Nudity is not porn.

I strongly believe in this.

Nudity and pornography are not the same thing. Naked bodies are not necessarily sexual. You have no power over me just because I am showing skin.

For me this topic goes deep and is quite emotional – I started to love nude art and nude photography when I was a teenager, those women captured by Peter Lindbergh, Herb Ritts and Helmut Newton completely fascinated me. Of course they look absolutely gorgeous, but it was not only about that – each photograph was a piece of art to me. And still is. It is not about the nakedness, but rawness, emotion and a sensitive vulnerability. They appear fragile but still carry so much power within themselves. That controversy caught me from the beginning.

A couple of years ago I started doing nude photography, with different photographers in different sceneries, but always with the love for the art itself. Never with a sexual connotation to it or to fulfill a certain job – but purely to enjoy the meetup and the results of it. And I was proud to be part of the art I adored for such a long time.

Then, in the beginning of 2023 the internet proofed once more to be the random place it simply is – one social media post, a collaboration with a photographer from Berlin, went viral. It wasn’t even (censored) nude photography, but the perfect in between setup – enough skin to get a gigantic amount of reactions from male users to please the algorithm, but still covered enough to not violate any rules. It’s like – show skin, but please – no female nipples. Be sexy – but please, don’t be a slut. Wear tight outfits with big cleavage, but don’t you dare to sit naked on a beach, even when you can’t see anything besides legs and shoulders… That is too explicit, too sexual.

First my account got boosted – then shadow banned. Within four weeks I gained 28k (96% male) and received every kind of message from all around the globe. From date offers to marriage proposals, fetish & masturbation requests up to pictures & videos of any kind. I think I don’t need to get more into detail. Some pictures got illegally copied and uploaded on porn pages, even though they are clearly not looking like porn content – they simply show a woman showing skin. A woman having boobs and nipples. A woman being comfortable within herself. A woman existing. They simply show me.

Women get sexualized in every possible way, it doesn’t even matter, how much or what you are wearing. It’s just often used as an excuse then – oh, but she wanted to be touched, she was wearing tight shorts; she was not wearing a bra so she’s basically asking for it etc. Honestly I got catcalled in any outfit already, during winter and summer time, being with friends or alone. I don’t have a single female friend who hasn’t had experiences like that. And I also don’t need to gender when I’m talking about who’s sending inappropriate messages or pictures on social media.

Don’t get me wrong, I totally agree that there should be limits – if you are searching for pornographic content, instagram & co are not the right platform for you. But I think our society has a huge problem defining what’s sexual content and what is not. A mother breastfeeding her child may show her naked boob – but it’s not sexual. A woman swimming naked in the ocean – is not sexual. A man walking topless on the beach – is not sexual and totally normal. We are still drawing a clear line between this nipple is totally fine to show in public, but this one belongs on a porn page – it doesn’t make sense to me, it never did and it’s not fair.

Please, let’s change this, let’s make it better, as a society. And please stop sexualizing every piece of female skin. Let me be me, without me fearing the consequences. Being naked is not always sexual, nudity is no porn – it is our earthly shell, we as humans are naked underneath our clothes, everyone is. You can be naked, just because you are, nothing else, as simple as that. I want to continue my way of expression, my joy of creating, my sense of art & beauty – and I will not let others take this away from me.

With love,
Agnes V

In frame and words: @agnes_verano