Volunteers strip in public for photographer’s show

SEATTLE – To photographer Harvey Drouillard, nakedness is about sex and nudity is about art.

So, during a visit to promote his show, “The Spirit of Lady Godiva,” he persuaded eight volunteers to go nude for 15 seconds Sunday afternoon at an intersection just south of the downtown area and north of Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks.

Drouillard, 39, of Ann Arbor, Mich., focuses on unclothed people among the clothed, often by landmarks and in everyday circumstances.

“It normalizes the nudity, it takes away the sexuality of the nudity,” Drouillard said. Other than art, he says it’s about having fun and “not much deeper than that.”

Drouillard said he had gone to 15 cities around the country, advertising for volunteers in local newspapers rather than seeking professional models, since he took up the theme about nine years ago.

He said he got the idea while renting out a club he owned for a photo workshop with nude models. Looking out the window, he saw people walking on the street and came up with the idea of photographing nude people interspersed with the clothed.

In one of Drouillard’s stunts, a waitress in Chelsea, Mich., was arrested on a charge of indecent exposure in May 2001 when she tried to mimic Lady Godiva’s famous 11th century ride in Coventry, England.

No one was arrested Sunday.

Among the eight who showed up were Brandi Morang, one of the cover models on his book, and her mother, Donna Morang, 60, who also participated.

“I just think it’s fun and funny,” Donna Morang said. “I maybe would be nervous if it was just me.”

In a training session before the shoot, Drouillard drilled his corps in stripping and dressing within 10 seconds.

Also covered were a few hand signals — a pat on the head or gesture above the ears to indicate police approaching, a touch to the thigh for children nearby and thumbs up for the all-clear to take it all off.

When they did, one passer-by whistled, others yelled, Drouillard snapped his photos and his subjects got dressed and walked calmly away in various directions.

“I thought it was a total trip,” said Dave Voorhees, 54. “I would do it again in a heartbeat.”