If you are able to truly appreciate it, artistic nude can be a beautiful thing. Now, I don't mean 'artistic nude' as in a girl lying on a couch naked, with bad lighting, no editing, an overall poor photograph - that just baffles me, as to how such a thing could be considered art. To me, it just seems as if some members (usually women) post nude photographs for attention, which, in my opinion is quite negative.

Artistic nude, done in any medium, is a delicate subject, and I admire anyone who poses for it, photographs it, etc. Honestly, I don't have the courage or self-esteem to do either - just not me. For that reason, I admire them. They have the ability to show the human body as the true piece of art which it really is - today, the nude human body has acquired far too many connotations, and I feel as if it is taken advantage of and insulted far too often. There are just some things that you can and can not do.

Although I myself do not have any experience in this area, in my opinion, only an experienced photographer should even attempt to photograph nudes if they plan on it having any artistic merit. Otherwise, frankly, it is just tacky and unappealing. We don't want porn.

Now, as well as in photography, artistic nude is tricky to master in other areas - the human body is arguably the most difficult subject to portray. Even photomanipulators can make nude look tacky, especially those who are relatively unexperienced or unskilled - personally, I often feel it somewhat degrading to the model (although it is usually stock and therefore available to most), as their body, their temple, is frequently used in such an unappealing way.

Well, that is just my two cents.