MY WNBR IS CANCELLED - AND HERE ARE THE REASONS WHY

Less than a week ago my attention was drawn to a website called OneClickChicks, and its lengthy reportage of the WBNR from 2012 onwards. Apparently this is not a porn site, but many of the images are sexually related and it only includes images of women specifically for a website for men.

Many of the images of the WNBRs were from ‘photographers’ who visit the rides solely to get images of naked or scantily clad women for this site. Some ask permission, some do not. Some aren’t specific on where the images will end up. Where they didn’t have images of their own, they culled them from other people’s sites – newspapers, Flickr, YouTube. You name it, these guys have stalked for it. I have also been told that some photographers are taking images to sell on (I have no actual proof of that) and that members of the nudist community are also involved.

I understand that WNBRs are not naturist events and are a peaceful protest method of drawing attention to a cause, but I am doubly sure that noone goes there to have their pictures taken for sites such as this. If anything it should be to promote the cause and I don’t  think anyone on this site is looking at the images because of the cause. Photographers are not vetted and don’t have to explain where their images are going or ask permission before taking photographs. Some of the start lines are like a scrum of ‘togs’ taking pictures of naked women. Of course, the guys are of no interest.

I joined OneClickChicks so I could post some responses which I am pleased to say the site moderator allowed through. I was motivated to respond to ’27cows’ who posted this (‘m sure they won’t mind since they have no regard for anyone elses copyright):

‘I was going round saying ‘yes, I have clothes on, I have a camera, just pass me the sex offenders’ register’ Seemed to work. Having an elephant trunk also helps (large L series Canon lens). People just assume that no perv would either carry something so obvious or invest that sort of money to get a few shots of ladies’ bits, and they’re right. I had good banter with (most) of the stewards, various police officers, many riders and even some Christian type who tried to convince me I’d go to hell for thinking improper thoughts about homosexuals

A couple of the stewards tried to whip up bad feeling towards all photographers who weren’t naked. Totally out of order, I thought. I made one sit there and look through my pictures with me till he conceded there was nothing dodgy on my card. Yet one thought it was perfectly acceptable to ride up say ‘I see the perv brigade are here!’ with a wave to the snappers gathered, several of whom were pros working for various media outlets. And another shouted various abuse as the riders descended to Madeira Drive at anyone with a camera.’

The impression I get from the rides is that many people wanted to swing for these guys. The peaceful protest method may be changing. My response to 27cows to this first paragraph was thus:

‘They probably thought you were joking. Had they known you were posting the images up on websites like this they probably would have told you where to go. I’m going to be at the next ride and having seen where the bike ride images are ending up I am making very sure to keep my clothes on which is a shame because I was really looking forward to getting my kit off in the spirit of the event. I’ve been chatting to some fellow WNBR riders and they are furious and disappointed that their images are ending up on sites like this as it’s not in the spirit of the ride at all. I applaud Brighton for having a fenced off area for riders to get ready.’

So what happened next (apart from me withdrawing from the ride this Friday)?  I got some interesting responses, like this one from ‘daveduchovny’ (pretty sure it’s not really him though):

‘”Sites like this” are a godsend for lovers of unstaged nudity. I like naked women (most men do), but I prefer them to be real human beings, not actors or pornstars or models. I don’t see OCC as a porn site (though it cannot be denied there is a lot of porn on here), it’s more like a “nudity news feed” keeping us updated with all the best pictures on the internet of beautiful, happy naked women having fun without getting paid to pretend. It is my first stop, my site of choice and as far as I am concerned, the official Internet website of record for important instances of nudity across a range of media and situations. If there is an event involving public (female) nudity anywhere in the world, and photographs are taken, they should and almost certainly will end up here. For the record.

So no-one should be surprised that their picture ends up on THIS site if they are naked in public. And by the way, if you think no-one looking at the same type of pictures in the London Evening Standard or Huffington Post is getting any kind of sexual thrill from them, you don’t know anything about (male) human nature.’

The fact of the matter is that, as a naturist, I had not considered it until I was shown the site because I didn’t know that these rides were crawling with togs specifically to populate sites like this. Clearly I was stupidly naive. But no matter how you put the argument these guys see it as their right. If you’re in a public area, you will have your picture taken and it serves you right if it ends up on a site like this. And I guess they have a point.

I am glad that I can go to swims and be camera free. The OneClickChicks site does have a whole section for naturists and nudism too which again kind of disappoints but I realise it’s fighting a losing battle trying to do something about it. Swims are the one place (apart from my own home) where I can be naked and not intruded upon. I occasionally do beach visits but feel quite wary now of going. I am just annoyed that noone has the decency to ask if they can take a photograph.

So, no bike ride for me.  And I’m going to have to stop reading the comments on the website now because it’s really winding me up.

The perrenial issue of taking pictures without subjects' consent. We have also suffered from uncontrolled photography in naturist events. angmimik
Reblogged from genevieveharvey18.wordpress.com