For lack of a better place, I'll post this here.
Photographer's volunteers shed clothes for quick stunt
By Young Chang
Seattle Times staff reporter
A bunch of people took it all off yesterday at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Jackson Street in Seattle, at about 2:45 p.m.
You might have seen them, driving by in your car. Or you might have continued waiting for the bus or reading the paper, oblivious to the 15 seconds of nudity taking place before you.
Either way, Harvey Drouillard got his fix. He pulled off "the caper" and turned nakedness into nudity.
He says there's a difference. "Nakedness" is sexy, and "nudity" is art. Drouillard, 39, gets from one to the other by photographing unclothed people among clothed people, usually in front of landmarks and in mundane situations, such as at a busy intersection on a Sunday afternoon.
"It normalizes the nudity, it takes away the sexuality of the nudity," said Drouillard, in Seattle to promote his book "The Spirit of Lady Godiva." Drouillard's exhibit, also titled "The Spirit of Lady Godiva," will be at the Rosebud Restaurant and Bar in Capitol Hill through the month.
Lady Godiva was famous for her naked horseback ride through the streets of Coventry in the 11th century.
Artistic ideas aside, the Ann Arbor, Mich., resident says it's about pulling it off and having fun.
"It's not much deeper than that," he said.
Drouillard started taking the photos about nine years ago, traveling to 15 cities across the country. He got the idea one day while renting out the club he owned to a group holding a photography workshop with nude models. Looking out the window, he saw a crowd of people crossing the streets.
Drouillard, who never has been formally trained as a photographer, thought it would be funny to take a picture of those people — looking straight ahead, crossing — oblivious to unclothed people behind them.
His models are ordinary people, not professional models. He finds them by advertising in local newspapers.
Eight volunteers showed up yesterday at an alley next to the Crave Restaurant in Capitol Hill. Among them was Brandi Morang, who met Drouillard nine years ago and is one of the cover models on his book. She was joined by her mother, Donna Morang, 60, who also took off her clothes.
"I just think it's fun and funny," Donna Morang said. "I maybe would be nervous if it was just me."
In the empty Capitol Hill Arts Center next door, the group practiced undressing and dressing in 10 seconds or less. Drouillard had a stopwatch. He told Dave Marso, 45, to detach the cellphone from the belt of his kilt to make the undressing faster. Brandi Morang, one of the fastest in the group and wearing a one-piece outfit, offered to switch outfits with a woman whose dress was more complicated.
Drouillard also taught his models some necessary hand signals: A pat on the head or a gesture above the ears means police are near. A touch to the thigh means kids are in the area. A thumbs up, given once the area is clear of all kids and cops, means his subjects should strip.
An hour later, strip they did.
Someone whistled; other onlookers yelled. Drouillard shot his photos. The models calmly pulled on their clothes.
And then, as if they hadn't just gotten completely naked in public — with Union Station to their left and Qwest Field behind them — they scattered and walked away.
"I thought it was a total trip," said Dave Voorhees, 54. "I would do it again in a heartbeat."
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