Nude photography is an art form in itself. It can be beautiful, sensual, and fulfilling, as well as fun and exciting. If you’ve never shot yourself naked and would like to try, we encourage you to give it a go. Your confidence levels will go up, and it will encourage you to explore your sensuality.
Not sure where to start? No worries! We’ve prepared a list of tips for you, inspired by the Nude Guide by Flure.
The Rise of Nude Photography in the Digital Age
Nude photography is nothing new. There were always people who liked to shoot themselves naked, but the rise of the digital age redefined how we view risqué photos as a society.
Thanks to social media and the constant need to photograph everything around them, more people are now confident taking photos, know their angles better, and see semi-nude influencers and celebrities on their ‘For You’ pages all the time, normalizing the entire process.
Pair it with the body positivity movement and the newly gained sense of empowerment that many find in being in control of what is posted about them and when, and we get a nude photography revolution.
The new generations are all about authentic self-expression, diversity, and challenging the norms. They use nudes as a means to get to a more accepting and supportive online environment, where unrealistic expectations have no place to be, and people are not judged for or excluded from polite society for posting their butt cheeks.
The Intersection of Body Positivity and Nude Photography
If you’re the kid of the 90s or early 2000s, you would hardly put body positivity and nude photography together. Back then, the tiniest details on human bodies were scrutinized, shamed, and caused uproar.
Nowadays, nudes serve as an instrument and a tool for self-expression and empowerment.
By taking images of yourself naked, you get to embrace your body, whatever it looks like, and defy unrealistic expectations that society puts on you. Every single body is beautiful in its own way, and we don’t have to align to a single beauty standard to be considered worthy.
Spending more time in front of the camera and celebrating yourself is a great way of challenging the insecurities and the doubts you have about your own beauty.
The Importance of Consent and Boundaries
Sending and receiving nude images is a very vulnerable and intimate process. Both parties should feel absolutely comfortable, and the best way to ensure it is through respecting each other’s boundaries and making sure you have explicit consent to send, receive, and share the photos.
The Difference Between Self-Expression and Pressure
You should only take nude photos and share them with someone if you’re absolutely sure that’s what you want. Sometimes people are skillfully manipulated into doing it and feel a lot of regret later.
Here is a quick checklist to help you spot pressure from someone:
- You’re meeting their expectations by taking photos.
- Someone is rushing you to do it.
- Someone is asking you multiple times even though you said No or show hesitation.
- You feel discomfort at any point in the process.
- You know you wouldn’t do it if they didn’t ask.
Sharing nudes makes you vulnerable, even when you fully trust the person. If you agree with any of the points we listed above, stop right there and don’t take the photos or send them to anyone.
You should be able to have an honest conversation and have the other person respect your boundaries and wishes. If you’re not ready and they become upset, angry, or continue pushing you – it makes sense to have a hard conversation with them or block them altogether. A loving and caring individual would not act like that.
Pro tip: No is a full sentence, and hearing it once should be enough to get your point across.
Ethical Nude Photography in the Age of Social Media
If you’re about to engage in a nude photography exchange, don’t forget the ethics of it.
Millions of women experienced firsthand what it’s like to receive D-picks and things of that sort without their consent. And it goes both ways. Whoever you’re talking to deserves to be asked if they want to get a nude from you or not, and you deserve it too.
If you’re chatting via dating platforms, you can usually rely on built-in tools to help you keep the interaction safe and respectful, even when sending nudes.
Flure, for instance, has clear community guidelines that outline what’s allowed and what’s not. Anyone breaching them can be reported and blocked.
On top of that, Flure’s built-in AI moderation spots spicy photos and blurs them along with making a pixel version of them. Better yet, there is a self-destruction setting that can be set up for a video or photo after it’s been seen.
Pro tip: Sign up for reliable dating apps and websites only, so if there is an incoming unwanted nude or if you fear for the privacy of your own 18+ images, there are instruments to keep you safe and sound.
Digital Safety: Protecting Your Privacy in a Hyper-Connected World
We’ve already mentioned safety and protection a few times over the course of this article, but it’s worth talking about it some more. The last thing you need is to have your sexy photos leaked or forwarded to the wrong person, so here are the best practices for keeping intimate photos secure.
- Keep your smartphone and computer updated to the latest OS versions to ensure their protection against vulnerabilities. Hackers love those.
- Don’t connect to and send nude photos via public WiFi. There are so many horror stories of people losing their money and sensitive data because they were working in a coffee shop and someone messed with the local internet connection.
- Don’t upload sexy images to the cloud, keep them on your own device. Also, disable the auto backup feature. Remember all those scandals with celebrities having their iCloud broken into? Yep, let’s not repeat their faith.
- Send photos using only encrypted messengers that are hard to hack, such as Signal or Telegram.
- Update your passwords on the devices that store nudes. Make sure they’re unique, complex, and don’t include someone’s birthday and other obvious things.
- Review access permissions for apps. Sadly, not all apps (most of them?) can be fully trusted, so check that nobody has access to your gallery unless it’s required for the app to function, and even so, limit what they can access.
Last but not least, trust your gut. If something feels off, even just a little bit, don’t do it. The right person will not curse you and lose respect for you if you back down at the last minute.
Building Healthy Digital Intimacy
Sending nude photos is not the most intimate thing you can do with someone digitally! Making the first step and encouraging raw and open conversations is arguably harder and requires more courage.
If you’re chatting with someone, whether on a dating app, a messenger, or anywhere else, promote confident and consensual communication. Encourage your partner to open up to you and do it in return too. If your match is not showing you the compassion or the respect that you expect, bring it up, and don’t be afraid to leave the chat if they’re not hearing what you’re saying.
Building a healthy digital intimacy takes time and skill, but you can do it if you prioritize healthy boundaries, and consent, and only do and say what you authentically want to do or say. Using safe dating platforms, such as Flure, is a great help in making respectful and exciting connections that lead to whatever romantic goals you have at the moment.
