Naturist Film News 2008

I've been a committed naturist for over 45 years and in that time have been fortunate enough to have visited over 30 different naturist resorts around the World in ten different countries. Allow me, therefore, to relate how it all came about. Nudity during family holidays in my youth on remote beaches always seemed to me to be perfectly natural, but it wasn't until my late teens in the early '60s that I encountered formal social naturism for the first time during a visit to France. Montalivet is an Atlantic seaside resort town in the Medoc region of France, North West of Bordeaux. I wandered along the beach away from the town and its crowded beach sporting a tight pair of swimming trunks.

About half a mile later a simple sign in the sand declaring NUDITE OBLIGATOIRE changed my life completely, but not before I had experienced for the one and only time - albeit only for a couple of minutes - that embarrassment of being the only person wearing something when all around are naked! The exhilaration and freedom of swimming that day without any form of restrictive clothing remains as vivid now as it aid all those years ago. Isn't it ridiculous that people don miniscule bits of fabric to go swimming, particularly

when they go through the most extraordinary contortions to get in or out of their swimming costumes so they don't reveal the 'naughty bits'? Photography has always been a passion. I love both its spontaneous creative potential and its fascinating technical evolution. It was therefore inevitable that my commitment to photography and naturism would ultimately be fulfilled together. It was only when I regularly started to visit naturist resorts overseas that I subsequently submitted photos and articles to naturist journals.

Kerry, Angie, Charlie & Alison;
at Arnaoutchot, in
"Naked Photo-Shoot"

Alison, April & Sammy at Spielplatz in
"Let's Get Naked, G.B."

Discovering one's own photographic style is a frustratingly slow and gradual process of severe self-criticism, respect for the work of other photographers and an evolving awareness of the visual messages you wish to portray. The latter is, I believe, the key. I've always believed that naturism is both natural and fun, but that there are additional factors that I try to capture.

Firstly is that sense of exhilaration - the like of which is that overwhelming sense of freedom as you throw yourself naked into the surf for the first time. Secondly is the sensuality of naturism - that intense feeling of the sun and breeze on your skin. And thirdly there is the tranquil side of naturism - being in harmony with nature in peace and occasional solitude.

Alison

 It wasn't until the mid eighties that I started travelling abroad specifically to take naturist photographs. Arnaoutchot became a favourite location. I've lost count of the number of times I've been there. It's a naturist photographer's dream with the crashing Atlantic surf, the picturesque rolling sand dunes and the sweet smelling pines providing a haven for deer, squirrel and all manner of birds. And, of course, the sun sets over the sea to the West producing wonderful crimson backclothes at the end of the day. 1989 saw me looking at ways of extending my creative horizons.

There isn't a still photographer anywhere who hasn't been intrigued with the idea of moving images and I was no exception.

Many of the still photography lessons remain valid in film making, particularly those of composition, light and exposure, but even for an experienced still photographer there is considerable uncharted territory, as I quickly found out. Through Lisa, who had come with me on a still shoot to Lanzarote in 1989 and who subsequently starred in our first film, Hitch-Hike, I met her Dad. Gerald is a talented wildlife videographer and he gave me no end of valuable advice and assistance. So it came to pass that the following year I took a team of Lisa and four other lovely ladies to Arnaoutchot to make our first two films. Hitch- Hike & Perfect Exposure weren't the greatest films ever made, but they were a start and they contained some wonderful footage of Arna. I learned much, as I did at a formal Video Production Course at Leeds Metropolitan University, which I attended later that same year.

Producers of naturist films have come and gone, either because they haven't been committed naturists themselves, or perhaps because they have come to realise that there isn't a fortune to be made. But we're proud that we've now produced 30 films about naturists and naturism around the World. But we've also learnt that we can't please everyone in the way that we present naturism and we find this a constant challenge. The International Naturist Federation states that:'Naturism is a way of life in harmony with nature... encouraging self respect, respect for others and for the environment'. Yet naturists can be unbelievably intolerant of those who do not share their own, sometimes very parochial views of what naturism is all about.

  We've learnt that we can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but never all of the people all of the time! So we continue to visually present naturism in a way that we sincerely believe is both honest and entertaining.

I've been wonderfully fortunate in having had some very special people working with me over the last nine years. Jill appeared in our first four films - she adores naturism and is a photographic delight, having a gorgeously supple athletic figure. Adele entered the scene in late 199I to work both in front of the camera and to assist me behind it - she became a good friend, but stood down the following year to raise a family.

Alison, Sammy, April, Jocelyne, Regis & Charlie; Crete 1995 "Cretan Kalypso"

In 199I Alison starred in our third film Allison over the Moon, filmed in Lanzarote, and was able to step into Adele's shoes in 1992. Her natural beauty, love of naturism and her presentational skills ensured that she played an important part of our next eleven films and she became a key personality in the business. It was a sad time in 1995 when she reluctantly had to cut down her involvement to pursue a career in TV presenting - she remains a good friend and I owe her much.

Wendy & Charlie

I first met Wendy in 1994 and she had a huge influence on the business.She was already a naturist, is absolutely lovely and proved to be a natural presenter. Apart from that she had originally trained as a fashion designer with the result that she has a wonderfully imaginative creative flair. The first of the dozen or so we worked on together was in Ibiza and was entitled Barely Balearic.

Whilst Barely Balearic featured the immaculate resort of Club Vista Bahia Nature, it was also important in that, not only did it feature our dear French friends, Jocelyne and Regis, who we had first met at Cap D'Agde the previous year, but also another sparkling ambassador for naturism, Holly.

We had introduced Holly to the naturist scene the year before. Jocelyne and Regis have appeared in four of our films, Holly in fourteen; the latter starring in our best underwater sequences because of her amazing fish-like swimming ability. Angle, a vivacious, dark skinned lady, whose family are from Fiji, also with five films with us to her credit, has become another trusted friend as has a lovely young Dutch lady. Marieke was an art student in her native Holland when we first met her two years ago.

Angie, Marieke, Chloe, Charlie & Holly - 1998 "Candidly Koversada"

She's been a naturist since her early teens and her youthful, natural beauty is a vibrant advertisement for naturism. I owe all these wonderful people (and many others who have appeared in our films too numerous to mention by name) a huge debt of gratitude. They're all 'stars'! In 1999 Holly and I were featured filming in France for a Channel 5 production about naturism called Stark Naked; we were very pleased with the result. The following year we celebrated the tenth birthday of Parafotos Film Productions and many of our friends joined us for a thoroughly enjoyable day at Rivendell.

By this time Wendy was expecting her first born, Lotte, who arrived in August, with Holly immediately being appointed a Godmother. This happy arrival meant that Wendy had to permanently hand over the reigns of co-producer to Holly who had already co-produced Candidly Koversada and Crete Naturally - Vritomartis. Since then Holly and I have together produced another 7 films set in the UK, France, Spain and the USA. Meanwhile in 2002 Alice Gilding joined Parafotos as our secretary before becoming a committed naturist the following year. Since then Alice, with her warm personality and captivating smile, has become an enthusiastic co-producer and has already starred in seven of over 50 films we've produced about naturists and naturism since we started fifteen years ago. We hope to be able to continue to produce quality films about this wonderful, fulfilling lifestyle and bring to you reports of the very best places where you can throw off your clothes ... and live!

Charlie Simonds