Brad Wallis

I am life which wills to live in the midst of life which wills to live - Albert Schweitzer

Brad Wallis is a fine art nude photographer, poet, musician, and a spectacular human being.

What has been so significant has not been what Brad has had to say to me, but what I have found in myself to say to him.

I think that you already know the answer about whether or not you should do this, you just haven't given yourself permission yet.

I think you should, for all kinds of reasons, not the least of which is that it will be a transformative act of love for you. The whole point is to open that portal to the sacred, to transform and reframe it so that others can see it...so that it will resonate. To see the truth, to see self, to behold that birth of a dancing star that is in each of us.

This is where you are now and you will never be here again.

The very fact that you can articulate the idea, that you know what it will mean to you and what it will mean to all the rest of us indicates that yes! this is the when, where and who.

He reminded me to embrace my dark side. In the world, shadows are merely the places light doesn't touch, but in art, the shadows bring definition and ground the piece. Contemporary joy can be experienced as joy only because it contains, not the possibility, but the surety of future pain and sorrow.

Does it hurt? Hell, yes, of course it hurts. Every day I ache, but there's a sweetness to it. It's like those gulping breaths after running too far, too hard, on a cold morning...it burns and it hurts and it feels so damn good to keep on breathing, keep on living. I just think it's worth it, so I embrace it with all the love and joy that is possible to bring to the process.

All expressions of love are maximal.

Joyous day!

Somewhere, somewhen,
you were born
on this day, and
began the journey that
brought you here.

All my life,
you've been wandering your
own path. You walk it still,
but now I know.

Now I know you are
there,
feeling your way,
shining, illuminating
the void.

I see your brilliance
everywhere. There's
no poverty in the world
to match the bereavement
I'd suffer
had you never been.

You laugh, but I'd
know.
The universe embraces
many stars whose glow
I cannot see;
every one that fails
falls in my heart
like melting snow.

Still their light
goes on; it is
the nature of light
that it travels ever.

I celebrate you
and the blessings
of your enduring
radiance.

Brad's Work

Art Nudes/Sex Art by Brad Wallis
Brad's website, with samples of his work.

Brad's work is for grownups only, so the rest of the links are hosted on Flipside B.

Photo Sex: Fine Art Sexual Photography Comes of Age
Photo Sex offers both an expanded vision of the nature of photography--that fine art photography legitimately includes the subject of unapologetic sex--and an expanded vision of the nature of sex--that sex involves more than sexual intercourse and its attendant foreplay, more than the pursuit of orgasm.

The premise is that each photo in the book is a sexual photograph in this sense. This, of course, begs the question, "What is sex?" a question that each person will answer differently. Photo Sex collectively offers the author/photographer's personal perspective on what is included in the sexual realm--a perspective which is fairly broad.

A wide audience for photography views sex in a more complex, subtle, and interesting way than commercial pornography can offer. This broad audience includes women as well as men, and people of all ages, ethnicities, and sexual orientations who are interested in exploring sex in depth, rather than reducing its complexity and wonder to cliches.

Photo Sex is inclusive in its choice of both subjects and subject matter, with images of middle-aged and older people as well as youth, of heavy people as well as thin, of people who represent a broad range of genders, ethnicities, sexual tastes, and sexual orientations. The photos confirm that all sorts of "ordinary" people are both sexy and sexual.