I've been drawing and painting the nude figure since 1949, and it has always remained the highest form of art for me. But, I hate to say, this is about one of the most boring set of pictures I've ever seen. Ed Deak, Big Lake.

For many years a good friend had me stumped. Every time I would show him a new photograph, of which I was particularly proud, he would say, “It’s been done before.” Then one day I figured it out. He said his usual and I retorted, shouting at him, “But I haven’t done it yet!” And so it is that in my career as a photographer I see younger photographers do body landscapes or body paint and at one time I would like you, Fiat Lux have been bored by it all. After all you and I are both veterans of this. But photographers, artists, musicians, etc, they all have to travel the well-traveled road before they can find their style. My students at Focal Point had never shot nudes before. And on that particular day, without warning, I gave them their assignment. I think they did well and the thrill of being published for the first time, thanks to the Tyee, is something that I am sure they will treasure and perhaps they will never get to be cynical, nasty and unkind.

Of course, as a classically trained artist, I've heard it myself, "It's been done before!" about 102,000 times and my reply is also that it wasn't by me. Neither do I appreciate Picasso, or Pollock, or any other of these paint splatterers, called artists.

The reason I consider the photos boring, because they are. They don't say anything.

I took up photography for artistic purposes 35 years ago and realized with a shock that although I've been painting the nude for over 20 years by then, I haven't seen it before, when a professional ballet dancer modeled for me. Neither has she and was shocked by her own photos.

I'm interested in the interaction of beautiful lines, in the incredible beauty of the momentary emotions, the fractional flicker of the muscles and so on and on. Studio poses of the living figure are boring because the model can only hold boring poses for the usual 20 minute sessions, then 5 minute rest. I have seen models falling asleep. There's no point in wasting time on such boring stuff.

On account of this, I only work from photos now. Give me movement, sudden, often violent movement, for the faction of the second, so I can pick out what I want a develop it into a painting that means humanity, or something worthwhile.

Always wanted to do a series of the nude in dance movement, without the tutus and the usual cover ups. I have done some over the years, most of them given away, as nudes in BC are poison on the market, but now, finally, I'm starting on my series, using photos of models taken many years ago, some of them by now in their sixties. Not for sale, but for my own satisfaction and if my successors won't like them they can burn them and go to hell with them.

I could have made a fortune painting portraits, but never liked the people who could afford them, or the idea of glorifying them. So I became and remained a cabinetmaker, rancher, carpenter etc. and made a lot of people happy with my pictures, who otherwise could never have paid for them. Drop me a line at

and I'll send you some scans. Cheers, Ed Deak.

I understand what Fiat lux is saying, but this article isn't about all of that. This story is about students who had to work with a nude for the first time and, to make the session even more difficult, they had to emulate Man Ray. Their task was learning, not producing amazing, original, message-bearing work.

Whether or not the photos say anything is beside the point. Most of my photography lacks the message that good photos do. Perhaps this is because I am my own worst critic, or perhaps that is just the truth. Rather than let this get me down, I take what I have learned and apply it to my future work. Once in a while I take a great photo, but it's not without a great deal of practice that this occurs.