Nude & Fine Art

Naked Clay – No Plan, Just Play

We were together to explore each other. The clay was mostly an icebreaker. I had mixed it with warm water and laid it out, ready to go. Youna had an idea of something sensual — bodies melting into each other. Then something else happened.

Johan scream as clay-covered hands reach toward him

Mathias and Youna started smearing clay over each other. And somewhere along the way, the words disappeared.

Not because there was nothing left to say. They simply weren't needed anymore.

Words became sounds. Laughter, little cries, movements. A small dance appeared. Nobody had planned it, and nobody really knew where it was going.

Youna and Mathias begin playing with warm clay during a nude photography session

Then Johan joined in, playing the part of the tortured one. He had no idea what he was getting himself into. Neither did the rest of us.

Someone did something. Someone else answered. The clay turned into a game, the game into a fight, the fight into laughter. And suddenly we were right in the middle of something none of us had thought of beforehand.

This, I think, is the fun of it.

You start with an idea. Then you let it go.

You trust each other's creativity. You stay present. You follow the flow.

That's co-creation.

Youna laughing clay-covered

Most of these photographs are exactly what happened. I put out the clay, picked up my camera and let them play. I didn't direct the result.

A playful moment between three adults covered in clay

The storm is another story. That one I couldn't resist.

Eventually, the clay had to come off. Everyone ended up in the water, washing it away.

And just when you thought the game was over, it changed again.

Youna was floating on her back. Mathias and Johan moved closer. What had been a wild, muddy battle became slower, closer, almost tender.

Someone seemed to need rescuing.

Whether it was actually a rescue operation, I'll leave open to interpretation. I was mostly behind the camera, trying to figure out what the hell was happening.

Three nude figures caught in a surreal storm at sea, with a sailing ship and lightning behind them

Maybe the game wasn't over.

Maybe it had simply changed shape.

And perhaps that's what I like most about all of this.

Three grown-ups who dared to start playing with each other.

Because maybe we don't grow out of play. Maybe we just forget how much fun it is.

And as a photographer, I can only say: it is fucking great fun to put out some free clay and see what happens.