The Nudist Photographer

shot at the nude beach at Eze Sur Mer between Nice and Monaco in Sept 2009. Image copyright 2009, Tyler Keeler

Hello Again!

While thinking about what to write for this blog posting, I realized my participation in nude recreation goes back to before I can remember, when my mom used to let us run around our yard without clothes on in the summer.  Jumping ahead to what I can remember, still in my childhood, I used to play “Indian” and run around with a “loincloth” made of washcloths (and nothing else) pretending to be a young Indian warrior.  Fortunately, (or maybe unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), no photos survive of my enjoyment of that particular activity.  I spent a good deal of my youth growing up in Sandy, Utah, in a very conservative social climate.  Not very conducive to nudity, but in those days there were still plenty of open fields in the area around our home and it was a relatively short hike of about an hour to reach the lower elevations of Lone Peak, and as a 12 or 13 year old I would hike up into the mountain and find a place to sunbathe nude.  While I never chose to share this information with my mother at the time, when we were growing up we were never made to feel ashamed of our bodies.  Besides, being in a family of 5 kids wasn’t exactly an environment that made it easy to completely shield oneself from the occasional view of somebody else, and in our house that was no big deal.  When we moved from Utah to California when I was in high school, I lost access to my sunbathing spots, and I entered the clothed (or mostly clothed) phase of my life. 

I got married very young and started a family.  Being naked still never bothered me around the house, and we never tried to shield our children from the sight of their parents’ bodies.  There didn’t seem to be much of a point when they were infants, and since they had seen us naked since they were born, there really didn’t seem to be much of a reason to suddenly enforce “no nudity” in the house.  Still, there were no opportunities for nude recreation outside of just walking around the house. 

Time moved on, and we were living in Hollister, California, and it was only about an hour to the beach.  I played a lot of beach volleyball in Santa Cruz on the sand near the boardwalk, and I really enjoyed being at the beach.  About the time I was 26, I guess something resurfaced, and I got it in my head that there had to be a nude beach somewhere in the area where I could resume my nude sunbathing and just enjoy being at the beach without having to wear anything.  After some research I discovered that there was in fact a nude beach about 20 minutes north of Santa Cruz:  Red, White, and Blue Beach.

I do remember being somewhat apprehensive about going to a nude beach for the first time, so I did a recon drive to make sure I knew where it was a couple of weeks before I actually went the first time.  The first time I went, I seem to remember picking a pretty nice day weather wise. (The weather on the coast around Santa Cruz is always a bit of a crap shoot, due to the marine layer that comes in over the beaches.  That means that although it can be 85 in San Jose or Hollister, and 78 in Santa Cruz proper, if the marine layer stays in it can be in the low 60s just a few miles north where the beach is.)  I went by myself, because my wife at the time was definitely more conservative and more body-conscious than I was and had no desire to go to a nude beach.  When I arrived, the entrance to the beach had a gate in an old camper trailer and there was a small, semi-permanent campground near the entrance.  I paid my day fee ($10 as I recall), and followed the directions to the parking area.  Now, I would describe the facilities at the beach as definitely being on the “rustic” side, but there seemed to be lots of cars in the parking area and people heading down to the beach.  I parked, and since I had already seen several folks walking around without clothing on, took mine off too, grabbed my beach bag, and headed down to the beach.

One of the first things that caught my attention was the presence of a couple of volleyball courts, which definitely made me happy, because I would rather be doing something than just laying around like a lump.  I picked a spot near the courts and settled in to making sure I was well covered with sunscreen.  When people started up a volleyball game, that gave me an opportunity to be social and I got into a game.  I was a competitive player more than a social player, which made me a popular addition even when the game was more of a “jungle ball” game, and able to play with the better players when some folks wanted to take the game more seriously.  The volleyball was fun, but what it really allowed me to do was to start to meet and talk to some of the other people who had all come to a nude beach in a country where, for all the sexual references in our advertising and media, we are basically told that being naked (especially in public) is wrong or perverted or inappropriate. 

What I found was that there was a very diverse group of people, in almost every way imaginable, who had all come together to enjoy a day at the beach without having to wear a swimsuit.  People were very welcoming, conversational, and comfortable to be around.  Most of all, I got the feeling that all these people who were all “letting it all hang out” were comfortable with who they were, regardless of their age, race, scars, or body type.  Being there, with those people, certainly helped me be more comfortable with who I was as a person.  The rest, as they say, is history.  I went to Red, White, and Blue beach as often as I could after that.  I also found other nudist clubs and eventually joined Lupin in Los Gatos.  My family situation changed, but after my first wife and I split up, I did find women who were more accepting of social nudity, who were willing to join me, and now I can’t imagine being in a relationship with someone who isn’t accepting of nude recreation.  I’m single again, but one of the first things I disclose when I meet someone I’m interested in dating is that I am a card carrying nudist.

I now live in Virginia, and although there isn’t a nude beach near enough to be convenient, I only live about an hour and 20 minutes from Avalon resort.  I also plan my vacations around places that allow social nudity and I have been to nude beaches in Florida, all over the Caribbean, and in Europe.

To close out this posting, I’ll come back to Red, White, and Blue Beach.  Last year, I checked off one of my “bucket list” items, flew to San Francisco, and participated in the Bay to Breakers Race with the “Bare to Breakers” group, which does the entire 7.2 mile race naked.  (Which will probably be the subject of a future blog posting.)  During that trip I had the opportunity to drive down the coast to Santa Cruz, past Red, White, and Blue Beach.  But something was different.  There was always a mailbox, painted appropriately red, white, and blue, that marked the entrance road to the beach off Highway 1.  I was watching for it so that I could show my friend where the beach was, but there was no mailbox.  Although it had been years since I had been there, I backtracked and did find the road leading down to the beach entrance, but the entrance was chained and locked with a big “closed” sign.  The website also says that the beach is now closed, and no longer offers day use, camping, or access to the beach.  I don’t know why the beach closed, but I do know that the Santa Cruz area is not the same without it.

Next time, I’ll describe My Favorite AANR Resort.

Thanks for reading!  I’m still trying to figure out how to upload photos to the blog, so in the mean time, if you would like to see my fine art photography, please visit my website:

www.tjkphotography.com

Tyler