Beginning in 2010, Toronto, Ontario photographer VTOGRAPHY embarked on a personal art project to photograph the nude female form in night time settings across Canada’s urban and rural areas. The self-imposed criteria of the project was to keep things as simple as possible. The images were to be black and white only. No post-production manipulation or editing of the models was to be used. Only ambient lighting would illuminate the scenes. Although a few colour images have snuck their way into the collection, and a flashlight has been used to brighten up some truly dark scenes, the majority of the images have adhered to the original vision.

The process of creating the images is simple but requires intense strength and poise on the part of the models. Because the images are created at night with only ambient lighting such as dim street lights, long shutter speeds are used, which requires the models to remain as still as statues. Their posing skills are put to the test with difficult contortions — hanging, leaning, and balancing in precarious spots.

The NIGHT NUDES series uses backdrops from well-known urban landmarks to rustic rural landscapes. Easily spotted are nude models posing in front of Toronto’s CN Tower and Distillery District, Halifax’s skyline and Historic Properties, the streets of Old Montreal, and less-known, hidden areas that are off the beaten path.

In 2012, the project expanded to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and in 2016 it expanded again into Montreal, Quebec. As of 2020, twenty-nine models have participated to help create over 170 images (a small selection is shown here). A gallery showing of the images is planned when the series is complete.

If you’re interested in participating in the NIGHT NUDES project (no experience required), you must be 18+ and live in the Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, or Calgary areas. Apply here.