Naked as a Jaybird (Photobook)

Jaybirds say:
Free the Beavers!!

The year was 1965, the place was southern California. Public nudity was illegal and nude photography was, in the eyes of the government, pornography (unless practiced in the conservative confines of a nudist camp or tastefully displayed on the pages of a nudist magazine).

A new brand of nudism, however, was on the rise among hippies and other free-spirited individuals who loved nothing more than to peel off their clothes and lounge around in their birthday suits.

Jaybird magazine, a celebration of groovy nudism, was born out of this tumultuous climate, hovering in a gray area somewhere between the decent nudist magazines and porn. Over its eight-year life span, Jaybird (appearing under many titles, such as "Jaybird Happening" and "Womens Home Jaybird") grew from a standard family nudist journal to a far-out, psychedelic happening of naked hippies frolicking in wacky settingspreferably showing as much pubic hair as possible. Though the tone of the magazine evolved, the philosophy stayed the same: nudity is natural and fun for all.

These days, issues of Jaybird are impossible-to-find collectors items, Technicolor testaments to a bygone era of free love and pubic pride. But not to worryTASCHEN has resurrected Jaybird with this highly amusing, lavishly illustrated, sweeping retrospective of the magazine that let it all hang out.

Jaybird magazine was, obviously, a nude magazine that had photographed people who were members of the sexual revolution in the 60s and even the 70s. Around the same times America was going through wars of civil rights, equality, morality and people were sent to fight for their country, as young as 18, who couldn't buy alcohol and fresh out of high school (a place that does not teach common sense and higher learning)! Modern-day slaves of morality and idealism who tried to distort common sense has belittled the sexual revolution and called hippies "cowards who were afraid to fight for their counrty" and saying that they have "corrupted American standards" with the sexual revolution. The sexual revolution had not, in my opinion, experienced, but it has expressed beauty, joy, freedom, individuality and, to a degree, escapism. Jaybird magazine had only photographed very few of the actual accounts and made it into art and silliness.

While some of the photography honestly and explicitly shows the sensuality and the beauty of the human body, some of the photographs remain twisted with the use of animals (mostly kittens), tampons, nude sports and the use of stuffed animals. Because of this, it would not be a perfect example to show to younger children. On the front cover of some Jaybird magazines, there were headlines of incest as well. Not to say that many people of this era or magazine had actual sex with family members, even the thought of it remains remarkably disturbing and sickening. Even with this said, the purpose of this book as well as Jaybird magazine was to show the freedom of people amid their surroundings on the verge of ruination.

The beauty of it all was that during the sexual revolution which was formed in the 60s, people had finally expressed themselves and had found and formed beautiful things that has been kept down because of fear and ignorance. In this book, also, there are photographs of orgies, interracial sexuality, signs of homosexuality, body paintings, wild poses and style!

While this book should not be considered a main resource for studying and learning about the sexual revolution, this book is heavy enough to provoke ideas and for those who have not learned about the reality of the sexual revolution and even for those who weren't even a part of it at the time (like myself), it's very enlightening and exciting to look at the photographs of people who not only represented beauty, but people who were unafraid to fight for their beliefs no matter what society had believed!

I am 20 years of age as I write this review. I'll say now that I wish I was a part of the sexual revolution in the 60s and the 70s. Although there's a lot more information about, and different ways to explore sexuality, times now have only gotten harder (thanks to retarded consent laws, unruly and misguided feminists, men who abuse their power, the decline of trust and extreme, sadistic conservatives who'll even jeopardize free minds and our future just to bring back old, retrograde values as well as the fear of being thought of as falliable)!

While some may call it utter pornography, I'd prefer to call this the art of pornography and the rise of sexuality. I would be very lonely to consider pornography as art. Sex is art, yes! However, Jaybird is worthy of being called artistic for a number significant reasons (due to beauty, exposure and even how this has had a variety of impacts on American society)!


the carefree, nude hippies of the 60s, too much fun   November 13, 2003
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

Feeling a little retro? Old enough to remember the "Summer of Love"? Want to know how a small segment of the southern California population spent 1967? They all got naked in nudist camps, letting down ALL their long hair, boys and girls alike. Sure enough someone thought of the idea of publishing periodicals based on this "hippy naturalism". Thus the JAYBIRD line of publications was born. This book celebrates the "models" and the all-natural and sometimes unusual settings. It is loaded with photographs, most in wonderful color. Sure there are some recognizable models in here, but the bulk are somewhat silly looking late teen/early twenties kids who got naked in the sun with each other, were given props and told to have a good time while a shutterbug went about his merry way. Sure it is groovy to look back on this time of innocence and that is what gives this book its charm. The presentation is very colorful and reminds one of "Laugh-In" backgrounds and decorations. Yet I cannot help but wonder what these sunshine worshippers are doing now. Do you think their kids will enjoy seeing them in this tome?