William Mortensen

The Acedemic Nude

Photography Handbook October 1950.

 


the academic nude
By William Mortensen
Author of: The Model, Monsters and Madonnas. The Command to Look, Pictorial Lighting.

THE curious phenomenon known as the "busman's holiday" is quite prevalent among graphic artists. The painter is apt to enliven his spare time by painting, while the photographer devotes his day off to taking pictures. This state of affairs is not wholly due to the fanatical devotion of painter and photographer to their respective fields of endeavor. Rather, it is because every artist has to deal with two critics: the public and himself. He lays elaborate schemes to trap the favor of the first; and if he is facile and fortunate, he succeeds. With the second. he is more honest, but seldom wins approval.

Sometimes these pictures, in which the artist tries for no other approbation than his own, are some by-products of more calculated and ambitious efforts. The painter, for example, plans an elaborate allegorical masterpiece, and devotes much time to research and preliminary sketches. After the completion of the magnum opus, or during the rest periods, he may paint his model relaxing amid the familiar clutter of the studio. And, as it often happens, the ambitious masterpiece is quickly (and fortunately) forgotten, while the tentative studies and the friendly, unpretentious picture of the model in repose are much esteemed—even by the public for whose eye they were not intended.

Much the same thing happens to the photographer. He spends time, thought. money, a huge effort and a vast number of exposures in trying to produce a picture. After the presumed pictorial climax is achieved, with the photographer in a state of incipient collapse, he devotes his one remaining exposure to a shot of the weary and relaxed model. Too often for mere co-incidence, these simple, almost candid shots, with lighting accidental and arrangement casual, prove to be the only worth-while result of the day's work. (Figure 4.)

This is the sort of picture that I have called "academic." This usage, I realize, does not quite agree with the conventional application of the term. But I feel that the word "academic" has a peculiar appropriateness. since this sort of picture reveals the artist retiring for a while from the world and its task of pleasing or startling the public. In this retirement, he works out his own problems in his own way for his own satisfaction.

Pictures so produced, momentarily for-getting the public, its clamors and its questionable taste, are distinguished by honesty and sincerity. This is an atmosphere particularly fitted to dealing with the nude, a subject too seldom approached with honesty and sincerity.

Characteristics of the Academic Nude

Normality is perhaps the outstanding characteristic of the Academic Nude. Biological appeal is not lacking, since it is a normal fact inherent in the subject matter. On the other hand, the biological appeal is not flaunted by aggressive challenge, nor giggled at in provocative captions, nor hypocritically denied by false modesty. The tricks and devices of showmanship are held in abeyance. So are most of the conventional methods of picture making. The lady in question is not portraying anything in particular—such as "The Spirit of the Ages Pointing the Way to Education and Commerce." She is not registering any particular emotion—grief, anger, aspiration, or what have you. Usually she is not even doing anything in particular. She is obviously, and quite frankly, a nude model. She is, indeed, the model, the eternal type, not a particular model, with an address, a phone number, and personal problems of her own.

In the prevailing atmosphere of normality, nudity becomes a normal fact also, which does not require justification or motivation. Too obvious motivation, in fact, introduces an emphasis on the storytelling element which is foreign to the academic nude.

Comfort and relaxation are inherent in this sort of picture—inviting the beholder to be comfortable also. Relaxation, how-ever, must not be permitted to sag into looseness. Nor may any implication of erotic languor be allowed to creep in. The model, if she looks out of the picture, regards you with kind, mild eyes, neither challenging nor inviting. (Figure 6.)

Without including anything so crass as the kitchen stove or bathroom fixtures, the academic nude often has a definite domestic suggestion about it. Frequently the back-ground is unmistakably a corner of the artist's own studio. This hint of domesticity is all in keeping with the human warmth and normality of this type of picture. It should not go beyond a hint, however, and disturbing literal implications must be excluded. The setting is felt to be actual and normal, neither aggressively assertive nor obviously suppressed.

Lighting must be soft in quality. Strong contrast introduces an element of activity at odds with the passive quality of the subject. Daylight, through window or studio north light, is the usual source of illumination. Lamplight is a less common source. The rule of normality holds here also, and the light must not draw attention to itself by any unexpected aberrations in angle.

Photographic Procedure with the Academic Nude

Equally with the painter. as we have noted. e the photographer has occasion to seek fu ge in the quiet and relaxation of the academic picture. Since normality and an easy-going sort of familiarity are inherent in the academic picture. it might seem an easy thing to under-take with the came.. Unhappily, it is far from easy. Paradoxically. the careful literalness of the camera often defeats the attempt at familial. realism. Like a certain annoying type of conversationalist, the camera can be very specific and long-winded about uninteresting matters.

For making the academic picture in photo-graphic terms. several requirements must be met.

1. Method of working. We ha•e spoken of the academic picture as a sort of by-product or afterthought of some larger project. It is a little reminiscent, in fact. of Charles Lamb's Dissertation Upon Roast Pig. You will recall that roast pig was discovered when the house of a Chinese peasant was burned to the ground. leaving the family porker cooked to a turn in the embers. The deliciousness of the result led to an extraordinary epidemic of fires in that district. Generations passed, in-deed, before it was discovered that it was possible to roast a pig without burning down the house.

Well, it is theoretically possible. also, to produce an academic picture without going through the exhausting preliminaries of work-ing on another picture. But the old technique of -burning down the house" often turns out to be the best.

Certainty the academic picture is impossible to aChieve by ordinary hasty photo-graphic methods. You simply can't make a date with a model and plan on knocking out a few academic pictures between two and two-thirty. Such anxious pressure to produce will destroy the essential leisurely approach. The whole atmosphere of the sitting must be calm, deliberate and easy-going. The picture must show no trace of aggressive "direction" by the photographer. This is exemplified in Fig. 2.

2. Type of model. The best type of model for the academic picture is that which we have described as "plastic.- She should be passive rather than animated in disposition, not too evidently a "personality." It is best if she is not too accustomed to posing, since familiarity with the routine may lead to reliance on stock attitudes and shopworn postures.

Avoid any evidence of artifice. even in the use of make-4. Completely helpless in this situation is the over-competent professional model, reeking with standardized charm and glamour, whose stock in trade is a belligerent personal challenge which pounces on the beholder and demands his attention.

3. Accessories and background. The setting. if any, should be thought of in terms of environment, rather than as a casual back-drop. In the best academic pictures the model is not merely set up in front of it background, but is fitted into a setting which surrounds and supports her.

The utilitarian rather than the decorative aspect is important in furniture and accessories. A chair is it chair—something to sit on rather than to admire. And it mirror is some-thing to look into. not it mere decorative element.

In photographic terms, such it standard studio accessory as the so-called "Hollywood coffin- (see Figure 2) may reasonably be included. provided it is put to sensible use (i.e., to sit on or lean against), and is not merely employed for its quasi-modern decorative effect.

In the presentation of the academic type of nude, we note too tendencies regarding the use of the setting. In the one case. probably more typical. the setting suggests the environment and atmosphere of an actual interior. On the other hand (as shown in Figures 2 and 4), exclusive emphasis is given to the figure. with the setting very sparse or omitted altogether.

4. Lighting. A chair, we have just noted. is something to sit on. Similarly, in the academic picture, lighting is something to see by. There must be no exploitation of lighting effects for their own sake. If artificial light is used. get along with as few units as possible—just one, if you can manage it (as in Figure 4). Avoid strong contrasts and conspicuously shadows that direct attention to the artificial character of the light. Of course. use no spot. Use Instead rather large reflectors (12 to 18 in.) with diffusing screens.

Because it is sincere, direct and free from pretense, daylight is the best possible illuminant for the academic picture. It may come from an open door or window, or through it studio north skylight. Strong light may be softened by gauze curtains. But :void the oft-repeated and clap-trap effect of chopping up your subject with shadows of venetian blinds. Atall points, keep your procedure laisunI and deliberate. Don't over-light your instead, work with as little light as seems reasonably possible.

We suggested at the beginning of this discussion, that the academic picture shows the artist in the act of taking a holiday from the stress and urgency of the world and the strident clamor of the public while he seeks an honest answer to his artistic problems.

At the end of any one hopes to bring back something more than sunburn, lame muscles and mosquito bites. If the holiday has been successful, one returns with a relaxed and freshened mind, purged of strains and petty resentments, together with a new perspective on the everyday task.

So the artist, after finding respite in making an academic picture, comes back to his job with renewed faith in his art. Old formulas take on fresh significance. Figures 3, 5 and 7 illustrate this point. While they are not strictly of the academic type, they show the influence of the academic ideal. The model here betrays more personal awareness than the pure academic type should reveal, yet there is evident a certain casualness and lack of theatricalisrn which is learned only from the academic approach. •