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.
Permanent link to this article: http://niftynude.org/nifty-history-p-4/
By Greg DePaco, NIFTY secretary
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.
Spencer Tunick (born January 1, 1967) is an American photographer known for shooting nude photographs that often include thousands of participants. His first human installation took place in 2003 in in London’s Selfridges department store.
NIFTY recognises the fundamental decency, beauty, and non-obscenity of the natural human body. Further, NIFTY affirms the spiritual, psychological and physical health benefits of nudity and body acceptance for the individual and for society. A major part of our mandate is to educate the public about these benefits, and about the harmful effects of our cultures censure of natural nudity. NIFTY is an egalitarian group which always promotes equality of all humans, without regard to sex, race, colour, creed, age, national origin, sexual orientation or any other attribute.
(NIFTY Constutution, Paragraph 4)
For a NIFTY meeting to be valid, reasonable attempts to notify the membership of that meeting, well in advance of said meeting, must he made. At least three members shall constitute a quorum.
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.
The name NIFTY arose because we wanted an acronym for the group’s name, and came up with NIFTY as a “temporary” moniker until we could decide on a “real” name; however, people seemed to like the name and it was decided to keep it as the group’s permanent title.
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.
Membership in NIFTY shall be open to anyone who supports the elimination of legislation forcing the wearing of clothing in public spaces.
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.
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.
Mark Mathews Alberich is an American photographer living in California, United States. His photographs, usually portraits and nudes, emit an aura of originality and mysticism, the results are spectacular. Photo aquatic effects of layers of fabric and cascades of smoke, a visual delight.
Underwater Gallery 1
Underwater Moms
Breastfeeding Gallery
Underwater Gallery 2
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.
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 Constutution, Paragraph 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 Constutution, Paragraph 2)
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.
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1. Nudists have to remain unclothed all the time.