Nude photography with senior women shows beauty beyond ideals

Burgwedel. Detlef Wothe's hobby is photography. The 66-year-old from Burgwedel is particularly fond of nude photography. Several of his photo series with young, professional models made it into the men's magazine “Penthouse” straight away. But Wothe can also do something completely different: Far from staged and superficial eroticism, he has staged women in the over-60 age group partially or completely naked. “Beauty knows no age,” he says.

It's not about mercilessly exposing nudity and age, depicting every wrinkle precisely. “When I photograph a person, I want to show their personality” as I see it. And present him as beautifully and truthfully as possible.” The photographs for which he models older women show this clearly.

Intimacy is more than nudity

Most of the photos are in black and white, only a few are in color. Sometimes they appear thoughtful and withdrawn, sometimes they laugh at the viewer. There are portraits in which only a nipple flashes alongside bare shoulders, but there are also full-body pictures. Cloths sometimes cover parts of the body.

There is nothing voyeuristic or sleazy-objectifying about these images. They celebrate the beauty of bodies and people beyond youth madness and gloss. And very consciously. Wothe calls it his act of feminism. This is particularly well received by women.

Society is afraid of contact

And not just with his models, but also with visitors to the “Art in Motion” event in Großburgwedel. Wothe had already presented those pictures to the public there. Which wasn't entirely easy. “Many visitors didn’t dare come to my tent at first.”

At eye level: the women decide for themselves what they want to show or not.

Source: Detlef Wothe

Society is becoming increasingly more prudery, says the man, who describes his former self as the “uptight son of a civil servant.” He then addressed visitors specifically and invited them. “The women were the braver ones,” he remembers. There was no specific favorite among the photos. But the praise is that the pictures are really nice. Precisely because they are who they are.

Aesthetic, not erotic: With his over-60 nudes, photographer Detlef Wothe wants to put his models in the best light.

Source: Detlef Wothe

Nude photos: Trust and eye level are important

Getting involved in a shoot like this, especially as a non-model, “takes a lot of trust,” says Wothe. He appreciates that one of the women, who had actually only come to him for portraits, dared to venture forward. And friends were also impressed by it.

Wothe thinks a shoot “is like tango dancing”: something you do as a couple. “And at eye level.” Even if, as a photographer, he clearly sees himself as a director. Even though most of his nude models are professional models that he books through a portal: “Every woman has the right to decide what she shows and what not.”

Successful composition: Every detail is important for the result, right down to the position of the hand.

Source: Detlef Wothe

Many acts are determined by the male gaze

Many photos of women have an underlying eroticism. Especially in typical nude pictures – like the ones he sent to “Penthouse” magazine to find out how good he is at what he does – the viewer's gaze is focused on the sexual characteristics.

And that, says Wothe critically, clearly distracts from the woman as a human being and in a way turns her into an object. Even if the pictures were so successful, the process of creation still took place at eye level. “For me it’s like playing scales for a musician,” he says. Finger exercises.

Pensive: Beauty is ageless, says photographer Detlef Wothe.

Source: Detlef Wothe

People take photos in all facets

In his over-60 pictures, as in his so-called Big Pictures, in which the models are part of a spatial setting, there is no sense of this. Their aesthetics and atmosphere exclusively reflect a great appreciation for beauty beyond the mainstream. And that is what is important to the retired dental technician and what he would like to deepen with other women over 60. He would also like to photograph people with disabilities. But he simply doesn't have the models for both, says Wothe regretfully.

By the way, nude photography is only part of his work. Under the heading “People Photography”, he also devotes himself to portraits and fashion, photographing people in nature or in public spaces.

Exhibition planned in the Künstlerhof

If you want to see more, you can find pictures of him on the Internet at www.detlefw0.eu. Wothe is also represented on Instagram, with several accounts. You can see the big pictures at detlefw2. Under the main account detlefw0 there are also insights into the photo series that were published in “Penthouse”. If you would like to contact Wothe, you can reach him by email at [email protected].

Preference for people photography: Detlef Wothe will capture the personality of his model.

Source: Detlef Wothe

There could be another exhibition beyond the digital space soon: “I’m thinking about showing pictures in Großburgwedel at the end of February/beginning of March,” he says. And maybe he will also offer workshops.

HAZ