How To Photograph Naked Women

Pietro Pellini is a master photographer who has photographed beautiful young women for well-known men's magazines as well a premier, subscription website. Not only are the girls stunningly gorgeous, but are photographed in a way that captures the innocence of youth with unabashed sexuality.

There are hundreds, thousands of pretty girls who will do anything in front of a camera, Pietro begins. They take their clothes off and show their bodies like that is all they need to do. All of a sudden they are shouting “look at me, look at me”. What I do is entirely different. You see a beautiful girl. You do not need to make her look like porn star, or fetishize her. The magic starts in the eyes. This is what the amateurs miss. Yes a girl must have an attractive body, but the magic starts with “the look.” They get this wrong too, because it is a feeling, an intuition, and that cannot be faked. You cannot have a girl make some sort of face. The viewer sees through it and it ruins the moment.

She must be authentic. Without that, there is nothing. You might as well look at a mannequin. For some that is enough. But I look for a quality in her eyes. Is she honest? Is she enjoying herself, or is she pretending – self-conscious because she is naked. I tell them “think of yourself dressed in the most elegant dress you could possibly find. Something that makes you look gorgeous. You are confident now because the dress complements you. But in fact you are wearing nothing and it must appear absolutely natural. No guile. No falseness. Then she is comfortable in her own skin. She looks you directly in the eye with no pretense. But this is only the start. The viewer is fascinated by the expression in her eyes, her youth, her beauty. He is enchanted. But he wants more. The magic that starts in the eyes now extends to the body. Is her attitude consistent with the expression in her eyes and face? Is she natural and honest? How does her body convey this feeling?

Again the moment can be ruined with miscalculation. This is where the amateur typically stumbles by employing staging, lights, props, clothing and other nonsense that turns the moment into a burlesque. The unsophisticated viewer has been indoctrinated to accept this from habit. In fact it is a cheat. Which is why I discard the label “erotic” because it plays a game with the viewer. Why clutter the scene? Why deny the satisfaction of seeing what you want to see? They do this because they do not trust themselves or the viewer to see directly. They throw a veil in front of the lens and call it art. My attitude is to remove all distractions.. Destroy the performance. Remove everything irrelevant and focus on the essential nature of the subject. What is the result? The power of a young woman's beauty to overcome falseness and device.

Chances are, the viewer cannot articulate all of this, but he will have a visceral reaction that is qualitatively different than anything before. That is my hope. It is similar to drinking fine wine. One recognizes the difference immediately. But that is not the end of the matter. In fact, it is just the beginning.

Once free of contrivance, we have nothing but the subject, a beautiful girl, to consider. The allure of her beauty captivates us. Her look invites us because it is neither haughty, vain, or selfish. It is not a privilege she offers us to look, but rather a willingness to share her body openly and freely. She is comfortable and confident. She is not embarrassed. We notice the color of her skin, the sweep of her hair, the flair of her hips. She bares her breasts, her nipples, her pussy. She is not ashamed. Always we see her face. This is important. We do not simply objectify parts of her body in some cheap way.

There is always a balance that keys from the expression on her face. As she reveals more and more, she maintains control over us with the directness of her gaze. Her expression says “I am glad you are looking at me. Take me all in. I am enjoying this as much as you.” That is all the look must say. She is like the Mona Lisa. An enigma. She creates sexual tension with this control. The performance that is so customary - the bitch in heat – is eliminated. Instead, we are treated to restraint which intensifies the moment. At what point will the tension break and cease to work? How much is she willing to show us? How long can she maintain control? The challenge is hers. Of course, she must be comfortable and willing to show us at least a glimpse of something forbidden. For some this could be only a hint of breast, a bit of the nipple. That is a prerequisite. From that point it is up to her how boldly she reveals herself.

For some girls it simply does not work to give more than a glimpse. It is a subjective thing. For others, it takes on a whole new dimension. We may ask her to recline and spread her legs, or sit on the edge of a chair, or lift her leg. If she has large breasts, for instance, or a beautiful composition and texture to her vaginal lips, we will accentuate this. She must be natural at all times so that our attention focuses on the way she blends her personality with her sexuality. This is no easy matter. The more extreme or graphic the pose, the more risk to get it wrong.

Not every woman can expose her anus and make it look natural, for instance. This and her vagina are the most alluring parts of her body along with her face and eyes. All must work together and not be separated. It's always interesting for me to experiment to find out what the subject can do. She may arch her back and thrust her pelvis toward the camera. The viewer is suddenly in a maddening predicament of deciding where to look: at her face or between her legs. Both are enticing. Both stare at you. Both ask to be noticed. The girl is always the object of desire, but now, in effect, she becomes two different things: intellectual and sexual. Again, the amateurs tend to emphasize the latter to the detriment of the former. But taken together, they have a synergistic effect.

People ask me why I do not photograph couples making love. It is not that I have anything against it. Far from it. But I worry that I will have to sacrifice the control that creates the essential sexual tension. It is a rarity to find a girl who is comfortable enough to be photographed naked, let alone coaching her to remain natural and comfortable while she is being pleasured or penetrated. To try and create a natural sex scene involving two young models, male and female, strikes me as a monumental task.

I had the fortune of stumbling across this Russian beauty the other day who apparently created a stir because she won an international beauty contest and was caught later being photographed having sex. And quite badly, I might add. However, to her credit she is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen. Luminescent and natural while being penetrated by two men. The thing that struck me about her was her unshakeable composure while being photographed by rank amateurs. She never succumbed to contrivance, performance, exaggeration or any nonsense while two men were inside her simultaneously. She simply continued to glow, appearing perfectly natural and at ease. I would love the opportunity to work with her. This gave me renewed hope that it possible to photograph a woman with a partner or multiple partners while retaining the attitude and control that makes for truly great art.