Mon 03 June 2019:
Dozens of nude models protested against the Facebook and Instagram ban on female nipples with New York City gathering that was coordinated by controversial artist Spencer Tunick.
Other photos show the models standing in a group gripping the signs as Tunick captures every moment. In April, Tunick put out a call for an army of models to join him in New York City at a top secret location to hold the demonstration. Details of the protest were kept secret until Sunday when the models gathered outside the Alamo, the Astor Place Cube. The protest came about after Facebook and Instagram banned photographic representations of the nude body. Both social media platforms only allow nudity in depictions of paintings and sculpture. They do not allow nude photos.
But the problem is social media is where many artists share their work, with Instagram being the most popular. According to #WeTheNipple, social media ‘has dramatically increased artists’ ability to reach–and build–their audiences. Unless their medium is photography and their subject is the body’. ‘The nudity ban prevents many artists from sharing their work online. It particularly harms artists whose work focuses on their own bodies, including queer and gender-nonconforming artists, and the bodies of those in their communities,’ their website reads. #WeTheNipple and artists like Tunick are calling on both social media platforms to ‘create an exception to their nudity restrictions to allow for art in the medium of photography’. ‘Platforms like Instagram allow up-and-coming artists, and all artists without access to traditional methods of distribution, to reach global audiences on a scale unimaginable to earlier generations,’ the organization said. Though there are photos of barely covered breasts all over social media, it is still a big no-no for women to show their nipples. However, photos of male nipples are fine. Tunick is known for his controversial photo shoots that make statements across the world. He has created similar en masse nude art installations in several iconic locations.
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