Bare riders (contains nudity), a photo from Ile-de-France, North

Photographer's Note

Adam, you may remove this one, though I think it's quite informative.
------------------------------------
Today june 9th, a naturist bike ride was to happen worldwide in 10 countries and for the first time in Paris, the event is initiated by Coordinadora de Colectivos Ciclonudistas de Aragón, a spanish organization concerned by environmental problems and who advocates for city bikes against cars, which they see as one of the main pollution factors... (I would quite agree with them, except for taking off my clothes in the streets.)

I heard the thing on the radio, when I woke up this morning and thought it could be quite funny to see.

About 200-300 people were to gather at Reuilly Park in Paris at 2PM, waiting for the police authorization, which didn't come... around 3PM, the managers announced naturism wasn't allowed through Paris. A couple of people started to undress and someone called for an independant ride, most of the attendants still with clothes on. At this moment I left and took a bus, that was my luck... after a few hundred meters, I heard something behind the bus, some shouts... I walked out at the next station...

The independant riders had stopped and started to undress totally or partially, bare breast for some women. I was in the midst of them at the right place, at the right moment.

They went up on their bikes, I then couldn't follow : the bike ride was supposed to continue to the Opera place, crossing half of Paris through popular boulevards. Hearing the police car horns, I suppose they didn't go that far...

Glory to all revolutionaries. Be them half, fully naked or even "sans-culottes".

ninaL, happypoppeye, bwiti, Leo71538, fixed, coco, banyanman, sidstakes, kajspice, thea0211, bantonbuju, KevRyan, joso, flory, riclopes, prantik, eleparc, maloutim, notrap, ivalec, mineelci, gongchaoquan has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ninaL (21348) 2007-06-09 12:45

Bonjour, Luko.
C'est de la folie !!! Et pourtant, il n'y a strictement rien d'obscène là-dedans, ils ont l'air de mener tranquillement leur vie...
J'aime bcp la capture de l'homme au premier plan qui fait la compo ici.
Amitiés, Grazyna.

happypoppeye (4819) 2007-06-09 12:48

Luko,

Nice catch!!!

I think the note may save it from deletion. The DOF and POV are good. It's ashame the sky is so overexposed though. There is definitely a difference between a photo of this type and a straight out nudity shot which borders on porn. Great shot. Great note.

kensimage (8563) 2007-06-09 12:49

The woman is obviously a member of TE, or at least of "TrekNaturist". Great composition here with the people forming a wedge, and I love the eager look on the man at left. It's a bit under-saturated, but that's not much of an issue with this shot. They don't appear concerned by your camera, that's for sure. Great timing to be there for this, Luko! Regards, Ken.

bwiti (402) 2007-06-09 12:57

J'ai hésité à m'y rendre afin de faire quelques clichés impudiques et puis changement de programme... Celle ci est marrante, pleine de vie... Félicitations...

Leo71538 (555) 2007-06-09 13:00

I was wondering what will happen if such a thing happens in Iran!!!

fixed (3836) 2007-06-09 13:09

lol
ha, ha trop fun :))
z'ont l'air de bien se marrer !
belle opportunité et bien réalisé le tout sans vulgarité ;) ... normal chez Luko
jolie photo reportage !
bravo
nono
reste à savoir si elle va rester, et combien de fois elle va être regardée ;D

coco (30439) 2007-06-09 13:13

Hi Luko.

This photo shouldn't be removed.
The photo contains information about a real situations. I cannot find a direct relathionship between the environmental problems and the nudity... but even then, it's a real situation and they want catch out attention.

Also is true that is not very difficult see similar situations in another European countries. In fact, the photo doesn't show any offensive situation but contains quite information.

Well done.

DINOZOR (16452) 2007-06-09 13:22

Hello luko,
C'est bien de coller à l'actualité d'aussi près, l'evennement à peine terminé est déja sur TE. Je trouve dommage que sur le site français la note ne soit pas en français!
Photo interessante genre reportage mais photo "propre" !.
Les bobos parisiens savent faire parler d'eux et enfourcher toutes les bonnes causes. Puissent-ils etre aussi démonstratifs et photogéniques à propos de leurs contradictions entre leurs belles paroles et leurs actes individuels.
cordialement.

sidstakes (772) 2007-06-09 13:49

Sesh! What radical thoughts! Cycling naked for a cause! It certainly takes some amount of courage to do so..perhaps naked courage...hehe! :D
Regards,
Siddhartha

banyanman (7797) 2007-06-09 13:56

I hope Adam doesn't remove this, Luko, because it's well within the TE spirit of teaching us about the world. There are still many countries of the world where it is commonplace for people to be going about their daily lives naked, but what makes this so surprising is that people dare to do it in Paris. This may shock people in some countries where such bravado would never be tolerated, but it's interesting to see what some people in European countries will do these days to attract attention to their cause. You certainly were in the right place at the right time, and you had a good POV for this shot. Cheers . . . David

Polonaise (5802) 2007-06-09 14:16 [Comment]

Show Comment

thea0211 (1365) 2007-06-09 15:07

i don't think it should be removed either.

i want to know what is going on in the world but can't say i trust official news much (since i believe they mostly serve us partial truths) - and this is one of the reasons i value TE for - because it's about people like us telling stories about and from their corner of the world - and this is the real and most trustworthy way we can "learn about the world through photography"!

like here - thanks to your afternoon walk and effort - we get to know some hot news from Paris - we get to see what really happened there - and yes, it does contain nudity ... but you only photographed reality - that's all!

and i whole heartedly agree that cars are the main pollution factors - maybe drastic measures like this are required so that everybody would realize such fundamental truths!

well done luko and thanks!
dora

bantonbuju (51815) 2007-06-09 16:27

now, this is a photo that i have been waiting for for the last two years, nearly...actually since the last election in poland when ultra-orthodox parties took over the ruling of the country... and you'll have got to handle this critique of mine, luko, i'm affraid...
first of all - i do not find this photo being any sort of a photo-masterpiece, but i also think you know that it is not...but i do appreciate that you still decided that this image is worth millions and you fancy to show it...
the message...this is what counts, this is what matters vastly - message is simple - freedom...right to express a will...etc.
--------
i hardly can imagine these people would be allowed to "perform" such a show, here in poland...strange thing that the ruling party has a support of 20% of the population, deep in the 19th century in terms of culture, tradition, acceptance of others, tolerance etc..... another 10% is out there in the western europe or in the states working ane making career in the real democracy countries...another 40% works and makes this country have a more than 7% of gbp growth this year and has no time to play this ridiculous game of politics...the rest are children and disabled people...
hell, why i write about poland when looking at the "typical" french photo? don't ask me, it must be a sort of an influance permited only here...
-----------
pornography? nudism? how far is this photo from these words....
-----------
luko, you deserve a special prize for this photo, freedom of expression is the word that dominates here..
god bless you,
j.

mlmurray (233) 2007-06-09 16:35 [Comment]

Show Comment

Homerhomer (4080) 2007-06-09 17:01

the first guy will be bragging that this was a very, very cold day, probably the coldest day of the year ;-) the woman is probably member of TE.

The easiest way to draw attention, drop your pants and they will come to watch, no matter what cause and goal, works every time, you being there is just a confirmation, had they been dressed, shouting slogans and carrying banners nobody would notice, unless there was an extreme violance. The good thing is that not only they are the talk of Paris at the moment, but at least 300 hundred poeple world wide have seen it (judging by the count under the picture). Mission accomplished and then some.

I am glad that in many societies this is allowed, probably western europeans are more open to it then the rest of the world, including North America. I recall there was something like this organized in BC not too long ago, the organizer of the ride (female) was extremely upset that guys were taking pictures of her, duhh.

As for the photo itself, news worthy, artistically we probably are in agreement that this isn't a masterpiece.

Peter

[2]

Galeota (10352) 2007-06-09 17:10

Mdrrr...à 24 mm full frame, tu avais sûrement le nez sur sa bistouquette. Si ce n'est pas gore, c'est en tout cas un peu glauque tout de même... Je ne sais pas comment marier tout ceci avec le croissant du matin, mais je te fais confiance pour en sortir un plat gastronomique... Vive la révolution.

KevRyan (22956) 2007-06-09 18:34

I was just reading about this on the BBC news site Luko - the lower point of view was a good choice and great to catch them four abreast (forgive the pun) - but I can't help but adjust my imaginary position behind your camera and shift right a little - it has both a news and novelty value to see these riders in the capital - perhaps the white whiteness of the sky is a little odd but perhaps not so obviously out of place because of what is going on elsewhere!!

In the great collection of all that contributed to reducing pollution in our cities, when we finally wake up, this image may have a historic value.

bw Kev

[2]

AnimeshRay (9089) 2007-06-10 1:30

Ha ha...lucky you! Terrific shot...I just saw a Reuters photo of the same subject in London. Marvelous shot.

DarkoG (8) 2007-06-10 1:48

Good documentary shot with perfect technical quality.

Regards Darko

flory (4848) 2007-06-10 2:07

good morning Luko,
drink my coffee and read your note..aha,good idea for stopping the pollutions of the cities..i just hope that Adam don't deleted because is a fact here,the reallity from your country,a message,some people expressed free ..what big deal?anyway,the preconceptions remains,even we are in the 2007 or 2027..hm
flory

Furachan (0) 2007-06-10 4:05

Just the "bare facts, maam", ;) Interesting to see that tatoos are de rigueur among the genuienly naked guy on the left and the rather lovely lady next to him. It doesn't have that sad, pathetic heavines you see in mass nudist demonstrations where you would PAY them to put thei clothes on again. I suppose riding those bikes regularly saves them from falling into that trap...
A very good Trekearth upload...
-F

riclopes (35577) 2007-06-10 4:10

What an interessant event, Luko, and what a good action moment that you captured on this set of revolutionaires. This guy is grabbing well the beast by the horns and ready for the action. Great post.
ricardo

nerve (10231) 2007-06-10 4:58

great angle, great documentation.. :)

PeterC (2242) 2007-06-11 0:09

Luko,
A very worthy TE upload. Im glad that it hasn't been removed and also happy to say that this freedom of expression is permissable in Europe (to a certain extent). As a cyclist in London for a couple of years Im proud to see some people standing up for what they belive in and i hope that there cause will get more of an audience thanks to you.

Cheers
Peter

vapours (8264) 2007-06-11 9:10

Grrr. I went to see the London ride, spent 30 mins walking around Hyde Park trying to find it, to then get home and find out I had gone on the wrong day. Very jealous of you on this shot, a nice piece of reportage.

ndb1958 (9289) 2007-06-11 13:19

Hi Luko,
never heard of the "Ciclonudistas". Really nice and kind of funny shot. I think there is no reason to remove this image as it is informative.
Nino

eleparc (24063) 2007-06-12 14:14

javais raté celle ci! alors deja 2 points ne serait ce que pour le courage de montrer ce que les journaux acceptent de montrer eux meme, et deux autres encore (si cetait possible) pour le cadrage qui pete ici! aucun chevauchement des protagonistes (sinon ca ferait partouze..), bravo!
Eric

brevbrev14 (140) 2007-06-15 4:03

Hi Luko!noo...why this image should be removed??
this is a beautiful image of this event!!
this is a great image about freedom...
tha man in the foreground on the left side is the centre of the composition....and he has a great natural expression..
bravoooo!
ciao!
Valeria

rabani (9645) 2007-06-20 20:36

Hi Luko,
As this is street, one should look at the context more than the contend and to get this context, one must be part of it just as much being there. Not that I'm saying you ought to be there "sans-clothings".

It's good to see your works has gone beyond photography itself.This makes your photo, independent and thought provoking.

kourosh (2346) 2007-06-22 4:32

Hi Luko,

this is unusual for trekearth but it does fit in the scope of learning about earth. I like your angle here and the way the guy on the left is coming to your frame. nice one.

Kourosh.

Brian (3) 2008-03-27 19:39