10 Masters Of Nude Photography

The naked human body has been drawing artists’ attention from time immemorial. Classical paintings and sculptures often show naked or half-naked people. It wasn’t long after the first camera was invented, and photography appeared that people decided to give nude photography a try.

The most crucial thing in nude photography is to show the beauty of the human body. Put the emphasis on its elegance and aesthetic qualities, the gracefulness of its shapes and lines. One of the main challenges that nude photography presents is that ideally your image shouldn’t be too provocative and scandalously sexual; unless that’s your goal. Your photos need to be tasteful. This is often achieved by showing some parts of it, while concealing others. Various props and clothing can help you with that. But one of the best ways to conceal something is by using shadows masterfully. Thus, you’ll have to understand and work with light very well.

No matter what genre or what form of art interests you, it’s always important to study the works of masters – not only because they can inspire you, but also because you can learn a lot from them. The works of the masters of nude photography can teach you what to show and what to conceal as well as give you ideas on how to conceal certain parts of a human body.

In this list, you will discover 10 talented masters of nude photography. You’ll see some of the photos of these famous photographers, but we highly recommend you explore more of their works once you’re finished with this article.

Are you ready to get inspired?

Here are some of the most prominent masters of nude photography.

Taras Kuscynskyi

Taras Kuscynskyi (1932-1983) was a Czech photographer. You’ve probably never heard of him before as he wasn’t very well-known. But he had a unique vision of the female beauty. He skillfully linked women’s inner world to their natural eroticism and enchanting appearance. Some of his photography works show a naked woman on a neutral background – this way all the attention is focused on the beauty of the woman’s body. But he also liked to photograph naked women in nature – in the forest or in the field. These settings were chosen for a reason. It wasn’t easy to live in the Czech Republic in the 20th century due to the political environment. Nakedness and nature in Kuscynskyi’s works symbolized freedom and escape from the harsh reality.

Monika, 1980 by © Taras Kuščynskyj

Jan Saudek

Jan Saudek (b. 1935) is a prominent photographer from the Czech Republic. He was quite a controversial figure in his country, especially when it used to be communist. In fact, the totalitarian regime of the communist times didn’t approve of Saudek’s works and he was labeled as a pornographer. Nevertheless, he has become so famous that exhibitions of his works have been held on all continents except Antarctica.

Extreme scandalousness and sexuality are the hallmarks of his photography works. The majority of his works feature fully or partially naked people in surreal and dreamlike settings. There’s some nostalgic, vintage feel to his creations. What’s unique about his photography works is that he combined photography and painting; in the past, he colored a lot of his photos by hand.
Saudek is a holocaust survivor and art has helped him survive the harsh reality of the communist regime as well as tragic and painful past.

The Cowparade by © Jan Saudek

Antonin Tesar

Antonin Tesar (b. 1963) is another Czech photographer who is relatively well-known. Tesar used to say: “For me, there’s nothing more beautiful and at the same time uglier than human beings.” His photography works are grotesque and have some eroticism to them. They invite viewers to explore not just the human body, but the human psyche as well. They depict the duality of human nature – the light and the dark. After all, each and every one of us learns to coexist with personal demons.

Tesar’s works are all staged. The light feels artificial. The colors seem to be unnaturally bright. This is why his works seem to be quite surreal. Some might think that they look like scenes from horror films, while to others they may resemble classical paintings. Tesar’s works combine opposing concepts of life and death, beauty and disgust, adoration and perversion. They will surely give you some food for thought.

Amazon (1993) © Antonin Tesar

Pavel Brunclik

Pavel Brunclik (b. 1950) is a Czech photographer. After graduating from the faculty of Mathematics and Physics in the mid-70s, he studied film direction and screenwriting in Prague, then worked for a bit for Czechoslovak TV. He became a freelance photographer in 1981.

Brunclik’s works focus on the body’s natural perfection, the beauty and the grace of its shapes. The majority of his works are black-and-white, which helps to eliminate all the distractions and focus on the form. His works are free from a lot of embellishments yet powerful in their simplicity and naturalness.

“From The Geometry of nudity” (2006–2007) (dancers of the National Theatre ballet in Prague) © Pavel Brunclik

Sam Haskins

Sam Haskins (1926-2009) is a British photographer, who was born and raised in South Africa. He began his career as a commercial photographer in 1953 in Johannesburg, then gained popularity in London and Australia.

While working, he always found time for his personal projects which have become the most influential. He is mostly known thanks to his four books featuring nude models. One of these books called Five Girls which was first published in 1962 and instantly became a bestseller. Haskins always had a true passion for photography.

Just like Brunclik, he mostly preferred to shoot in black-and-white. He was a key figure in the photography movement in the middle of 20th century and played his part in the sexual revolution of the 1960s. His works were influenced by the best in the field of photography, and Haskins himself has had an impact on many other outstanding photographers. Ivan Shaw from Condé Nast once said about Haskins: “His influence is so broad his specific contribution to the photography community is often overlooked”.

Gill (1962) © Sam Haskins

“A photographer went to a socialite party in New York. As he entered the front door, the host said ‘I love your pictures – they’re wonderful; you must have a fantastic camera.’ He said nothing until dinner was finished, then: ‘That was a wonderful dinner; you must have a terrific stove.” – Sam Haskins

Joyce Tenneson

Joyce Tenneson (b. 1945) is a highly respected American photographer famous for her distinctive sfumato style of photography. Her works, indeed, resemble paintings and often depict nude or semi-nude women.

Critics said that her works had an ethereal and otherworldy quality to them as well as called her one of the most fascinating “portrayers of the human character”. Sensual and mystical images perfectly show the photographer’s perception of physical appearance which is inseparably connected with the “inner reality”, according to Tenneson. Among her works you’ll find portraits of unknown models as well as celebrities, including Jodie Foster and Demi Moore.

“My camera is a witness. It holds a light up for my subjects to help them feel their own essence and gives them the courage to collaborate in the recording of these revelations.” – Joyce Tenneson

Transformations by © Joyce Tenneson

Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz (b. 1949) is an American living legend among portrait photographers. She worked for Rolling Stone for ten years and later for Vanity Fair. It’s a well-known fact that Leibovitz always collaborates closely with her subjects – she discusses the ideas for the shoot with her subjects as well as learns more about them as people. This gives her the opportunity to come up with ideas for the shoots that are based around her subjects, which adds some authentic and intimate quality to photos.

She is mostly well-known as a portrait photographer and thus the majority of her photos feature people dressed in clothes. However, some of her most famous works show a naked celebrity. Thus, she can be considered a master of nude photography as well. Her photography works are extremely popular – there’s a high chance that you’ve already seen at least one of her works.

Leibovitz’s most famous work is the picture of the pregnant Demi Moore, where the actress is fully naked and covers her bare breasts with her hands. This shot was taken at the beginning of the 90s and back then the editors were worried that this kind of an image would be inappropriate. Initially, Leibovitz was supposed to shoot only a portrait of the Moore’s face, barely showing her body. Leibovitz tried to do exactly that but didn’t like the results. So, eventually, she suggested that the actress should undress. Fortunately, Leibovitz was good friends with Moore, so the actress didn’t mind.

Her other famous work is the controversial picture of naked John Lennon and fully dressed Yoko Ono. In her works, Leibovitz doesn’t use complicated light schemes. As a matter of fact, she often tries to emulate natural light. Her images are simple and tasteful with a visually pleasing color-palette. She is one of the best and greatest portrait photographers in the world, so you should definitely learn more about her and study her works.

Photo © Annie Leibovitz

Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989) was quite a scandalous and controversial American photographer. He studied at a visual arts school, the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Initially, he chose sculpture, but then switched to photography. He was friends with Andy Warhol and associated with his Factory in the late 1960s. One of Warhol’s well-known portraits was taken by Mapplethorpe. Mapplethorpe is also famous for taking the cover photo of the Patti Smith’s album “Horses”.

His photography works are defined by a precise and clean style. He is best known for his captivating black-and-white female and male nudes. In fact, Mapplethorpe was a master at merging fine art with eroticism in a brutal, yet chic way. His works were explicit and rather sensual and thus stirred a decent amount of controversies. In addition to this, Mapplethorpe documented the New York S&M scene in the late 1970s. Naturally, the resulting photos had a shocking content for the public, but at the same time they were remarkable for how well they were executed.

His works prompted discussions of topics such as the constriction of gender and sexuality, the challenges of censorship and some others. Some of his works were, indeed, at risk of censorship.

Jason by © Robert Mapplethorpe, 1983

Todd Essick

Todd Essick (b. 1961) is an American photographer who is well known for his fascinating and unparalleled underwater nude photography. In fact, he is considered to be the pioneer of underwater fine art photography.

When he was a child, his family went for a vacation in South Florida and that’s when he first well in love with the sea. Essick strives to fuse the beauty of the ocean with that of the female body, using an allusion to Venus, the goddess of beauty. His works allow viewers to plunge into a totally different reality. His underwater nudes are truly captivating. According to German’s Unterwasser Magazine, Essick is one of the top ten underwater photographers in the world.

Sting Rays Turks & Caicos by © Todd Essick

Ruth Bernhard

Ruth Bernhard (1905-2006) was a German-born American photographer. She moved to New York at the age of 22 and started doing nude-photography in 1934. This is the genre that she eventually became famous for.

Early in her career she was highly influenced by the works of Edward Weston, who she was friends with. The majority of Bernhard’s photography works featured naked women and were black-and-white. They were often Modernist, sensual and even erotic at times.

If you take a look at her works, you’ll see that they are quite simple, her subjects have natural poses and the settings are quite plain, even minimalistic. There’s nothing grotesque or gaudy about her images. She loved using close-ups and unusual angles as her goal was to create images that are intimate and abstract. At the same time, in some of her works, she didn’t shy away from experimenting and utilizing props to add a touch of surrealism.

Hips by © Ruth Bernhard

Benefits of Nude Photography

It can make you a better photographer.

If you study photography at an art school, nude photography is usually taught at the upper level, when you’ve learnt about all the technical aspects and the light. Quite surprising, right?

Well, a camera sees a human body like a big mass of skin. If your lighting is terrible, this big mass of skin will look uninteresting and pretty much shapeless. Thus, it’s highly crucial for you to learn all about working with light properly – both artificial and natural. You need to know your camera well, too, because you won’t have much time to fumble with the settings. You’ll need to make sure that your model is comfortable and relaxed.

It can help you with creative expression.

Nude photography can give you the opportunity to experiment with different lighting techniques, colors, textures and shapes as well as the chance to try different angles and perspectives. What’s more, you can experiment with different aesthetics.

Some works of the masters featured in this list resembled paintings, while others addressed themes of inner demons and sexuality. You can create something abstract and surreal as well as something simple or emotional. Nude photography can help you push your own boundaries, explore something totally new for yourself. This genre might actually help you find your personal style of photography.

Here’s a bonus tip! If you are interested in nude photography, but aren’t ready to work with other people yet, you can try to do a nude self-portrait. It can help you feel better and more comfortable in your own skin, accept your own body. Plus, when you are working with yourself, it can be a less stressful experience.

Visual Watermark Can Help You

On Visual Watermark’s website you can find an amazing selection of online tools that can help you do some basic image editing. For example, you can crop image of a nude model. Our Crop Tool supports batch processing and has built-in presets for social media. So, you’ll be able to prepare your images for publishing online in a matter of minutes! And remember – it might be better to avoid cropping your subjects at elbows, wrists, knees and ankles. Otherwise, your portraits might look awkward.

You can also compress photos online to significantly reduce their file size. It’s also possible to change the pixel dimensions of your images using our Resize tool. What’s more, you can use the Blur tool to blur part of an image (for example, the breasts) as some social media platforms prohibit showing nipples, for instance. You can blur any part of an image and the blurred area will look quite smooth and unobtrusive.

It’s important to watermark your images if you want to protect them from unauthorized use as well as promote your brand. Fortunately, you can easily do that with our free watermark app that can process up to 50,000 images in one go. More details here - How to watermark photos.

Conclusion

Nude photography can be challenging, yet very rewarding. It has a lot of room for experimentation and creative expression. Though, it does require a lot of skills and knowledge. Without a doubt, it can help you improve your photography skills. You can greatly benefit from it as a photographer. Hopefully, the 10 masters of nude photography featured in this article sparked some inspiration and convinced you to give this genre a try. Who knows? You might be the next legend!