♥ things you can tell just by looking at her.

source.

when i was in college i took a fascinating class on japanese prints.

otherwise known as as ukiyo-e, or "pictures of the floating world,"

this easily mass produced art featured prevailing themes of

pleasure and entertainment, most notably the courtesans and geishas.

a little known fact about geishas is that the bare nape of the neck

was regarded by japanese men of the time as a highly provocative part

of the body due to the fact that it was basically the only part left uncovered by

either clothing or white face makeup.

for this reason, you may notice that the delicate neckline of a

japanese geisha will appear over and over again in ukiyo-e.

i think it's kind of interesting to think that such an unassuming

and easily overlooked body part could be found so alluring,

and it is precisely why i was originally drawn to these simple yet complicated

digital prints found at the etsy shop, nosideup.

each print is named after a woman and gives a brief yet telling description

of who and where she is at the moment the neck image is created.

can't you picture four of them, framed in black,

arranged randomly on a wall?

sometimes there is beauty in the things we can't see ourselves.