belfasttelegraph

Sunday 19 May 2013

Lashes star: Album cover not sexy

Natasha Khan said it was her idea to pose naked

Bat For Lashes star Natasha Khan says it was her idea to pose naked on the cover of her third album - and she can't believe the fuss it's caused.

Natasha is naked, with an unconscious man draped around her neck, in the black and white photograph on the cover of The Haunted Man, taken by New York-based photographer Ryan McGinley.

"I don't want to hide behind the costumes and the symbols any more," the 32-year-old said of the image.

"It was my idea to be naked, though when it came to doing it I thought, 'Why am I doing this?' But it's a statement.

"I knew I wanted Ryan McGinley to shoot it. I'd seen some of his work and was blown away. I loved how raw and wild it all was, and not retouched or Photoshopped, and none of them were the sexualised, glossy images of women we're used to seeing."

The Mercury Prize-nominated singer said it was a "shame" some shops and websites have censored the image.

"It's crazy because the naked body is the most natural thing in the world. Kids should see it and think it's natural and normal, not think of it as being sexy.

"We constantly define women by how tiny their waist is, how smooth their skin is or how big their boobs are.

"It's weird that when a naked body appears that isn't being overtly sexual, it's considered shocking. It says a lot about society, and you have to wonder how we've arrived at this point," she added.

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