He Prospers. And Provokes.

You were born and raised in Boston. Did the city have a big influence on your interest in the arts?

A tremendous amount. I was surrounded by museums, exhibitions, theater, and all kinds of art opportunities.

When did you begin to view photography as an art form?

Around 1971. After I had finished three seasons of Star Trek and two seasons of Mission: Impossible, I actually considered changing careers. I went to school at UCLA to study photography.

Where did the idea for your current exhibit and book, The Full Body Project, come from?

I was showing some of my earlier work at a seminar, and a lady approached me. She was around 300 pounds. She said: "I'm a different body type, and I'm a model. Would you be interested in working with me?" She came to our home in Northern California where I have a studio, and my wife and I photographed her there, nude. Her body took on shapes like marble sculpture. I was put in touch with a group of women in San Francisco who were part of a burlesque group known as the Fat-Bottom Revue. These were all very large ladies. My original idea was to replicate some rather famous images shot by other photographers who had used fashion models.

These women were obviously not self-conscious.

Not in the least.

It seems the project turned into a commentary on our obsession with thinness and beauty.

The average American woman weighs 25 percent more than the models who are posing in the clothes they are trying to sell, and most women will never achieve that body weight or size. In our culture, there's this worshiping of the thin body, and I became fascinated with that idea.

So what has been the response from overweight people?

They are very excited. The first public showing of the exhibition of the works will be in Northampton, at R. Michelson Galleries [beginning Thursday]. Some of the models are coming to the event.

Any response from feminists?

I suppose some will say they are uncomfortable with this. Natalie Angier, a feminist and a Pulitzer Prize winner, has written an introduction to the book. I think a lot of women will find the book liberating.

Has your celebrity status helped or hindered your acceptance as a photographer?

Both. It's complicated, but I'm referred to in the press now not simply as the actor or the Spock character, but as an actor-director-photographer.

If I were to visit Bill Shatner's home, would I see any Leonard Nimoy photographs on the walls?

Yes, as a matter of fact. I don't know how many, but Bill has purchased some of my work. There's one of a nude lying on her back with her arms folded across her chest.