Page 25: 1984: I graduated from sailing schools and organized and carried out an incredible one-month naturist cruise in the US and British Virgin Islands. A heavenly experience.

During a stay in England in the summer of 1973, I did a brief initiation to sailing on a catamaran near Faversham.
My scrapbook from the time.


     


At the end of my military service, around May 1979, I did another initiation on a small sailboat,
thanks to a friend in misfortune, Christian Saunal, in Morhange, in Moselle.

      


      

Like all nudists, I have nothing to hide.

In the footsteps of Antoine, the singer (Les Élucubrations d'Antoine in 1966), Maths Sup and Maths Spé, engineering student at Centrale Paris, great traveler ...
In 1970, Antoine lived on avenue des Champs-Elysées, in the same building as Les Charlots and Hervé Vilard, which housed dancers from the Lido free of charge.
In 1974, Antoine cast off aboard Om, a 14m steel schooner. He completed a round-the-world trip, essentially solo, covering 40,000 miles over the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean, until 1980.

Mark BROMHEAD, a colleague of the cruise ship photography company, an enthusiastic sailor, also unknowingly influenced me in sailing, as he won prestigious races with his wife Maureen and was a legend among boat photographers. Thanks Mark.

Mark BROMHEAD is on the right, on the two photos.
I think this was his own boat.



My cruise ship S/S Rhapsody struck a coral reef in March 1984 off Grand Cayman, and got stuck there for months.



I take advantage of this free time to take lessons, in Florida and California (where I live), in basic sailing, then in yacht navigation. I am like a fish in water, I know most of the nautical terms because I already have 4 years of ocean liners. I get all the very useful diplomas.




First on small boats.





Then on yachts.



Here in Florida.






Then San Fransisco.





Here with Dr Nicole Bordes




Here in Florida with Janet.

I can then rent a small sailing boat of 32 feet = 10 meters (with a single berth, damn), the Nepenthe, in Saint-Thomas





I cast off for a 4 week cruise during the summer of 1984, to the US and British Virgin Islands (Saint-John, Sainte-Croix, Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, Jost Van Dyke, etc ...).





My goal is to visit only deserted islands, naked whenever possible. To accompany me in this adventure, I succeeded in convincing several girls met on S/S Rhapsody, to come, one at a time, to share these outings at sea.

I want to do artistic nudes like most photographes : Bettina Rheims, Bill Brandt, David Hamilton, Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston, Francis Giacobetti, Helmut Newton, Herb Ritts, Horst P. Horst, Imogen Cunningham, Irina Ionesco, Irving Penn, Jeanloup Sieff, Jean-François Jonvelle, Jacques Henri Lartigue, Louis Stettner, Lucien Clergue, Marc Riboud, Martin Schreiber, Paolo Roversi, Peter Lindberg, Pierre Molinier, Pompeo Posar
Finalement j’ai fait du FOURNIER.


Nudity is not porn.


Yes sir, the gift shop girl was impressed.


An example of the crew members during a "Halloween party" aboard the S / S Rhapsody. merry fellows.

There were also passengers met on cruise ships. OK, that was another epoque.

All means are good to try to convince.

Here on Cozumel Island, the side opposite the large tourist beach was at that time entirely deserted.

A heavenly experience.

Naturism, snorkeling, diving (the RMS Rhone was very impressive), navigation, explorations, discoveries, adventures, incredible sunsets, fabulous beaches, and of course, photography, etc ... line.
The navigation was easy, because the waters are crystal clear, we can see the reefs from afar under the water, there is nobody around, the navigation charters are aerial photos of the islands with dotted lines to access the deserted beaches by following the passes between the reefs! Heaven therefore exists!



The navigation charts have all details. 40 years later, I still have them!









Just a few stops from time to time on a "civilized" island to buy food and 24x36mm films. Having just reread "1984" from George Orwell, I also think about the censorship of the future (like Facebook) and also take photos with swimsuits.


My cruise permit in the Virgin Islands.

Well, I will not die frustrated, like so many others... Yes, I took beautiful photos.

Oscar Wilde: "The best way not to be worried by your desires is to satisfy them."
“Happiness is sitting down with friends to look at their vacation photos and realizing they've just returned from a stay at a nudist camp.”

Everything is calm, clean, blue and white. I'm afraid that 30 years later, with the development of tourism, it has become more difficult, like my deserted beaches in Cozumel, Mexico, where I returned in 2011 and found them inhabited and littered with rubbish.
Well, I didn't have children, who didn't have children, who did not have children, etc. The overpopulation, in exponential growth, will destroy everything.



TThe women who accompanied me were lovely and I thank them all. We had a lot of fun.
I am a convinced feminist: political, economic, cultural, personal, social and legal equality between women and men.
We are fortunate to live in a time when women can choose their own destiny without the goodwill of a man. I am grateful for the support and love of the exceptional women around me.


I wanted to do artistic nudes, comme la plupart des photographes : Bettina Rheims, Bill Brandt, David Hamilton, Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston, Francis Giacobetti, Helmut Newton, Herb Ritts, Horst P. Horst, Imogen Cunningham, Irina Ionesco, Irving Penn, Jeanloup Sieff, Jean-François Jonvelle, Jacques Henri Lartigue, Louis Stettner, Lucien Clergue, Marc Riboud, Martin Schreiber, Paolo Roversi, Pierre Molinier, Pompeo Posar
And in the end I did some FOURNIER.


So I will not die frustrated, like so many others... Yes, I did shoot some beautiful photos!
For information, the nepenthe is a fictional medicine against sorrow – a "drug of forgetfulness" mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Greek mythology.

If you think you might be offended or or might die of jealousy to see an average guy who has met a lot of amazing girls, don't go to this page.
If you are offended by pictures of pretty naked girls, do not go to this page.

Jackie Matelich.








Ellen Ridgely























Joséphine












I also photographed girls on deserted islands, not always on this cruise. I no longer remember all of its deserted beaches.

If you think you are offended or are dying of jealousy to see an average guy who has met a lot of amazing girls, don't go to this page.
If you are offended by pictures of pretty naked girls, do not go to this page.





J'ai déployé le spinnaker.







































You can see the remote shutter release in my hand. Now you understand how these photos were taken.

C'est le pied, de jour comme de nuit !




















spinnaker











RMS Rhône était un Royal Mail au Royaume-Uni navire appartenant à la Royal Mail vapeur Packet Company. Elle a été naufragée au large des côtes de Salt Island dans les îles Vierges britanniques le 29 octobre 1867 dans un ouragan, tuant 123 personnes.













Jenny





Jenny aux Îles Caïmans . Une fille-poisson magnifique. Merci, merci, merci Jenny. Pas facile de plonger sans palmes et ceinture de plombs et de poser élégamment.




























































































Magen's Bay in US Virgin Islands St Thomas.













































Nicole
















With Carlos Lopez.

Here are about 620 examples of my photographic event coverage since 1984, that is to say, 30 years. This is without counting those which my clients have requested that I do not show and photos that have been lost.

I know it's enormous.
No, I am not a photographic robot: my mother had me tested


This list begins with the compilations: Fashion & Models, Lingerie, Beauty, Makeup & Hair, Portraits, Events, Objects, Archi & Deco, Industry, Press, Celebrities, etc.


The sensors and web capabilities from 1995 to 2005 were horrible compared to now (2021). 40 KB max by images. My uploads at this time were therefore bad. I replace them little by little. It's long. Thank you for your indulgence.

Conclusion 1: I must not be bad, so that all these people trust me.
I have loyal customers, a sign that they are satisfied with my services. Examples: Tollens, MEDEF, Dior, GMF, Unesco, L'oréal, Anaé, Agefiph, Essilor, Genzyme, Embassy Ireland, The Advertisers Club, Garmin, VW, etc. ...

Conclusion 2: Thanks to all these varied clients (industry, wedding, corporate and personal portraits, press, events, objects, medical, culinary, diving, sports, pageants, etc. ..), I see extraordinary slices of life, confidential or public, trades and fabulous countries. I do feel very privileged. Real life, live. Thank you customers.

In rough estimation, I take 5,000 photos a week. 5,000 x 52 = 260,000 a year. For 35 years = 9,100,000 photos. Well, I would like to reach 10 million anyway!

There is also a search command, not always up to date, but pretty comprehensive on all my reportages.