ED LANGE ON NUDIST MAGAZINES

The center-spread in nudist magazines, and big picture sections, as in other magazines circulated on the newsstands, has for many years been found to help sell all kinds of magazines. Responsible nudist publishers have often included men and children on those pages to further help support the nudist idea. And as an example, look at the issue #23 of The SUNDIAL, NUDIST ADVENTURE #2 and 3, NUDISM TODAY #5 and 6, to name a few. These hardly seem to be exotic photographs. They do depict males and females.

Elysium's photographs, be they pages of center-spreads, portray a basic credo of the nudist philosophy, that there is nothing wrong with an unretouched photograph, be it of male or female or both together. If a magazine is expected to survive from its sale to the public in the condition of the market as it exists today, some large-sized photographs need to be included in the issue somewhere, whether it be in the center-spread or elsewhere in the magazine. It does little good to satisfy the complaints of critics to change the centerspread and use large pictures in another position within the magazine. The fact that the large picture is an integral part of almost all publications featuring illustrations (not just nudist magazines,) is something that should be apparent to anyone who goes to the newsstands. LIFE, LOOK, THE SATURDAY EVENING POST, MC CALL'S, all use center-spreads and other big picture design elements to attract attention and to catch the reader's eye.

The courts rule today, a publication cannot be judged by one picture alone -the entire issue, taken as a whole is the basis of the law.

Certainly some work being done today offends me -and I know that the nudist idea offends some censors. And it is not surprising that some nudists offend each other.

What seems lost in controversy about nudist magazines is our basic credo; that the unclothed human body is wholesome, clean and good, and it is not lewd, lascivious and obscene.

We speak about the healthy mind in a healthy body. Perhaps its time for us to stand for what we profess and demonstrate more fully the idea that nudity, for nudists, is not lewdity.

(Source: The Bulletin, Volume 14, No. 5, May 1965)