On a drive through the Columbia River Gorge and out into the high desert, I pulled off the freeway looking for two things: a little solitude and a breeze after a sweaty drive. I found both.
I wandered along the rocky edge above the Columbia looking for a place where I could comfortably get naked and spend a little time with the landscape. I was not disappointed. The rough, dark volcanic rock made an incredible contrast against the softness of skin, and almost immediately I started seeing compositions everywhere.
It’s amazing the number of places you can get naked.
Nude Soul
The wind became part of the shoot almost immediately. It came ripping through the Gorge in strong gusts, sometimes cooling me off and sometimes nearly knocking me off balance. Yet weather like this has a way of making me feel alive.
I love moments like this because the nudity becomes almost secondary. What I remember most is the scale of the landscape, the texture of the rocks, the river below, and the wind rushing against my entire body. Being nude simply made me more present to all of it.
After a while I pulled my clothes back on, climbed back into the car, and continued across Oregon. But I felt completely refreshed. My skin still carried the chill of the air, and my whole body seemed to remember the exhilaration of the wind gusting down the Gorge.
Below, the Vimeo video called Worship Without Walls is a moment of movement and worship above the Columbia River. Naked in the wind and open landscape, I feel less separate from nature and more a part of it. A part of creation offering glory to the Creator.
