Women in Focus - A podcast from British Naturism

Helen talks to Prof. Annebella Pollen - part 1

Part one: Professor Pollen explores the visual history of naturism in Britain, revealing the paradox between idealised magazine bodies and real practitioners, and discusses why early naturists hid behind pseudonyms.

In the first of a two-part conversation, Helen speaks with Professor Annebella Pollen from the University of Brighton, author of Nudism in a Cold Climate. Pollen discusses her decade-long research into the visual history of naturism in Britain, revealing how photography shaped the movement's public identity from the 1920s onwards. The conversation explores a fascinating paradox; whilst magazines like Health and Efficiency once sold hundred's of thousands of copies per issue, featuring idealised bodies of professional models, actual naturist membership numbers were much lower. Pollen explains how early practitioners hid behind pseudonyms to protect their professional reputations, and how the movement's own promotional imagery created tensions between philosophical ideals and practical recruitment. Drawing on archival research conducted during lockdown, she offers an outsider academic perspective that complements lived experiences, examining how naturism has been publicly mediated rather than privately practised.

And if you are interested in our BN Ladies Only holiday, we will be heading to Vritomartis in Crete for a week from the 1st June. Email Helen at Women in Focus for details.

Links for Prof. Annebella Pollen:

University of Brighton: research.brighton.ac.uk/en/persons/annebella-pollen
Instagram: instagram.com/annebella_pollen
Book - "Nudism in a Cold Climate": atelier-editions.com/products/nudism-in-a-cold-climate
Paper - "Utopian Bodies and Anti-fashion Futures: The Dress Theories and Practices of English Interwar Nudists": muse.jhu.edu/pub/2/article/686648/pdf
Paper - "Indignities Imposed by Arbitrary Adult Rule?": muse.jhu.edu/pub/50/article/933826/pdf
Women In Naturism website: womeninnaturism.uk
British Naturism Events: bn.org.uk/events-home
Join British Naturism: bn.org.uk/membershipinfo

Contact Women in Focus: womeninfocus@bn.org.uk