Big in the news last week was the quick string of robberies in which over 100 movie stars had their valuables stolen.
They were robbed not of their money or expensive jewelry or priceless art pieces, but of their digital nude photos of themselves which were stored for safe-keeping in an internet data storage system. Since breaking into the stars' cyber safety deposit box and lifting the goods, the thief has been cyber-fencing the photos on the internet where millions upon millions have become accessories to the crime by receiving the stolen property. The FBI is on the case.
Other than the question of whether this crime will be treated as grand larceny or a felonious breach of copyright, I guess the biggest question in my mind about the whole thing is this:
Do all movie stars keep a collection nude photos of themselves? I mean, for them is having a nude photo collection just as normal as having a rare coin collection or a DVD collection or a Jackson Pollock collection? Are the photos to be shared with someone else, presumably the person who took them?
These aren't just rhetorical questions. They're things I really have been wondering about since first hearing the news of the photo theft. In fact, now that I think about it, I'm really wondering if social nude photography - as I'm christening the private taking of nude photos to share with, well, whoever - is something that's pretty common among the population?
I mean, I wouldn't willingly let myself be snapped in the altogether, but then I can think of lots of things that I don't do - jogging, swimming, drinking, watching sports, playing cards, dying my hair, eating chicken noodle soup from a can- that are commonly done and considered perfectly normal by everyone else. *
In fact, now that I think of it, I personally know of at least a couple of photo bugs who've dabbled.
For example, I used to know this arty guy who once (well, once that I know of) took nude shots of his wife, which I guess he considered legitimate art pieces and wanted, as artists do, to show them so he showed them to me. I looked at the photos of the parts of the gal who was sitting right next to me for as many moments as etiquette required and responded with polite comments like, "that's very nice," while managing to squelch my inner response of "ew, ew, Ew!"
But then, I don't like watching Chinese art movies either, so I guess it's all a matter of taste.
So, here, in summary, are my questions on social nude photography:
Is social nude photography one of those perfectly normal things that many or even most people do in the privacy of their own personal space?
Is it, like, give a person two sticks and they'll make a fire, put a camera in their hand and they'll take nude photos?
Is sexting to social nude photography what drunk driving is to social drinking?
In any case, if social nude photography is destined to be a pervasive and permanent social trend, in this age of internet hacking might it not be wiser for people to take their nude photos off the internet and from now on keep them stored in a locked box under their bed?
*But even though I would not be into social nude photography, when I was hiking the 490-mile Camino de Santiago de Compostela through the Spanish Pyrenees last year I had no problem taking a shower in the co-ed bathrooms in the albergues (hostels) I stayed in along the way. Being drenched in sweat and dust and smelling like Frankenstein somehow has a way of tempering modesty.
If you'd like to read all about it you can check out my Camino blog, "Tighten Your Boots" at www.pattiliszkay.weebly.com
They were robbed not of their money or expensive jewelry or priceless art pieces, but of their digital nude photos of themselves which were stored for safe-keeping in an internet data storage system. Since breaking into the stars' cyber safety deposit box and lifting the goods, the thief has been cyber-fencing the photos on the internet where millions upon millions have become accessories to the crime by receiving the stolen property. The FBI is on the case.
Other than the question of whether this crime will be treated as grand larceny or a felonious breach of copyright, I guess the biggest question in my mind about the whole thing is this:
Do all movie stars keep a collection nude photos of themselves? I mean, for them is having a nude photo collection just as normal as having a rare coin collection or a DVD collection or a Jackson Pollock collection? Are the photos to be shared with someone else, presumably the person who took them?
These aren't just rhetorical questions. They're things I really have been wondering about since first hearing the news of the photo theft. In fact, now that I think about it, I'm really wondering if social nude photography - as I'm christening the private taking of nude photos to share with, well, whoever - is something that's pretty common among the population?
I mean, I wouldn't willingly let myself be snapped in the altogether, but then I can think of lots of things that I don't do - jogging, swimming, drinking, watching sports, playing cards, dying my hair, eating chicken noodle soup from a can- that are commonly done and considered perfectly normal by everyone else. *
In fact, now that I think of it, I personally know of at least a couple of photo bugs who've dabbled.
For example, I used to know this arty guy who once (well, once that I know of) took nude shots of his wife, which I guess he considered legitimate art pieces and wanted, as artists do, to show them so he showed them to me. I looked at the photos of the parts of the gal who was sitting right next to me for as many moments as etiquette required and responded with polite comments like, "that's very nice," while managing to squelch my inner response of "ew, ew, Ew!"
But then, I don't like watching Chinese art movies either, so I guess it's all a matter of taste.
So, here, in summary, are my questions on social nude photography:
Is social nude photography one of those perfectly normal things that many or even most people do in the privacy of their own personal space?
Is it, like, give a person two sticks and they'll make a fire, put a camera in their hand and they'll take nude photos?
Is sexting to social nude photography what drunk driving is to social drinking?
In any case, if social nude photography is destined to be a pervasive and permanent social trend, in this age of internet hacking might it not be wiser for people to take their nude photos off the internet and from now on keep them stored in a locked box under their bed?
*But even though I would not be into social nude photography, when I was hiking the 490-mile Camino de Santiago de Compostela through the Spanish Pyrenees last year I had no problem taking a shower in the co-ed bathrooms in the albergues (hostels) I stayed in along the way. Being drenched in sweat and dust and smelling like Frankenstein somehow has a way of tempering modesty.
If you'd like to read all about it you can check out my Camino blog, "Tighten Your Boots" at www.pattiliszkay.weebly.com
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