The femen phenomenon
By Gleb Garanich
I have been shooting Femen protests for five years and the girls have become a real Ukrainian brand now, like Chernobyl, the Klitschko brothers, footballer Andriy Shevchenko and Chicken Kiev. Colleagues in the office were always jealous when we left to cover the protests and many of my acquaintances from abroad were willing to go and watch them. Before taking pictures of the girls’ regular lives outside the protests, I asked myself: what do I know about them? I only knew their names. The public has two ideas of them, “funny girls” or “damn prostitutes, I wonder who’s paying them”. I personally do not care if their actions are moral or immoral, wrong or right. They do not kill or steal or promise to make voters’ lives better. Shooting their protests is much more interesting than, say, covering a briefing by the prime minister. These girls at least appear honest. Who pays for that is a question for the Financial Times, not me.
I chose the three most prominent Femen activists, Oleksandra Shevchenko, Inna Shevchenko and Oksana Shachko, and decided to spend a few hours with each one on a regular day. Two problems I faced were a queue of foreign reporters waiting to meet them and the flu, which brought the girls down. But once they recovered, I paid them a visit.
I spent the morning with Inna Shevchenko.
Inna, 21, was born in the city of Kherson and studies journalism in Kiev. She had worked for the press office of the Kiev mayor’s office, but was sacked for taking part in Femen protests. Inna likes to hike in the mountains and read Chekhov. She rents a room in a downtown Kiev apartment.
Naturism: These images contain nudity
By Mark Blinch
When you’re a photographer, every day brings the unexpected.
(Video best viewed in full screen mode)
Case in point: My assignment at the Bare Oaks Family Naturist Park.
Imagine a campground where people perform everyday tasks but without a stitch of clothing on.
Mowing the lawn, coffee with friends, dinnertime with family members, even board meetings with colleagues — at this camp, there were no exceptions to the no clothes rule.
WOW. This is the best report on naturism that I have ever seen. It needs to be seen by both the public and naturists alike. It’s great how the connection is made between nudity and spirituality and community. This is what’s lost in most reports about naturism. If we in the naturist community could get this message across more often I’m sure it would draw more people. Naturists were among the first to advocate for sustainable ideas like health, vegetarianism, and community back in the 1880′s, which was the birth of the modern naturist movement. Bare Oaks seems to have kept that philosophical connection, and I am eager to visit their resort and talk with the people there. Way to go, folks!
Mark
Oregon
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Resident Photographers Blog Expert
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The Wall
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