidden art to people now that everyone has a cellphone and had been encouraged to become photographers. Now if you filtered the hell out of it, and hdr processed it, then applied a crappy 8 bit effect on it with some 80's pop art colors you could sell a ton of these on tshirts today and no one would care. Imagine that.
I have a young daughter and i dont think i would hang somethinglike that on my wall, I guess its the steriotypical reason of not wanting my daughter to think its cool to do this until she is old enough to make her own mind up. My wife on the other hand would just slap the crap out of me 😀
I personally find it interesting that many teach the issues with sexuality and what not to do by removing all sources of that and not by controlled exposure and explanation…
Its an interesting point that if I filtered this heavy we would call it art… But anyone with a free app can do that but when you take hours to produce a clean piece of work it relates in some mind as creepy or not appropriate etc…
Trust me I know… I have run into this…. Just printing photos for models… Because when you have 30 images drying on the floor and friends show up they have to question what you are doing…
As for +Raymond Cool I assume then you have nothing hanging on your walls if that is the case….
Brent, it's not removing all sources.
We choose to teach our children about sexuality in a "family" way, through having them see how "normal" people (mom and dad) act and play with each other.
In some ways, hanging something like this is objectifying women, and that is something that I do not want to do with my 2 sons. They will find out about the sensual side of life through their own means, but I do not think that showing them "beautiful" women in poses like this do any good for them.
I want my boys to like women for what's inside their heads and for their spirits, rather than what they look like in a thong. That aspect of a woman will always catch men's attention first. There isn't much need to promote it within the family home.
Face it, most women do not look like this. And that is something that women deal with every day – not being able to match up to the "ideal" that is portrayed out there.
I also would not hang a photo of a man like this over my couch.
The only way I would do that is if it were an art piece of the human form, with the sexual aspects removed. I'v seen some absolutely amazing nudes done of dancers and such that are more of a celebration of the mechanics and form of the body, rather than a sultry view of them.
I agree with Sandra. We all want the best for our kids and having them around this type of adult art is a form of perhaps de sensitizing the matter as Sandra correctly stated. There is a lady, her name is +Hera Bell that i have been following a while and she also does art that may be more adult themed but it remains art non the less. Her work i think i would have less of an issue displaying with my daughter around even though it shows more nakedness than this image, but its how its portrayed. This image is very sultry and seductive where the others are more of a different type of art.
There is absolutley nothing wrong with this image or the form of art you are doing but its just the wrong side of 'Sexy" for a young mind in my honest opinion
I do not take these comments about this image being not appropriate personally.. its not… just a conversation starter..
what is interesting is how society views anything like this… If I hung a maxim magazine on the wall it would be more offensive and objectify women worse.. but that does not make it right..
In the end it shows why me as a "photographer" only does this type of work now for fun and determined long ago I would not make money shooting this type of work..
I originally set out shooting this stuff as a hobby, and in the process over the past 8+ years have made quite a few local models happy with the results and hopefully increased their self esteem a bit when they all told me they thought they were not sexy in the beginning and then amazed themselves with the results..
I personally find B&W or color fine art work well I will say it, kind of boring, unless its lit very well and made interesting… a shot of a naked girl on rocks where shapes match etc is just not my cup of tea… some love it I have never found it interesting..
I know for me interesting is what makes a photo in general.. you have to want to look at it longer than 2 seconds..
I do not even see myself looking at this image or many glamour images for very long and when you move past this type of work you move into what I consider porn and that is what equates to the only reason it was made or created was to resolve one issue that of sexual frustration.. nothing wrong with it but it was created with that goal..
Where as I could take this shot and make it a headshot in B&W and filter it up and someone would hang it on their wall and call it art..
Its an interesting set of rules and issues we and I deal with as a society…
In many cases we go for safer, as in I could hang a sunset on my wall and people will love it … or photos of airplanes.. but I hang this and I am potentially a creeper, or objectifying women or whatever the mindset might be based on that persons myriad of beliefs..
And hence why there are many more people taking photos of cats and landscapes than models…
This was a wake up call to me 5 years ago but not anymore.. and why my subjects have been changing over the years…
Brent, you clearly are a talented photographer and i wouldnt change a thing if i were you. There most certainly IS a market for this type of photography but we answered this question in the light in which you asked it.
If i worked in a garage or somewhere no one would take offence to it, i sure would buy it and hang it on the wall, but its all subjective. Just like you wouldnt hang fine arts or the like on the same garage. You wouldnt use this type of photograph to hang on the walls if you were an interior designer choosing images for a Hilton Hotel or a hospital.
I could see how the models you have shot would like what you have done. Its very sexy and beautiful at the same time. I actually also know of woman who would love this in their homes and they have similar art works hangin up already. I always say, do what you do for you and do it your best.
When it comes to photography though, one lesson i learnt is that its not always what i like, but rather what the customer likes.
I wouldn't hang a maxim magazine over my couch either! ;P
The work you do with these ladies is great, and I don't think that you objectify them at all. What I'm saying, is that with my young boys (well, not so young any more) I know that they are going to (and already have) come into contact with porn, etc on their own (I'm not saying this is porn, but like you say.. it's "almost" porn… 😉 and I'm honestly ok with that. It's a natural thing and it's ok.
But it comes down to what values do we want to or try to teach our kids. Our home is not sterile. You know I'm not a prude. We make all kinds of jokes and we are all very loving and affectionate and as a matter of fact our kids tease us about being able to "hear" us sometimes when we are intimate and we all just laugh about it. But that is, for me, them learning about healthy sexuality. Healthy relationships. Healthy family.
I've found the magazines stuffed under the mattress and I don't have a lot to say about it (well, ok, I have to say something but it's not too much). I don't care so much. But for me.. over the couch is not the place.
And overlying all of it.. they are all beautiful girls.. but like you say – I have no interest in that. I appreciate the skill, time and artistry put into these things, but really, they just aren't my cup of tea.
Shoot what you want to shoot, Brent. There are markets for this kind of work… just maybe not over most family couches.
As a matter of fact, I don't know so much that most of my work is suitable for that either. I'm never going to make any money from what I shoot either 😉
I agree with a lot of what was said, and should reinforce that there are two reasons I wouldn't hang this. First is tone (what's implied in the photo) and the second is simply that I appreciate the technical aspects, but it doesn't really 'do it' for me artistically.
We have a general rule here, which more or less mirrors Google's rule – 'nothing that you wouldn't see in a public art gallery'. To that end, we do have a fair amount of partial nudity on our walls, and most of them involve Kat (my wife) but nothing that I couldn't post here on G+. In fact if you've known me for a while you'd recognize some of the pieces.
And we have three kids – all of them teenagers – and none of them are affected by it. The youngest asked why Kat was nude (from the back) in one particular photo after I hung it, and once I explained the metaphors I was going for she understood, and seemingly started making her own interpretations of the other pieces I've put up.
So just to continue the conversation… if you wouldn't hang Brent's piece, would you hang this? http://gallery.squareheadphotography.com/organize/Art/Projections-1/i-5Z8hhBP
I don't think that link is good +Olav Folland
+Olav Folland,
I can't see your linked photo without signing up / logging in.
In any case, I can readily think of at least 2 of your nude photos, off the top of my head, which I would seriously considering hanging in my home.
In case you're wondering: One of them is a black and white shot playing the cello, as I recall, and the other is a color shot with a drawing projected onto Kat's figure.
Weird. Hopefully one of these will work. I c/p'd from my top bar. Hopefully one of these will work (unfortunately I never uploaded this one to G+)
http://gallery.squareheadphotography.com/Art/Projections-1/i-5Z8hhBP/A
http://gallery.squareheadphotography.com/Art/Projections-1/i-5Z8hhBP/0/M/1454-return-to-tempo-M.jpg
+Mike Spinak the cello one is sepia toned to really make the cello shine. The other one, I've done a few variations on that theme, so it would be hard to guess 🙂
And thanks, I'm really flattered.