, originally uploaded by .sereal..

Foggy Night #2

Foggy Night #2, originally uploaded by BamaWester.

This was one of those moments when it really paid to have my camera with me. The fog descended quickly and I happened to drive by this spot. The rest, as they say, is history.

(MOST viewed picture).

Kicking some tits and ass

Kicking some tits and ass, originally uploaded by Miss Aniela.

Edited - 14 Jan 08. A better exploration of the tits and ass issue:

The 'Tits and Ass campaign' was a response to the attitudes inherent in the very language, 'tits and ass'. Most female self-portrait artists who use their body in their artwork and who share their work with a wide audience will inevitably encounter accusations from certain viewers, who, confined to the thinking within the phraseology of 'tits and ass', do not see beyond male representations of the female body as they have become accustomed to it in magazines, porn, and striptease. Cynical of what they dub as body parts that somewhat innately seek attention, they leer at the woman's body and jeer at possibility of the image being 'art'.

Regardless of the sex of the viewer, it is a 'masculine' positioning which is adopted when these attitudes are thrown at female artists, so it is not to say that only men undermine the work of a female self portraitist, but both genders, whose freedom to recognise the woman's body as her own, is stifled by societal attitudes. The woman's body is compartmentalised, literally into 'tits and ass', becoming not so much a body of natural, human function equal to man's, but unfairly singled out and fetishised in porn and advertising in a way that man's body is not. Remarks on the ‘beauty’ of the female artist is likely to be a negative comment to a female self-portrait artist, who wants to be congratulated for her skill as an artist, to be identified as a thinking, breathing woman - not a doll, 'with boobs and a camera', whose photography effortlessly records her female form.

The female self portrait artists in the 'Tits and Ass' campaign in response to the attitudes to women's bodies as they encounter them in the art world, have decided to take the words into their own mouths. Literally throwing back 'Tits and Ass' at the viewer to draw attention to the audience's own prejudices, they create images intentionally compartmentalising their own bodies as they see played out in images in film and advertising. Meg Elizabeth's 'I've got a pair' and Muskva's 'merchandise on display' satirise the fetishisation of tits and ass respectively. They address the assumption that regardless of context, women's bodies can be contained in the simple derogatory term, 'tits and ass', and encourage their viewers to open their minds up to new ways of thinking.

AArchibald's 'My Body, My Canvas' and Haggis Chick's 'My Body' both present the artist, nude, filling the frame, with their intentions just as exposed. 'If you think I am doing this for more hits then you are wrong', says Haggis Chick, 'I find nothing wrong with nudity'. As well as dealing with the specific issue of female images in art, the artists also want to strip the stigma from generic nudity itself, and question the taboos of flesh and sexuality by presenting their own naked self, unashamedly and knowingly, in their work.

Laurel: (Tits)
Daneli: ass, bum, buttocks, deirere...peachy docky, billen
Haggis Chick: My Body

TEAs-up to the Female Self-Portrait Artists' Support Group


View on black

This is my most faved and most viewed picture of 2007! Thank you!! ...edit 23/12/08: I don't really like it anymore ;P
Edit March 09: yeah too fuzzy for my liking. Nice arse in this pic though. I like the wide-angle distortion of the bedroom corner looking so vast, with that cup of tea to the left too. But wouldn't want to publish this in my book really.

Deadly kisses (365/219)

Deadly kisses (365/219), originally uploaded by JenniPenni.

I wasn't sure if I was gonna do a Halloween picture at all...but in the morning I decided I wanted to do one and this is the result. This might not be that freaky but I've always liked vampire stories and wanted to go with that theme...while also doing something that wouldn't necessarily have to be associated with Halloween only. The fangs are missing due to that...although I guess I should admit I don't own a pair of damn fangs in the first place! :]

This shot sure was a lot of fun to take - and thanks to Niko for helping me out. We kept laughing to each other blood red teeth. Funny business, this fake blood.

Happy Halloween guys!

grains of water

grains of water, originally uploaded by brookeshaden.

Seeing as I moved to L.A., I thought I would venture out into my new world and find a beach. The first one I found was Long Beach. But let me say, even though I am in California, it is by no means warm. Today it was 50 degrees with crazy winds. So when I got to the beach sand was pelting me from all directions and the water was *frigid*. I kind of forgot to account for the massive amounts of wet sand I would be sitting in, and so now I have a date with my car and a vacuum tomorrow.

Oh, and the coast guard drove by twice but I just gave them the thumbs up from my position in the water and they kept going :)

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water fountain

water fountain, originally uploaded by brookeshaden.

A sip, a sip, a slip?


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uneven staircase

uneven staircase, originally uploaded by brookeshaden.

With help from my wonderful friend Kyle.

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Tequila!

Tequila!, originally uploaded by Andreas Reinhold.

'Tequila!' On Black

Inspired by this great shot, I set my precious tequila on fire. I wanted to have a completely black background.

I don't like, that the top of the flame is cut off. Could've corrected that in PS, but was too lazy :-)

One 430EX on the left and behind the glass, pointing away from the glass, fired against a white towel at 1/16 power at 50mm zoom. 25s exposure at f4.5.

Swirling in the mists of time

Swirling in the mists of time, originally uploaded by adrians_art.