We've been hard at work picking out the best and brightest of our artists to create an army of great ambassadors. Ambassadors are members of our artist community that are highly engaging, connected, and active. They are constantly getting the word out about Zivity and making sure members feel like a welcome part of the family. 

This week, we're introducing Dekilah, JoeWhite, and Nile! These ambassadors are great examples to follow and might be able to help answer any general questions about the site you may have.

What does being a brand ambassador mean to you? 

Dekilah: "I think being a Zivity ambassador means I am a part of Zivity not only as a model, but as a representative of the site. It is my job to make sure people know about Zivity and to make sure they get accurate information. I am here to answer any questions they have and to help anyone on the site in any way I can. I also think it is my job to promote Zivity anywhere and everywhere I can, both as a model and as some one who appreciates great photos." 

JoeWhite: "I cannot even express how excited I am to be an ambassador. And now that I am, it means I can now be an even bigger part of the Zivity community and help all of those who need a little guidance."

Nile: "Being an Ambassador for Zivity means I get to be a part of the beautiful and talented group of photographers and models that are the faces of Zivity and what the site stands for. I am so proud be a friendly face  in which new models, photographers, and fans can come to with their suggestions, questions, and ideas to make this community even better."

What do you love so much about Zivity?

Dekilah: "...how diverse it is. I love that Zivity has given me a place to share my self portraits and a way to support myself as an artist. I have found so many friends on Zivity too!"

JoeWhite: "This is really a hard question for me to answer, because there is really so much going on here that keeps me around. But the thing I love the most is the community. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming, as soon as you create your account you just feel at home."

Nile: "I love the community of Zivity. Everyone is so supportive and helpful. I love the encouragement from artist to aritist and the friendships I've made both with fellow artists and the wonderful fans."

What do you hope to accomplish as an ambassador?

Dekilah: "I am very active in the alternative/erotic/art community here in Detroit and I help manage local shooting events. I would love to bring more of that crowd to Zivity. I know there are a lot of photographers and models in the Detroit area and I would love to see a bigger Michigan presence on Zivity."

JoeWhite: "I hope to help others just as they have helped me since I have joined. If it wasn't for those members, I'm not sure where I would be today. I would also like to create a local Zivity community, parties, music, ladies, cameras, streaking, and some paper mache!"

Nile: "I hope to continue to do all that I can to keep making Zivity the very best environment and community for fans and artists alike." 

What are some ideas you have to get people excited about the site?

Dekilah: "I have been contacting specific models and photographers I know about joining up. I answer their question and give them a basic run down on how the site works, as well as my own tips on how to be successful and how to build a fan base."

JoeWhite: "What ideas could there be to be excited about? Beautiful ladies, amazing photography, and a chance to be able to talk to the artists involved. To me, that's pretty damn exciting!"

Thanks to all of our ambassadors and bad ass community leaders. These guys create a healthy and ancouraging environment for all of our members and for that - we owe a lot. We love you, ambassadors!

<3,

The Zivity Team

Our very own Cyan Banister will be judging today at TechCrunch Disrupt. You can watch the live stream here.

Video streaming by Ustream

Here at Zivity we celebrate individuality, freedom of expression, sexiness and nudity, costumes, the strange, and having fun. It's no wonder we call San Francisco our home - it's the birth place of so many of the things we love dearly.

The Bay to Breakers footrace has become a staple of San Franciscos zanny culture. This 7.46 miles footrace started as as a way to lift the city's spirits after the disastrous 1906 San Francisco earthquake, but has since morphed into an event where teams dress up (or wear nothing at all), and meander down the streets with friends. Granted there are still a few who take the race seriously, but for the most part it's nothing more than one big party. 

The event was officially the world's largest footrace from 1986 (with 110,000 participants) until it was surpassed in 2010.

Those who come dressed up can participate in the costume contest!

The infamous Spawning Salmon run in the opposite direction of the runners. 

If you're near San Francisco this Sunday, May 20th, you should come watch. The race starts at Beale and Howard at 7am, and ends at Ocean Beach around 12pm. If you're thinking about racing, consider buying a ticket. Our Madame Elaine will be there - if you see her say hi! 

TechCrunch Disrupt is widely known as the conference to be at if you want to learn about the brightest minds and most creative ideas in the tech industry. This 3-day technology conference in New York City takes place May 21-23 2012 at Pier 94 in Midtown Manhattan. It will feature a Startup Battlefield Competition and a Hackathon which is on May 19 and 20, 2012. There will also be a Startup Alley where early-age startups in need of more funding can demo their product for a chance to win $50,000. Tickets are available now.

Cyan Banister, founder and CEO of Zivity, was asked to be one of the judges for the Startup Battlefield Competition, and couldn't be more thrilled. She has long been a contributor to TechCrunch, mostly known for her "Speakng of..." series that focuses on entrepreneurial celebration. This is the first time she's judged at Disrupt. 

Please be sure to follow her on Twitter if you'd like to follow along with the action! We'll also be posting sources where you can watch a live stream of the event on the day she's on stage. 

April was a great month for new sets and even better month for the artists themselves! Our members picked these models and photographers to make their month sexier and we want to share them with you. 

Top Model by Votes

OkiDokiOkami

Okami always manages to make everything look like fun. She shines in her most recent set "Food Porn". Nothing like eating a bowl of mac n' cheese in your birthday suit. Check it out!

Top Model - Voters

Sombra

This beauty has had quite an exciting month! Sombra has recently been published in "Sombra: A Zivity Model" by Michael Enoches. The book covers her fascinating story and some of her best sets. You can find it on Amazon! 

Top Photographer

Corwin Prescott

Topping the list by highest votes and voters, Prescott steals the number one spot again. Can't say we're too surprised. :)

We're always impressed by the things our artists produce and we're grateful to have such a talented community of contributors. Thanks to these artists and to our members for recognizing these great people.

Sincerely,

The Zivity Team <3

The Zivity team went on a trip to see Jean Paul Gaultier's exhibit "From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk" at the De Young museum and happened to marvel at some of the most gorgeous and fascinating articles of clothing we had ever seen.

(download)

Click here to download:

adventure-time-zivity-and-the-jean-paul-gaultier-exhibit-pyFonIGBldeaeGFxivwd.zip (54.33 MB)

The mannequins that displayed the pieces had a 3D face projected on them that spoke and interacted with the audience which was something that blew our minds (and creeped everyone out a little). From corsets to bondage to flowing dresses made of silk and diamonds, we couldn't help but feel like wearing *everything* on those stickly little mannequins.

Working in such a niche industry of overlapping art and sexuality, we felt that Gaultier spoke to our inner artistic rebels. He pushed the envelope of culture and fashion by incorporating sexuality, androdgyny, and transgender elements into his work. He worked with people like Madonna, the cultural icon of her time, to co-create what we understand about the 80s and to confuse traditional gender roles. Gaultier was an incredible designer and if you haven't seen this exhibit yet or don't know about his work - check him out, learn something new, and try not to yearn for those corsets...mmm.

Many of you have been requesting Zivity shirts, so I'm pleased to announce our new store!

Just click here to put up your new threads - shirts start at $15! We've got three styles to choose from.

"Thoughtful" for $20

Happy shopping!

Spring is all about new life, and new starts, and here on Zivity, that also means new models.  All of these lovely ladies are entered in the New Model Prize #7 (which ends in less than a month!) Go say hey and welcome them to Zivity with a few votes!

Kitty13/PiratePhotography

xx

I had the pleasure of being introduced to Cohen_'s work recently through Madame Elaine who insisted I look at her sets. I have to say, this girl is an all-around fascinating and unexpected artist. She is not only an entirely self-shot photographer, but she captures the essence of raw, unfiltered, unedited, honest-to-life beauty. She has such a strong artistic voice in each one of her sets that they tell the viewer something about herself. It's rare that someone's work will make you feel like you actually know the artist on a personal level, but Cohen_ does it effortlessly with each set.

You're a self-shot model but you identify yourself as a photographer. How long have you been doing photography? 

There are a few answers to this. My first memory of picking up a camera was when I was 8, my father was taking a shot of a landscape and I said, "No, you're looking in the wrong direction." and took the camera off of him! So I think I've had the instinct for quite a while! I truly started photographing when I was given a digital camera at the age of 12, I spent all my free time taking abstract shots and making digital manipulations. When I was 16 I decided to take it from a hobby to a serious level, got a part-time job for the sole purpose of making money to buy a good camera, and began dedicating myself to making a career from it. 

What do you try to depict through your photography?

Although I sometimes delve into the decadent and sensationalist, I always come back to trying to depict honesty, rawness and vulnerability. Even within my most outrageous self portraits, there's a degree of honesty and its really at its core an abstract representation of an emotion or situation. My heart lies within truly, brutally, inescapably capturing humanity.

How do you usually set up one of your shoots? What is the process you go through to take these self portraits?

I think I've got the self-portraiture gig down to a fine art by now! I set my camera up on a tripod, tether it to my laptop and use the Canon EOS Utility to shoot live. This means I can adjust the focus and all manual settings via the laptop, see what was taken immediately and set the camera to shoot multiple photos at intervals of a few seconds. All this means that I'm not constantly running back to crouch behind the camera and see what's going on, and is how I manage to make compositions and poses that work. I can see exactly what I've just done and that I, for example, need to move a leg slightly and arch my back- and then its a shot that actually looks composed out of more than just luck. 

How and when did you find Zivity? What made you decide to join?

I was on Suicide Girls before Zivity, and was always seeing blogs mentioning it. I asked around and the lovely Scotty Suicide (KateyDee on here) sent me an invite so I could see what it was about for myself. I fell in love, just the idea of people coming together to make art in a space free from judgement and creative restrictions. The calibre of work is so high and so inspirational, I wanted to be a part of it instantly. I never imagined I would be so warmly welcomed, or even noticed at all amongst all the talent!

What is one of the most rewarding things to doing what you do?

A wonderful man from the site once said that it must feel so rewarding to be entirely self made, and its true, it does! I have no one else to put the fault on if a set looks bad- I styled, modelled, photographed and edited, the whole thing is on my shoulders alone! Its all just me. At first this felt like a terrible thing, but now I wouldn't have it any other way. Every set is a labour of love, the ones that took an hour and were just for the hell of it, to the ones that I planned and spent hours preparing, shooting and editing. Aside from that feeling of accomplishment, the best thing would absolutely have to be people loving my photos enough to purchase and frame them. Thanks to Zivity that dream of having someone have my photo hanging on their wall is a reality. That's the best reward I can think of!

What do you like to do when you're not shooting photos?

My days mainly consist of searching for a photography internship so that I can finally receive my BA in photography and thus really get into it as a professional. When I'm not doing that, I'm making countless pots of tea, reading, watching movies and doing pilates. 

You mention a lot of writers in your bio! Who are some authors that have inspired you the most? Why?

As some might have guessed, Leonard Cohen would have to be my major inspiration, in every facet of my life. His poetry and prose are so poignant that I'm often just left in awe of this amazing human! Aldous Huxley rates highly as well, for both his dystopic visions of the future in his novels as well as his inspiring essays. Of course, also rating a mention is the wonderful J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame. She created such a richly magical world of such detail that I consider her not only one of my favourite authors, but one of my favourite people.      

How would you describe this site to others who havent heard of it?

I'd describe it as a creative hub of a community. I'd say its best aspect is that photographers and models get to showcase their work to other creatives, gaining and giving inspiration from and to others. The fans are also integral to the community, because that's who any creative person is making their art for, essentially. All in all, when describing it to others, I generally just say its an awesome community centered around art.

If you haven't already, check out Cohen_ at Zivity and show her some love. It's always great meeting someone with a personal and intelligent view of art and reflect that concept and passion through their work. A huge thanks to her for giving me the opportunity to pick her brain! :)

So we've jumped on the bandwagon and joined Pinterest. I have to say I was skeptical at first, but 10 minutes into signing up I found myself in a wonderland of pinning and manic giggles over board ideas.

We're going crazy over here with our new Pinterest addiction and we're hoping you can help us justify it by following us if you like gorgeous ladies, artist prints, and cool stuff! 

Follow us on Pinterest!