Reply To: Have you ever bought a naked charity calendar?

[Anonymous]

“Embarrassed and uncomfortable and fun aren’t mutually exclusive!” – yes, exactly, they make it more fun.

I’ve found the picture I was thinking of though. It’s not from a calendar (as far as I know – there would probably be 1 or 12 of them if it was) but it makes the point well enough. At least three of them seem to be fully up for it, and the one in the middle is at least going along with it fairly happily. The one in the headband is either a good actress, or the photographer caught her at an awkward moment (in which case why not have another go), or she’s really unhappy about what’s happening.

1. As a photo of a group of people with feelings, it’s an example of one that makes me a bit uncomfortable.
2. As a photo that could inspire a number of different stories, it does provide some inspiration, which is useful. Off the top of my head, the one in the headband was very sad about leaving her current job to go to a new one, and she asked her friends to cheer her up with a group photo to remind her of what they used to do at staff Christmas parties, but it didn’t work out very well. The next thing they did, perhaps a streak across the carpark, worked much better.
3. As a charity calendar photo, I wouldn’t like it at all. I could imagine the one in the middle always being the shy one in several photos and then, for this one, finally feeling free to join in. That’s fine. I don’t know to include the headband one though. Even if the pictures showed (a) why she was so sad and (b) what eventually cheered her up, I still can’t see her discomfort working in a charity calendar at all.

Maybe I’m just over-cautious, or maybe I think different rules apply to charity calendars. I think they should do something “good”, and showing people enjoying their nakedness or even being a bit embarrassed and uncomfortable in fun way, is “good”. Showing them in a slightly distressed way can work in all sorts of ways, but doesn’t strike me as “good” in the same way as a charity calendar should be.

Let’s assume she’s a good actress or they have a bad photographer.

Ed and Arthur like this