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Photo by Nicolas Taillard |
I am starting off the year with the news that as of today the Art Nudes blog will no longer be updated regularly. After so many years I can no longer devote 2 or 3 hours every weekend to blogging. Plain and simply, what should be a joy has begun to feel like work and I am tired.
I was determined that this would be my big farewell, but the idea of simply turning off the lights and walking away on so many year's worth of work and having the Google servers erase the blog for inactivity was too much to bear. More importantly, losing the opportunity to communicate with so many great artists is a blessing I can't simply toss away. So what is the answer? For now, it is taking an extended break of a month or two. After that, posts will go up when I find art or information that really inspires me. There will be less posts advising about current exhibits, new books, etc., fewer repeats of old favourites and the work that gets posted will be the best of the best.
It was nine(!) years and nearly 3000 posts ago that I started this blog as an experiment in sharing my bookmarks. Little did I know what it would eventually become. The site has received literally millions of visitors. I've been interviewed for a nationally published magazine and for several different art websites. I've been humbled by very generous gifts of original photographic art and books. I've received emails from hundreds of photographers requesting to be featured and hundreds more expressing thanks for the exposure this blog has given them. Most importantly though, I've had the pleasure of forming friendships both real and "virtual" with dozens of the artists whose work I admire.
I couldn't have carried on this long without the support of several dedicated readers who regularly scoured the web and kindly submitted links for me to post. Some burned bright and faded, others are still going strong, but I am grateful to them all. With that in mind, I'd like to extend a special thanks to the following people.
Eric Kellerman
Michel Nahabedian
Nicolas Taillard
Chris Triance-Martin
Raymond Delhaye
Mariana Pinheiro
Brooks Ayola
Furthermore, I'd like to thank all you photographers that submitted your websites and online portfolios to me. I sincerely hope you continue to do so although posts will be much less frequent. It is my greatest pride that this blog is visited regularly by so many talented artists.
Thank you also to all my readers. Knowing that there were thousands of people a day visiting the site was an awesome responsibility, but one I was proud of.
Finally, I'd like to thank Jean Jacques Andre for sparking my interest in figure photography in the first place. Merci beaucoup JJ!
I sincerely hope my efforts have brought only good publicity and increased exposure to the artists featured here, and to fine art nude photography in general.
P.S. Please see the comments section below for a special message from long time contributor Eric Kellerman that he's asked me to post for him.