THE NAKED GLOBE
No More Distance between photographer and model.
I shoot people remotely, just using their smartphones and a special app for connection. I'm based in Barcelona and connect with people around the world online for fast improvised shoots. I never know what exactly heroes will offer me - which location, which stuff, props etc. It's cooperative creativity, and it's a challenge for both of us. People have different motivations to participate in the project - someone is just bored during self-isolation, for someone it's kind of self-acceptance experience, someone is an artist-performer and it's kind of performance for both of us, someone is hungry for the new experience in the art field, someone just loves to be naked and free. Also, people who participated leave stories about themselves which complements the photographs. And I'm exploring this world of human bodies and souls and their souls through their bodies in a way that allows me to be in touch with the people in any part of the world. And I love the idea to bring this touch of new technologies and new opportunities they give us in the contemporary world. So the field of the project is somewhere between photography, performance, documentary and new technologies.
All shoots made with an application @theshutterapp
YANA. BERLIN
"I’m Jana and I have been living in Berlin for 3 years now. I am a trained engineer, but Berlin is the city where I became a designer, focusing on materials: their communication, education, processes and impact on the environment.
I appreciate Julia’s way to express the human body with color, form and composition - especially in such a challenging and intimate project as the naked globe. I felt a connection. So I wanted to participate. Connecting in a new way, in these struggling times, to share a creative process seemed exciting and challenging.
And it was. I loved how fast and playful trust was generated in a situation with little control and a strong need to act together. This shooting also touched me on a very personal level. This year I’ve been processing an act of sexual violence against me, which happened 10 years ago. So, showing myself uncovered comes with a lot of shame. Revealing myself and letting me be seen through a different person’s eye helped me to let go of part of that shame. Thank you, Julia."
Marina (Israel)
Marina's story:
"My name is Marina and I live in Israel. Half a year ago I told Julia that I wanted to take part in this project posing some yoga postures and happily forgot about it a minute later.
Like everything in life - things happen as and when they should... a few days ago my lovely husband Avi surprised me for our 12 years together by taking us to a really beautiful and expensive hotel in the desert. It was then when I got an idea to finally do the photoshoot with Julia. It was my first time posing naked and I had real fun doing it with Avi and Julia over the phone. Funny thing is that 10 years before that Julia took our wedding day photos here in Israel so it was somewhat a cool closure of 12 years together, 10 years after getting married and getting a photoshoot by the same amazing person on that special day.
The stone sculpture depicted in the photos is an untitled work by Dalia Meiri, dated 1986.
https://museum.imj.org.il/artcenter/newsite/en/?artist=Meiri,%20Dalia"
YULIA, GDANSK.
Yulia @yulia_roshal invited me to some very cool location, showed me the mattraces, old furniture, the huge heap of books. And that's the result of our improvisation.
"My name is Yulia. I live in Gdansk. I love learning symbols and signs, so I graduated in philology , then I went travelling to apply my knowledge to discovering different world-visions .But my life has changed when I started the investigation of my body as a language through Contact improvisation , it turned out to be a revelation- Body says much more than words. I think Body is the most important language to envelop creative boundaries . I am very grateful to be a part of that project. It reminds that our body is an internal guide who helps us to find authentic natural states."
MINNIE. VIRGINIA (USA)
We made the shoot in the studio of her friends. When I saw this sofa and pearl jewellery I felt the atmosphere of the old movies and pictures. We added the dog to the composition, and got the surrealistic old movie.
"Hello my name is Minnie! I'm a first generation American with strong roots in Italy and the Philippines. I was raised by a classically trained painter, and the human form has always been my home for inspiration and expression. It's also the main focus in my paintings. Over the years, I've dipped my toes into photography and filmmaking. Opportunities to work with others with the same point of view as I have and the same passions are something I will always consider a blessing! I truly appreciate Julia for considering me to be part of this project, and I admire her drive to expand her work in this fashion, to challenge herself, and to encourage others to do the same."
FERNANDA&LUCILA. MEXICO.
My next heroes are two young art performers from Mexico @ahauukk and @lucilavepe. It was my first time during this online project when I worked with two models and it opened new horizonts for me.
They invited me to the art gallery at their night time, because they offered me to use artificial light. It was my 8 am, and their 1 am, their end of the day and my new day beginning.
“When we saw Julia's project, we did not hesitate to participate. Today communication is vital, that's why it caught our attention, to learn new ways of collaborating and creating networks. We are Fernanda and Lucila, two young performances from Mexico”
JAVIER. PANAMA.
Javier was my interviewer on the live stream for @pap_magazine, and we talked about my last art projects, including #thenakedglobe. He said I should make more male shoots and was inspired to be my next hero. I was really surprised when I got his message from Panama, where he spent his vacations. Panama. Nature, wow! 🌎 We decided to shoot near the lake and on the beach. So it was my first outdoor shoot of this project. Was challenging and with some adventures, because someone saw the process and called securities to stop naked shoot in public places 😂. But no challenge - no story.
"I met Julia through work, I inmediatly fell inlove with her images, after meeting her it was inevitable to fall involve with her too.
I have paved my own path into self love which has brought into this moment, this project, to her lense. I saw Julias invitation to be her subject as an opportunity to immerse even deeper in my own journey through the tenderness of her hands, through the sensibility of her eyes.
My name is Javier, a passionate human who dedicates my entire existence to love, in all of its manifestations. I am also a very thankful human, thankful for this existence, thankful for everyone in this existence who teaches me how to love, thankful for Julia for teaching me through her work. Love."
ANNA. MOSCOW.
Anna @karaulich invited me to her house near Moscow.
Anna is an artist from Moscow working with photography, both as a single medium and combining it with other techniques like embroidery and printing on textile, experiments with film photos in darkroom.
She works with self portraits, and self reflection theme is important for her, that's why she decided to participate in this project.
ANASTASIA. SRi-LANKA
Anastasia @art_georgievskaya currently lives in Sri Lanka for over a year. She is a conceptual artist and painter.
We made this shoot in 2 parts. First time Internet connection was so bad, that I didn't see anything and made the shots blindly. Next day we we connected well, but she was attacked by the ants, but stayed in proceed until the end.
"Challenge for myself that switches on the best.
This was the case with my unexpected move to Sri Lanka.
It happened when I included performance to my formats of interdisciplinary art. It was going beyond my own body perception limits.
When I saw Julia's project, it immediately responded inside of me - it’s a Challenge.
To intuitively paint the canvases green, spontaneously get a round mirror and climb into the jungle. This is definitely a performance)))
I learned to formulate, according to my inner state, the difference between a regular photo session and an artistic act.
During the performance, I'm not there. My body is just an instrument that creates in a flow. And confirmation of this was my work with Julia.
When I was attacked by hundreds of ants, I continued to interact with the dry palm branch. The ants were crawling all over my body, but it was in some other reality. Worth noting that usually, they are aggressive and from their bites I have a terrible allergic reaction. But in this case, they did not bite me once. It was such a dissolution in nature, in the process and the ants only tested me for the truth of everything that was happening."
ALEX. TEL AVIV.
Alex @artbronshtein, photographer and director, who spent 2 weeks of quarantine in one hotel room. He even couldn't go out to buy food. All food was brought to him in paper bags 3 times a day. And I decided to use them as props, as elements of the story.
"My name is Alex Bronshtein. I'm a photographer and director. I have been stuck in the Metropolitan Hotel in Tel Aviv for 2 weeks without possibilitie to leave the hotel room. 3 times a day paper bags with food appear at my door strictly according to the schedule. I can see the sea from my window and everyday quiet life of the locals.
All Israel citizens arriving to Israel are obliged to stay 2 weeks in quarantine.
A year and a half I left Israel to study in Moscow and couldn't return because of this situation with pandemic. My life was split between two countries. All my efforts to return to Israel failed for diffrrent reasons."
SOFIA. JAMUNDI (COLOMBIA)
Beautiful @sofiazuluagaparis invited me to her beautiful countryside garden in Colombia.
"Hi, my name is Sofia. I have been always attracted to art. I feel that Art is beyond the body, it belongs to the soul. The human being has always had the need to create art; it is a form of liberation and expression that’s why it’s vital for our existence.
I wanted to collaborate in Julias project because I admire her work, and I think it’s interesting the idea of online shoots. To break the bounds and make art without limits. Thank you Julia for considering me to be part of this beautiful project. Helping others to create art makes me happy."
SONIA. SAN FRANCISCO.
Sonya @frenchtoastofficial nvited me to her flat in San Francisco. It was just usual flat, but I felt myself like in American art house movie with this model.
That's what Sonya told me about her :
"I am a San Francisco based artist currently getting my MFA. My practice is based in accessible materiality and endurance performance that puts strain on the body.
I wanted to be part of this project because a large part of this semester in art school has been discussions around how we have lost a lot of interconnectedness between artists at this moment. I thought it would be really cool to connect with someone in a different part of the world and have the experience of someone else controlling my body in the pursuit of art.
I had a breast reduction 2 months ago, I went from a D cup to maybe an A. I was so tired of having this painful weight attached to my chest and now I can wear and do what I want without pain!"
ELLADA. MANCHESTER.
My next hero is @angeli_pavlou, she is musician, pianist from Manchester.
"My name is Ellada and I’m a Greek pianist based in the UK. My ideal way of expressing myself and exploring the human and non-human nature is through piano performance.
I decided to participate in this project as I believe it’s very important to support other artists, and collaborate with them now more than ever. Also I wanted to explore how lonely and insignificant pianists are in relation to their instrument."
MICHAELA. MISSISIPI (USA)
My next stop of #thenakedglobe project is Missisipi (USA). And the new hero is @michaelafisk.
"Hi, I’m Michaela and I am a visual artist in Mississippi (US). I was so happy to be able to participate in this project, and be a part of the beautiful images Julia has been making across the world. This project has also been a huge part of my personal journey to love and embrace my own body as it is. It was really a freeing experience 💜"
ANNA LAXMI. MOSCOW.
@anna_laxmi_vladimirova from Moscow.
We know each other for many years and she is my muse - absolutely extraordinary person, real explorer of the world.
But this time our shoot was just in one room wiith the sensation of New Year magic 🌟
"My life may seem crazy, but I see order in this chaos: it is a one-man show, travel in time and space, sometimes roles are offered by the enviroment, however, I write the script myself. I lived on an uninhabited island in the Indian ocean, was frozen in the snow near the White sea, climbed the mountains in Asia, made films, ran a business, worked as a taxi driver, isolated in a remote Russian village and passing through fire, water and copper pipes, I move on, creating images from fragments of reality, my body being the essential instrument of self-actualisation that is always with me, a sculpture alive, veined with nerves. Cooperation with Julia has begun accidentally, and made it possible to realize some so different stories, this is always a an experiment, a fresh look, giving rise to new meanings."
ANASTASIA. ODESSA (UKRAINE)
Onlineshoot Barcelona - Odessa (Ukraine) with @shantishaktikaur:
"I used to call myself a happy rentier and travelled a lot.
Quarantine gave me the opportunity to take roots in my own home.
And every day I thank myself for the fact that I have built such a cozy house where I can pleasantly spend any quarantine.
I decided to join Julia's project simply because she is the author of the project and no matter what she makes - it's interesting and valuable to me. But it was not available before. And now the opportunity opened up. 🙂
When I realized I can be part of this co-creation without leaving my house, the issue was resolved immediately))
I dived into this project just after days of cundalini yoga practice. Yoga always helps me in the turbulence times.
And now, having already read a couple of lines of her project's participants and thinking about the project itself, I realized that its value for me to testify that it helps in working with creative people, to participate in projects and just live my being at home with pleasure in new conditions.
And therefore, this project for me is an opportunity to pay attention to it."