Paolo Roversi’s nudes are the most extreme examples of his stripped down (sorry!) aesthetic. They are almost otherworldly, certainly not carnal creatures. A quote at Hamiltons offers an insight into what his nudes mean to Paolo:
In the same corner of my studio, I took some nude portraits of girls. As the light flows through the window, it is not easy to describe the emotion of the moment in which my subject is there, against the wall, cut off from the rest of the world, abandoned to this strange solitude, in front of my camera with her entire life, all her beauty, sublimated by the northerly light.
In this particular image, the creamy surface of the Polaroid print, Meg’s hair piled in classical ringlets on top of her head and the delicate shadowing around her body recall late-18th century porcelain plaques.
In My life is full of pictures I didn’t take, an interview for The Talks, Paolo Roversi is asked how he convinces his models to take their clothes off:
It was never a big problem because they are not girls working in a place where it’s unusual to be nude, like an office. It’s not so complicated because we have a confidence between us. Some guests said no, of course. Some said no because, “My boyfriend doesn’t want me to,” or “I’m too shy.” But sometimes they say this and then six months later she’s ready to do it. Then others are never ready. Then some come and ask me! And I think, “Oh, why not. Maybe it’s good.” So there are really no rules. Except when they’re too young, under 18, then I call the parents to ask their permission to take a nude of their daughter.
Unique Polaroid print. © Paolo Roversi.
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