Young British Naturists by Laura Pannack

Nakedness is usually reserved for the private realm. We make sure the curtain is pulled before we undress. On the beach, we wriggle awkwardly behind towels to preserve our modesty and a dropped corner is cause for deep blushes.

It is about more than just skin. Nakedness is a concept as much as it is a state of being, and one wreathed in paradox.

With it are bound notions of privacy, self-possession, and jurisdiction. It can connote innocence or sexuality, purity or depravity. It can signify both power and vulnerability, used to liberate or humiliate.

We arrive in this world without a stitch on our backs, raw-skinned and unadorned. In infancy and childhood, nudity is still considered natural, a sign of prelapsarian purity, untainted by the unseemly connotations that begin to attach themselves as we draw nearer to adolescence.

As one YBN member explains:

"I was drawn in by the great equalizing aspect of naturism. It is interesting how far people would retain their respective rank if they were divested of their clothes. When all other things are held equal, when nude, a rich person appears no different than a poor person, or a fashionable person appears no different to someone who has to make do with the clothing they have. Thus, these classifications disappear and the playing field is leveled. In the naturist environment, I am their equal - I’m not better than them, nor they are better than me, we are just human. By removing clothing I feel a barrier between people is gone and I’m more able to meet and to talk to others without the feeling that I or they have something to hide."

This project consists of young British naturists aged between 17 and 30. I aim to capture them as individuals, not just naturists.

Laura Pannack lives and works in London, England.
To view more of Laura's work, please visit her website.