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The trails in Colorado are often a runway show for outdoor apparel brands. Hikers parade around in Patagonia puffers, Melanzana hoodies, prAna pants, and Salomon boots. But Elsa Marie Keefe’s adventure attire is a little more minimalist. That’s because she prefers to wear nothing at all.
The 33-year-old Keystone artist photographs her subjects—oftentimes herself—nude in nature with a focus on body positivity. Her documentary-style imagery celebrates the human form, grounding and connecting with the earth, and challenging the idea that nakedness equates to eroticism. “We are all born wild,” Keefe says. “Being naked is our primal truth. My photographic practice is about remembering our sacred nature and celebrating how our bodies mirror and embody the natural world.” Sometimes, Keefe’s photos stir up controversy—and always spark conversations.
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Her work appears in New York galleries—she hails from Manchester-by-the-Sea along Boston’s north shore—but in Summit County, she’s learning the nude form isn’t as easily digested. Her compositions have been misinterpreted as pornographic, and her website and social media feeds have been variously taken down. She has been censored and deleted, received death threat emails, and lost significant sources of income. This summer, a ranger on Lake Dillon threatened to arrest her for sunbathing naked on a tucked-away beach.
And yet in spite of the pushback—or maybe because of it—Keefe feels her artistic mission is more important than ever. We sat down with the photographer to chat about her work and what it means to be nude in nature.
Editor’s note: The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
5280: What conversations do you hope to spark with your art?
Elsa Marie Keefe: Number one: body positivity and loving oneself and other humans. Number two: our inherent connection with Mother Earth and the importance of our symbiotic relationship with the Earth. And, on a very practical healing level, the importance of literally coming into physical contact with our bare skin on the Earth’s surface.
What inspired you to take up a nudist lifestyle?
I would say growing up in a family as I did was the very foundation. My parents never called themselves nudists—however, as I got to be a little bit older and started reflecting on my life, I realized that in some ways, we kind of were a nudist family. My parents would never try to cover up out of shame or guilt. My mom would tan naked in the backyard and just relax. We would go to the U.S. Virgin Islands for holiday in the spring, and my parents would take us to this beach that was clothing-optional.
You studied communications, marketing, and advertising in college. How did you land on nude photography?
In college, I had my first internship in fashion photography in Boston. And that’s when everything changed for me. I got really depressed as I would be forced to sit at a computer for hours each day, sometimes editing down almost anorexic-looking girls to be even skinnier for advertisements. I got really sad realizing that I was contributing to this unattainable standard of beauty.
That’s when I started trying nude photography. I researched a few photographers and the meaning of their work in the world of art history and in the modern world of art. I gave it a go, and things just took off from there naturally.
How has your own journey with body positivity evolved?
It’s been a lifelong journey and challenge. I know that loving oneself, body positivity, and finding beauty in our own bodies is very difficult for all of us. My art has actually helped my outlook on my body. I used to photograph myself for my early self-portrait work in college, and during one of my first shoots in the woods in Maine, I remember putting on a self-timer and then sprinting to be a couple hundred feet away from the camera so that I would be so small in the frame. I’ve grown a lot, and it’s been a very interesting and transformative experience to look back on my earlier shoots and see pure beauty in those photos that I remember so harshly critiquing at the time.
What have you learned about our connection with nature?
I’ve discovered the true science behind the regulation of our bodies through this practice of being nude in nature and the healing capacity of our bodies when we are in direct contact with the Earth’s dirt, sand, rocks, clay, and water. When our body comes in contact with the Earth’s surface, we actually absorb negative ions that help ourselves regulate. When our cells are stable and are absorbing the proper nutrients and electricity, our [bodies] can function at an optimal level.
How does your artwork aim to shift the conversation around nudity?
For many years, my work was all about reminding us that the human form and nudity does not equate with sexuality, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that we do need to speak about sex because it is part of the human experience, and the more that we avoid it, the more people feel shame and turn to things like pornography to learn about these harder subjects.
It’s also important that children see the naked body outside of a sexual context because the reality is most parents in America quickly cover up so that their children don’t see their bodies. We’re taught to believe that there is shame surrounding our body and, in reality, most children, including my own generation, were taught about how a body should look through pornography.
Where do you want your art to go?
I want my art to land all over the world. My big dream is to be in the Museum of Modern Art and some larger institutions, to be selling more consistently, and to be acquiring consistent investors who genuinely see my vision and want to support my art financially.
I also want to continue hosting nude women’s healing circles around the world and participating in retreat spaces with friends where I offer embodiment photo shoots to help women feel beautiful and comfortable in their skin and to truly realize that they are a piece of art and a part of art.
What’s next?
I am currently working on my handmade books. I make journals, books, and art books by sewing them together. I’m also working on a documentary called Soil to Soul about my dear friend who is 80 years old and has been gardening for about 70 years. I really wanted to shoot this to honor his life’s work and to help share all of the wisdom he has around the health of our soil and our planet. I’m also preparing for the Miami Basel art show and then a work trip to Switzerland.
Keefe is available for nude in nature embodiment photo shoots, commissioned projects, and collaborations. Find her at elsamariekeefe.art and follow her journey on Instagram @elsamariekeefe.
