Founded in 1992, NIFTY (Naked Iconoclasts Fighting The Yoke) is a group of citizens who believe that people should be allowed to decide for themselves whether to wear clothing or not in public spaces. Essentially, the group formed in opposition to section 174 of the Canadian Criminal Code, which declares public nudity a criminal offense. However, we advocate for clothing-optional rights for everyone, not just Canadians. Although many NIFTY members are naturists or nudists, NIFTY is not a naturist/nudist group; we are simply a group of citizens who believe in the right of every person to decide what, if any, clothing to wear in public spaces.
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Permanent link to this article: http://niftynude.org/nifty-history-p-1/
NIFTY is first and foremost an activist political entity. Although organizing and engaging in social and recreational activities is necessarily part of our function, our primary focus must always remain on political organization towards full clothing-optional rights in all public spaces in Canada.
NIFTY is an organization of people who oppose the legal ban on public nudity in Canada, and who are interested in organizing politically towards the abolishment of that ban.
NIFTY shall be, as much as possible, a grassroots democratic organization. No president or permanent chair shall exist. A chair shall be elected at each NIFTY meeting for the purpose of that meeting only, their term ending with that meeting. The only table officers are the secretary and the treasurer.
Anastasia Chernyavsky is a Russian-born photographer who currently lives with her husband and their two children in Foster City (San Francisco Bay Area), United States. Her first photographic equipment was a Zenit E camera her father have her as a gift when she was 15 years old.
After her first child being born, Anastasia started taking photographs of here loved ones. During that year she discovered a great talent to capture a beauty and became a professional fine art photographer specializing in creative portraits of pregnant mothers, babies, couples, and family. Anastasia is a freelance photographer for agencies, magazines or private clients, having worked as a professional photographer for civil events. She became famous in 2013 when her series of self-portraits, featuring her and her children naked, went viral in social media and the blogosphere, and subsequently censored by Facebook, with some commentators from the mainstream press comparing her compositions to neoclassical paintings, such as the “Madonna del Parto” of Piero della Francesca.
All decisions at NIFTY meetings shall be made by consensus if possible. In the event that consensus cannot he achieved after reasonable attempts, a vote shall take place, with majority rule carrying.
No individual members may use cameras at NIFTY events. NIFTY may authorise camera(s) to photograph special events; in that case “no photo” wristbands and/or designated photography areas will be established, depending on the event. All participants shall be privately made aware of photography and release options at the entrance to the event.
All public NIFTY events shall be open to anybody without discrimination. There shall be no quotas of any kind, and people can be asked to leave or barred based solely on their own behaviour. Such behaviour must have predictable negative consequences.
Pavel Popov was born in 1966 in the city of Perm. In 1994 he entered the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, studied at historical painting workshop led by Professor Glazunov. Pavel is a Member of the Moscow Union of Artists.
Founded in 1992, NIFTY (Naked Iconoclasts Fighting The Yoke) is a group of citizens who believe that people should be allowed to decide for themselves whether to wear clothing or not in public spaces. Essentially, the group formed in opposition to section 174 of the Canadian Criminal Code, which declares public nudity a criminal offense. However, we advocate for clothing-optional rights for everyone, not just Canadians. Although many NIFTY members are naturists or nudists, NIFTY is not a naturist/nudist group; we are simply a group of citizens who believe in the right of every person to decide what, if any, clothing to wear in public spaces.
Your first NIFTY swim is only $1. Please click on the image below, print, photograph or save the discount coupon on your smartphone or camera and present it at the next NIFTY swim. We accept the coupons on paper, digital cameras and smartphones.
Lady Godiva was the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. In 1043 Leofric founded and endowed a Benedictine monastery at Coventry. People of Coventry were suffering under her husband’s oppressive taxation. Lady Godiva asked her husband to remit the tolls. Leofric said he would grant her request if she would strip naked and ride through the streets of the town. Lady Godiva took him at his word and, after issuing a proclamation that all persons should stay indoors and shut their windows, she rode through the town, clothed only in her long hair. Just one person in the town, a tailor ever afterwards known as Peeping Tom, disobeyed her proclamation in one of the most famous instances of voyeurism. In the story, Tom bores a hole in his shutters so that he might see Godiva pass, and is struck blind. In the end, Godiva’s husband keeps his word and abolishes the onerous taxes.
Vladimir Fedotko is a photographer from St. Petersburg, Russia. He is known for his talent to magically combine traditional drawing, photography and computer processing. Fedotko creates unique photos and fills them with fairy-tale characters. His images are bright and elegant. The artist shows a variety of stories that combine surrealism and fantasy.
Digital art appeared about 15 years ago and is very popular today among both beginners and professional photographers. Vladimir creates amazing images full of beauty, and mystery. Most striking in his work that it is not clear where is the photo, and where is the drawing. The artist takes into account everything – color, shade, and the texture of the object. You could say – this is magical realism in photography.
NIFTY has held many events over the years: topfree and clothing-optional parades and marches, topfree picnics and book readings, clothing-optional dances and movie nights, and more. We also usually host a clothing-optional picnic following the Vancouver portion of the annual World Naked Bike Ride. While these events are celebratory in nature, they also serve to educate the public about the harmful effects of suppressing the natural body, and to advocate for clothing-optional rights.
If the NIFTY swims are too infrequent for you – or if you live too far away from Templeton Pool to participate as often as you’d like – you may have thought about starting a clothing-optional swim of your own at a local pool. We here at NIFTY strongly encourage you to do so, and would like to help if we can! Here are some suggestions if you take the plunge:
1. Contact the pool and make an appointment with the programmer to discuss rentals. (This is their title in Vancouver Park Board sites, it may be different in your area.) Arrange an in-person appointment. There’s no need to mention at this point that you intend to have a clothing-optional event, but if they ask you if this is the case you should certainly (of course) say so, just as you would answer any initial questions they might have about your rental.
2. You will likely have to buy insurance. In BC, you should contact Sport BC insurance to discuss rates and terms. This would be a good thing to have looked into before your meeting with the pool programmer. If you know another group that rents the same pool, they might be willing to share their policy with you. Talk to them and to Sport BC.
3. It’s best to bring two people to your meeting with the pool programmer, a male and a female. (Sex shouldn’t matter, of course, but given societal stereotypes about people who like to do things naked, it helps to present your group as one whose membership represents a wider cross-section of your community.) Sorry (but needless) to say, you should really wear clothes for the meeting.
4. Use your judgment as the meeting unfolds, but you should probably explain your intention to have clothing-optional events early on during the meeting, as one of the parameters of your rentals. Most programmers will probably be at least willing to consider the idea, though they may say they have to check with their superiors first. At this point, be sure to mention all the other groups (like NIFTY) that have sucessfully run clothing-optional swims and events for years without any significant problems and with wide community support. Offer to meet with their superiors yourselves if needed.
5. If the meeting ends without a firm yes or no, give them a week or so to get back to you before calling to follow up. If you do so, start the call by thanking them for having met with you to consider renting their facility to your group. (Also do this when they call with their answer, if they do.)
If you need any help with the process, just call us here at NIFTY – we’ll do what we can. Good Luck! And let us know about the responses you get.
NIFTY’s first official meeting was held in 1993, and we began renting Vancouver’s Templeton Park Pool for monthly clothing-optional swims in 1998. Since then, our membership has grown significantly, and several thousand people have been NIFTY members at some point over the years, with about 500 up-to-date members at any given time.
Our NIFTY pool events might be cancelled at the last minute because the city pool staff cannot find enough life-guards. Below is the latest information that we know. Events of other groups besides NIFTY might change their events without telling us, so you might want to check with them directly.
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1. Nudists are asexual people.
Nudists are sexual beings, but they conduct their activities in private.
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Anastasia Chernyavsky is a Russian-born photographer who currently lives with her husband and their two children in Foster City (San Francisco Bay Area), United States. Her first photographic equipment was a Zenit E camera her father have her as a gift when she was 15 years old.
Pavel Popov was born in 1966 in the city of Perm. In 1994 he entered the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, studied at historical painting workshop led by Professor Glazunov. Pavel is a Member of the Moscow Union of Artists.
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1. Nudists are asexual people.