Naked Nude

To be naked is to be oneself.

To be nude is to be seen naked by others

and yet not recognized as oneself.

A naked body has to be seen as an object

in order to become a nude.

Nakedness reveals itself.

Nudity is placed on display.

To be naked is to be without disguise.

To be on display is to have the surface

of one’s own skin,

the hairs of one’s own body,

turned into a disguise which,

in that situation, can never be discarded.

The nude is condemned to never being naked.

Nudity is a form of dress.

 John Berger, Ways of Seeing, Episode 2 (1972)