The Art Of Being Naked

By Ciara Barrett

There are so many reasons why people might take nudes, whether it’s for someone else, for work, or just for yourself. While it’s known as boudoir photography in the professional world, taking intimate photos can really help when it comes to improving body image and self love on a superficial level.

We’re constantly bombarded with images of ‘perfect’ bodies, yet perfect bodies do not exist. What we’re taught to see as conventionally sexy or attractive is actually capitalism. Companies profit off of telling people how to look, and changing up what is considered the ‘ideal’ body type every couple of years.

For some people, taking nudes can be a really freeing experience, a chance to see your body and take creative freedom with how it’s seen. Whether the pictures are for yourself or for someone else, there’s a certain level of validation from just taking them that can have a really positive impact on how you view yourself. 

We’ve been conditioned to be at constant war with our bodies, but for a lot of people, taking pictures of your body and acknowledging it in a way that you like can be incredibly liberating and healing. Taking nudes the way you like, whether that’s with certain lighting, poses, or lingerie is often used as a way for people to empower themselves and their bodies. 

Nudes are a fun way to spice up sex, or even as a method of foreplay, and it isn’t a requirement for the pictures to be completely naked either. Pictures where you feel comfortable will always be the sexiest as there’s nothing hotter than being comfortable in your own skin. Some people prefer taking partially naked pictures, or with lingerie that makes them feel comfortable and good about themselves. When you’re taking nudes, the most important thing is feeling good about yourself. For some people that could be certain poses, lighting, filters, and clothing or lack thereof. 

Posing can make people uneasy sometimes when they don’t know what to do. However, the internet really does have something for everyone. TikTok is full of people whose job it is to take nudes and intimate pictures for people, professionally known as boudoir photographers. They share advice on posing, lighting, and lingerie on TikTok regularly for the low low price of free. Some of the most popular creators for this kind of thing are @/foxlowboudoir, @/redrosesboudoir, and @/haylieedmiston.

When taking nudes, lighting is truly your best friend. With natural light, especially sunlight (I’m partial to sunrise), take full advantage of shadows. Silhouette pictures are insanely sexy and a lot of fun to play with when taking them. These days a lot of people have LED lights or colour changing lights also, and these can be a lot of fun to play around with, especially at night. Red light is generally the most popular, but blue can also be really fun for contrast and shadows.

When it comes to taking nudes, safety is paramount. Always make sure that you watermark them if you’re sending them to others, with a different thing in the picture that only you would notice who can help you identify who sent the picture if there’s a leak. You should also be aware of your rights if this does happen. There are laws in place criminalising the sharing of intimate pictures without consent of the person in them, and if your pictures ever do end up leaked, make sure you know your rights and where you can get help.

Nudes can be fun and sexy, but also a really good way of looking at yourself in a way that makes you happy. Rather than looking at your body in a critical light, you get the opportunity to look at someone in something you think looks good, lighting that you’re partial to, and in a setting that makes you comfortable. Being naked is extremely stigmatised, and always looked down upon. Along with that, when we do see naked bodies they’re always the same body type. Taking nudes yourself allows you to really see your body in a way that you like, as something you can see as sexy regardless of body type, race, or gender. 

Sometimes, a little bit of self-obsession can go a long way to healing your relationship with your body. In healing that relationship, you can get more comfortable with having sex, masturbation, and especially sexting and talking about sex. Taking nudes, whether for yourself or someone else, can be a lot of fun and even a creative outlet. Just remember to make sure that you’re doing it because you want to, that you keep yourself safe, that anyone on the receiving end has given consent, and that you never leak anyone else’s nudes or send them to anyone they weren’t explicitly for.

Student Contributions

As usual, these contributions are submitted anonymously (unless the contributor expressed otherwise!) If you would ever like to contribute to a Sexpress article, just send me an email at sexpress@uccexpress.ie! It’s so important to acknowledge the things that make you feel good about yourself, and remember to always watermark your nudes and stay safe!

For me it’s kind of complicated, because as an Assigned Female At Birth (AFAB) person I was always kind of taught to see my body through the male gaze, and because of that what I was seeing just wasn’t sexy to me. Experimenting with intimate photography in more of an artistic way gave me more insight into what I found attractive, and it helped me to view myself through a queer lens which helped massively with my perception of my own body.

Usually it’s really easy for me to be critical about my body, but some days when I feel hot I just take a picture. If it turns out well, it’s a real confidence boost, and then whenever I see it again in the future I’m just kind of like damn? I’m so hot.

It’s super satisfying to get to see my own body as sexy, even if it’s just for a little while. Sometimes I’ll send them to friends (consensually of course) just for some feedback, and positive comments from others can genuinely make me feel so good, even if it’s not what I should be focusing on. Knowing that I find myself hot and other people agree, makes the good feeling last even longer.

I used to be really insecure about my body, until one day I took a photo and I realised I was pretty obsessed with myself. I also feel like sending nudes to someone, like a significant other. is an act that really shows trust, because it can be really scary. It’s a really intimate experience that helps with body positivity and confidence in sex in general in my opinion.

I used to always dress to pander to people who might be attracted to me. Even when buying clothes or lingerie, I would always take my boyfriend with me to pick what he liked or what he would be attracted to if I was wearing it. I never picked it for myself or allowed myself to acknowledge what I felt pretty in. Taking pictures of myself almost gave me the opportunity to depersonalise and think “wow she’s really beautiful’. I think that we’re conditioned to see ourselves as unattractive, and being able to look at myself in a picture rather than in a mirror really makes me feel sexy.

As a trans man, taking nudes or acknowledging my body has always been a sore spot. For me though, taking nudes and sending them and getting good reactions gives me a lot of validation in both my body and my gender. Taking nudes is a good way to play around with gender expression. It also does wonders for my confidence in my gender when people hype up my nudes, and I feel really validated in my identity regardless of my body.

I was never really comfortable with looking at my body, and I had this weird complex about not letting myself see me as someone attractive, or someone I like. I was never comfortable with looking at my body until I started getting tattoos and piercings on my body. After that, I was able to see taking nudes as taking pictures of the art that was on my body, and that helped me to see my body as art as well.