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When the idea of doing a nude issue first came up my initial reaction was one of excitement – there is so much new and interesting material out there, plus it would be a refreshing change – something quite different. But there was a but – I didn’t want the pictures to be gratuitous, aimed at a male-only audience. Instead of erotica, I wanted to offer you images that had integrity and beauty. Finding them was not difficult – there are plenty of photographers working in the genre, and I wanted to search out those you might not have come across before. What I came up with – and they include two women photographers and some male nudes – I think is fantastic. But the buts keep butting and I know there will be murmers and letters for, as Clare Park, one of our chosen photographers, points out, ‘I tread warily at a time when our culture is bound by the extraordinary paradox of the acceptable and the taboo’. I am delighted with this issue and I hope you will be too. It has everything I set out to achieve – and I hope it will inspire you to see nude photography – from the classical beauty of Matthaeus’ Swimmers to the political comment of Clare Park’s images – in a refreshing light. But above all, I hope you enjoy the sheer beauty of the work and the integrity that has gone into it.