Flesh and Bone: Beneath the skin with NicoleNudes

First of all, could you introduce yourself a little bit for us? Are you a photographer, a model, or both? Share a few words about yourself if you can.

Hey, I’m Nicole. I work as a professional freelance model out of Toronto, ON and the GTA. I’ve been modeling for 8 years and modeling nude for 3 years. I’m a crazy cat lady, a bookworm and a nerd. I’m also an amazing selfie photographer

How did you start modeling artistic nudes? How long has it been? Has it been a positive experience?

I’d been modeling for a couple years and always admired nude models and their work. The wanting to shoot nudes for myself grew from that admiration over the years and the gradual yearning to do my own. I finally got up the courage to shoot nudes for the first time when I took a trip down to New York. I had been talking to a photographer about wanting to shoot nudes but that I still wasn’t 100% sure if I would be comfortable doing it or not. We agreed that we would wait until I got down there to decide if I still wanted to shoot nudes or not – and that if I did and didn’t like it when the photos would be deleted. Needless to say that the shoot went well as I’m still doing nudes today, lol. It’s been a very positive experience for me. I’ve always been very self-conscious of my body and have had body image issues. Modeling nude allowed me to see my body in a different way and allowed me to be able to fall in love with it. I wrote a journal about that journey and experience with body image here if you’re interested in reading more about it: nicolenudes.deviantart.com/jou…

Here’s the shot that started me off in a new journey!

What would you say is the most difficult or challenging parts of being an artistic nude model? Does it ever affect other aspects of your life?

I would say the most difficult part would be that everyone isn’t understanding of the lifestyle or labeling you as a slut, whore, compares your work to porn, ect because you choose to model nude. That or getting random guys sending you dick pictures and saying that they’re in love with you and want to marry you (ew, no). People think that if you model nude they automatically have this right to label you as something you might not be or are allowed to speak to you in a certain way or demand that you send them nude photos (hello, I’m naked all over the internet, don’t be lazy, if you want to see nipples so bad just google, like really). Luckily for me this hasn’t really had any negative effects in my life. My fiancé and my family all know that I model nude and are supportive of it. A few close friends know as well and are also supportive. A lot of people know that I model but not that I model nudes. I choose to not tell them because I’d rather not deal with any drama that that may cause and also because a lot of people still aren’t as open minded and accepting as my family has been. It sucks sometimes not being able to openly share my work with everyone but they can still see the portraits lol.

Do you think that there's a line to not be crossed when it comes to artistic nude? Do you have limits when it comes to the shootings you'll accept to do?

The line is whatever the model’s comfortable with. Everyone is different, which is why I have my limits clearly stated on my model mayhem profile. I do not shoot overly erotic content, I will not shoot open leg and I will not shoot erotic content with another model (male or female). Some models could be totally cool with doing all of those things, and that’s awesome, but I’m not, so I won’t shoot them. If a photographer approaches me and asks me to shoot something outside of my limits then I’ll just tell them no. It’s not worth doing a shoot if it makes you feel uncomfortable.

Does modeling nude give you a sense of confidence, and positivity towards yourself? How do you feel when you're modeling nude? Would you recommend other models to try it?

I would only recommend other models try it if it’s something that is within their comfort zone. My suggestion would be to shoot nudes with a photographer that you have shot with before and have a good working relationship with – someone that you can trust. So in the end if you do try it and don’t like it you can have an agreement that the images are deleted. Saying that though, modeling nude has given me a confidence and self-esteem boost. It’s allowed me to be way more creative than I would have been able to be if I never modeled nude. It has opened a lot more doors for me when it comes to working with certain photographers as well.

Which photo from your gallery are you the most proud of, and why? Can you tell us a little bit about its creation?

I have a ton of photos in my gallery that I’m proud of but I think my number one is still this shot – simply because it was so difficult.



I was shooting with Donna and she set up these two ladders and tied them together. She then told me that I could do whatever I wanted, I just couldn’t go under them because the lighting wouldn’t work for it. So we took a couple shots on top of the ladders until I got a really cool idea – only it involves going under the ladders. So I tell Donna and she re-does all of the lighting. I get my legs in place and everything is all set up ready to go. I grab the ladder with my hands and I’m able to hang on for 3 frames. That’s it. Luckily one of them turned out, lol. I had giant bruises on the back of both of my knees and I was totally sore. But it was worth it. That is one badass picture if I do say so myself – and that pretty much sums up my love for creative things and wanting to make them. I just want to make some badass pictures that make people say, “holy shit, how did she do that? That’s awesome!”

A sneak peak into @nicolenude's gallery: