On what could prove to be the coldest day of the year, I offer up an impromptu portrait I shot in Nathan Phillips Square during the 2018 iteration of the World Naked Bike Ride. It was a warm June day, which meant there were no shriveled walnuts; everyone was loose and relaxed. Warm your hands by the gentle heat of this image and look forward to better days.
A confession: I tried my best to approach this subject with gravitas, but sometimes keeping a straight face can be painful, and so I may have laughed out loud once or twice. I fully endorse the WNBR’s lofty aims: promoting body positivity, discouraging the sexualizing of the body (in the manner of the Slutwalk), encouraging healthy living, drawing attention to car-centric urban development. But it does make me laugh. I don’t want my laughter to be taken as a comment on the issues it addresses. It’s just that when you’re carrying on a conversation, trying your level best to focus on a man’s face, and all the while he’s waggling his schlong at you, it gets to be a challenge. For one thing, it’s hard to hold a camera steady when you’re laughing.
