Two activities that would make the vast majority of us feel a bit squeamish:
- Free-climbing a rock face, completely unharnessed
- Posing in front of a camera, completely starkers
The subjects of Dean “Bullwinkle” Fidelman’s Stone Nudes climbing calendars obviously feel differently, as they’ve been accomplishing both — at the same time — for the last two decades.
The idea initially came to Fidelman in 1999, when the then 40-year-old, recently retired fashion photographer was living in California. He’d climbed in Yosemite, Joshua Tree and Sierra Eastside, and found a way to combine his talent for capturing studio nude art with the crags and valleys of America’s wilds.
The results, many of which Outside features in its short profile of Fidelman, are consistently breathtaking. From the Buttermilk Boulders in Bishop, California, all the way down to the mountain village of El Chaltén in Argentine Patagonia, the striking contrast of poised, limber bodies against steep, unforgiving rock faces makes for some unprecedented shots. And it’s all captured brilliantly by Fidelman, who one imagines had to make some difficult climbs himself just to get into position.
Unfortunately for all of us, Fidelman recently lost his job cleaning carpets, and the next calendar — of which he usually prints 1,000 copies, at a cost of $6,500 — will be his last.
To help raise money for the final calendar (which also happens to be the 20th-anniversary edition), Fidelman launched a Kickstarter, which you can donate to here.
With three days left, he’s raised $30,635, easily surpassing his initial $6,500 goal. Scrounge up $20 and go reserve a calendar today.
All images from Outside
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