Canadian national womans ruby team release calandar

Similar to the my post about Maya Nakanishi, members of Canada’s national women’s rugby team have shot a calendar aimed at  raising a little cash ahead of the reintroduction of the sport into the Summer Olympics in 2016 whilst promoting positive body image of female athletes.
The 2013 calendar, Which can be purchased here was shot by fantastic photographer Darryl Humphrey and features 17 members of the team.

“Every woman on this team works so hard at being physically fit and eating properly,” Barbara Mervin, a flanker on the squad and spearhead of the calendar initiative, said in a news release. “It is a reward to have these pictures taken so we can see our bodies in a beautiful light.”

The calendar features tasteful black and white photos. It follows a long-established trend in fundraising amongst teams from a variety of sports.
In fact, this is the fourth time Canada’s rugby women have stripped down for a calendar. They did it for the first time in 2004.

The team has tried traditional fundraising in the past, from selling chocolate bars and T-shirts to searching for sponsors, but found this the most effective.
In addition to helping raise money for the women as they prepare for the 2014 World Cup in France and qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Mervin said the team is hoping to get beyond the “stereotype about what women rugby players should look like” and show their attractiveness.
“But having muscles is very beautiful and being physically fit is very attractive,” she said. “We are elite athletes and we are proud of our bodies.”

The team, which plays in both sevens and more traditional 15s, last month won the 2012 Amsterdam Sevens, defeating the United 26-19 in the final.
In the 2016 Olympics, the tournament will feature seven-a-side teams.
“Yes, sex sells but we hope to have a stronger message about body types,” Mervin said of the calendar. “We hope we can help young girls to know that you can be 170 pounds and be absolutely beautiful. We hope they can relate to someone’s body and see beauty in that.
“There is beauty in the athletic body and that is what we have tried to capture with the images.”

Spencer Tunick in Munich

Thousands of naked people took part in a mass art installation in Munich over the weekend of June 23rd and 24th.

The 1,700 volunteers were covered in red and gold body paint to take part in Spencer Tunick's interpretation of Richard Wagner’s opera  - The Ring.

For this shoot the, the thousands of Bavarians took their clothes off and become part of a work of art by painting themselves in the water based body paint before taking to the streets of Munich.

The shoot took place to tie in with the launch of a new production of The Ring by Andreas Kriegenburg and performed by the Bavarian State Opera

Its not the first time Tunick has worked in Germany.  He had previously shot at the Museum Kunstpalast in Dusseldorf in 2006.

As you read this, the finishing touches are being put together for a similar shoot in Tunbridge Wells over the coming weeks.  Less body paint but just as effective I'm sure!!

Teodora Stamenković nude artist

Teodora Stamenković - Zone Red

An artist in Serbia has made heads turn in central Belgrade after she performed her latest installation by walking through the city center slowly removing items of clothing...

Covered top to toe in only red body paint, Teodora Stamenković strolled the streets during her performance called "Zone Red"

I already have an idea for a similar piece on the streets on Tunbridge Wells. I wonder if the locals will be as tolerant...  Only one way to find out!

Maya Nakanishi nude calendar

This is quite a remarkable story.


Japanese Paralympic athlete Maya Nakanishi has released a nude calendar to help raise additional funds to get her to the London 2012 Paralymics this summer. 


Here in the UK, sponsorships and funding schemes like the National Lottery help many of our athletes prepare for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, but in some countries that funding isn't always there.


Its not as if the 27 year old ex tennis player is a complete novice, she won a fourth place in the Paralympic 200m in Beijing and a sixth place in the Paralympic 100m.  She also competes in the long jump but despite being so close to a medal last time around, she's struggled to get the necessary funding to compete at the major events around the world.


In a statement on her blog, Nakanishi said: "I don't regret having become nude. I'm very happy that I was able to show Maya Nakanishi as I am."