The aesthetic and cultural wealth, the long tradition and classical status of opera as a high-art function here as an inspirational metaphor for a volume of photographs published annually and which deals with the most sensitive and direct kind of portrait: nude photography the human body as both stage and theatre play.The publisher Matthias Straub presents a rich spectrum of large and small portrayals, with both young, as yet unknown, nude photographers and classic works by living and dead masters of this field.