Naked Los Angeles

by Greg Friedler

In this unique and startling collection of portraits following Naked New York , we see the "beautiful people" of Los Angeles first clothed, then completely naked. The people of Los Angeles are men and women of all shapes, ages, colors, and professions living in a city famed for its Hollywood glamour and perpetual summer. Photographed outdoors we see a magician, screenwriter, trapeze artist, unemployed surfer, filmmaker, casting director, aerospace engineer, and many more. This serious and, at the same time, amusing group of portraits shows the surprising differences and not so surprising similarities we have to one another clothed and unclothed. Unlike traditional nude photography, these portraits don't have erotic or sexual overtones; they are simply real people who reveal both their clothed public selves and their naked private selves. Greg Friedler's work as a documentary photographer is a kind of anthropological survey of people. If clothing is a voluntary choice, unclothed we see people in an involuntary state―we see their bodies as we see their faces, unmasked. These images are at once deeply intimate and refreshingly matter of fact. 75 duotone photographs

Paperback

First published December 17, 1998

Reviews

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating series of photos. Friedler photographs ordinary people in their ordinary garb, then immediately photographs them in the same setting nude, and publishes the two photos side-by-side. The resultant images are absolutely riveting. It's jarring to see how much clothes say, how much they change how a person looks, and it's touching somehow to see people naked and unadorned. It reinforces the old idea that everyone is beautiful and at the same time it made me think that I'd hate to have to change bodies with anyone. Highly recommended, if you like this sort of thing.

[Michael Thomas Angelo]

I was in this book. Circa 1996

[Ellison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Features B/W images of a collection of males and females. Each with their clothes on then then with them off. At the bottom of each is their occupation if any and their ages, nineteen to forties. Many look similar.