Namibian artists are disappointed by the removal of artistic nudes they have shared on Instagram, saying the laws and regulations of the platform do not apply equally to everyone.
According to the community guidelines of Instagram, despite people who might want to share nude images that are artistic or creative in nature, for a variety of reasons, they do not allow nudity on Instagram.
“This includes photos, videos and some digitally-created content that shows sexual intercourse, genitals and close-ups of fully-nude buttocks. It also includes some photos of female nipples. But photos of post-mastectomy scarring and women actively breastfeeding are allowed. Nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK, too,” the guidelines stated.
Andrew Ingo, a popular photographer in the country, said the guidelines are sort of biased as not all nude pictures are removed, which is unfair to those who want to share their artistic work with the world.
“I know there are people who do not understand art while some are purely jealous of what others are doing, which is why they report our work and they get removed but sometimes, Instagram does not remove nudes of international artists or nudists, which is unfair to us,” Ingo lamented that their work as photographers is not taken seriously.
Ndamononghenda Loth, who is also a local nudist, complained over the same issue, saying social media are the only platforms where they can create awareness about body positivity and expose their work.
She said it is heartbreaking to see their content being removed from Instagram even after putting so much effort into their work.
“I drove 300km from my hometown to go and shoot in the Himbaland where I shot a beautiful picture of a beautiful and powerful Himba woman. I posted it on Instagram and it got deleted. It broke my heart because we do not do this for fun and there is more to explore and it is very unfortunate that we might be a little prescripted,” said local photographer, Vicky Sheelongo, with tears rolling down her cheeks.
Sheelongo explained that they create stories to show and tell the world who they are and because they are passionate about where they come from and where they are headed. She said they invest their time, money and effort in creating art and people should acknowledge their work.
By the time of going to print, Instagram had not replied to questions posed to them.
– ashikololo@nepc.com.na