Artistic Nude: dA Policy and You!

Part 1: The Problem
It would seem to me that there are a lot of people here on dA that don't quite have a firm grasp and understanding of dA's policies regarding nudity and the "Artistic Nude" gallery. There is a ton of information in the FAQ section of the site that pertains to nudity and what is/isn't appropriate here on dA, though that information isn't all in one place.

This journal is an attempt on my part to provide one single place where information on dA's nudity policy and AN gallery guidelines can be found. I expect this journal to go through many versions before its final completion, so please bear with me and don't be afraid to ask any questions.


Part 2: Policy - "Pornographic Material"
The phrase "pornographic material" is very specific when it comes to dA. Below is an overview:

FAQ #565: You prohibit the submission of 'pornographic imagery'; what do you consider this to be?

• Masturbation: Hands should not come into contact with genitalia in a manner which is clearly a display of fondling or masturbation.

• Sexual Intercourse: Subjects should not be depicted in a clear display of sexual intercourse. This includes depictions of sexual penetration, oral to genital contact, genital to anal contact, oral to anal contact and may also include certain types of genital to genital contact and oral to breast contact.

• Sexual body fluids (actual or simulated): There should be no depiction of semen or vaginal lubricants.

• Erections: Male subjects may not be depicted with an erection.

• Vaginal or Anal Spreading: Female subjects should not be depicted with their vaginal area manually spread open by hand or manipulated open by any other artificial means. Neither sex should show the anus manually opened in a similar fashion.

• Adult oriented (sexual) toys: "Adult toys" consisting of dildos, strap-ons, vibrators, etc. are not allowed.

Thats it, those are the only things that can be called "porn" here on dA (unless the admins amend/change the FAQ). So unless an image contains one of the above mentioned items, there should be no "art vs porn" bullshit debate. If you submit an image with any of these elements, you cannot use the "but it's art" excuse to try and defend your work. This leads me to the next FAQ entry:

FAQ #305: Is posting 'Adult' oriented artwork alright if I censor it first?

No attempt at self-censoring will allow an otherwise "Adult", obscene or pornographic work to remain in the deviantART galleries. All such works will be removed immediately as they come to the attention of the deviantART staff.

I don't see this happening as much now, but every now and then something will show up where a user has attempted to "censor" something out then get pissed off when the image gets removed. Well, this FAQ entry is for you. It's pretty much straight forward.

Now keep in mind that dA is a private company, and they have the right to make rules about what content is allowed here. Nobody is trying to say that "pornographic" images aren't art, in fact it is my belief that "porn" is a type of art in itself, it just doesn't have a place here on dA. If you are a pornographic artist, there are many other websites out there where you can show your work (none of which i can list here).

Part 3: Miscats
This is another area where the AN gallery (as well as dA as a whole) suffers. For this journal's purpose, i'm only going to talk about miscats regarding the AN gallery.

While there are people on dA that DO in fact make the honest mistake of clicking the wrong gallery to put something in, the AN gallery is more often the victim of deliberate miscats. Lets face it, the AN gallery is the most active section of dA, and people know that! Just the act of putting something in the AN gallery ensures that it will be viewed, and those here for the sake of pageviews, get them every time.

So what other types of miscats do we face in the AN gallery?

• Low Resolution: This is a big one, The ruling used to reside in the Photography gallery description, but was moved to the FAQ system with the release of the new submission process. FAQ #3: Are there restrictions to comments? This says that ALL images in ANY gallery under Photography MUST be at least 400px on ANY side (not just the longest side anymore). The wording was changed to help fight the influx of webcam and cellphone pictures that tend to flood the photography galleries (including the AN gallery). Webcams and cellphones will usually produce a still image around 320x240px, which really does look like crap, no matter how you try to doctor it up in photoshop.

• Non-Nude: A non-nude image being posted in the AN gallery might seem to be a no brainer for a lot of people, yet there are still dozens of non-nude images submitted to the AN gallery each day. Now I'm not talking about the pictures of some fully clothed person, but lingerie shots. If a woman is wearing both panties and a bra, the image isn't a nude. The same goes for male models: if you've got your underwear on, you aren't nude. There is enough debate here to go on for days, and I have dedicated a whole journal to this subject which you can read HERE.

• Photo Manipulations: So you've taken a nude picture, it doesn't contain any "pornography" elements mentioned in Part 2, but it just didn't look right after applying some sharpening or minor curves adjustments. You decide to spice it up with some more detailed photoshop processing, maybe boost the saturation significantly, add in a new background or foreground element, or maybe convert it into a color negative. All these examples belong in the Photo Manipulation gallery and NOT the AN gallery. In the case of transplanting your subject to a different backdrop, if you feel that you did an outstanding job, be proud of it and let people know it is a manip by putting it in the right gallery!

• Snapshots: Another big problem with the AN gallery, so much so that I'm going to dedicate an entire section of this journal to "snapshots". See Part 4 for more info.

Part 4: Snapshots
Boy oh boy! This is a tough one indeed, seeing as dA doesn't define for us what a "snapshot" is exactly, just that they don't belong in the AN gallery. So what is a snapshot? (or more precisely, what will be considered a snapshot for dA's purpose?) While I can't give you an exact answer because I don't speak for dA, I can give you some general guidelines and examples of what has, in the past, been considered a "snapshot"

• Anything taken with a cellphone or a webcam: No matter how good your cellphone may be, dA will almost ALWAYS see any picture taken by a phone as a snapshot. The same goes for webcams. Why? Image quality. Phones and webcams have such small imaging sensors that good detail just can't be retained properly.

• Poor Focus: If you are serious about photographing the nude, you should be able to properly focus the picture. That is not to say that the ENTIRE frame needs to be razor sharp, but there needs to be something in the image (usually the subject or a part thereof) that is in sharp focus.

• Excessive Noise: A little bit of "noise" (or grain if using film) can be a good thing, especially since it can retain detail. However, excessive noise/grain is usually a good indicator of a poor photo. Higher ISO settings (film speeds) produce more noise (grain) and at the higher settings/speeds, aka over ISO 800, can distract the viewer from the image. If you constantly find yourself having to boost the ISO to get a sharp image, chances are you need more light (read below).

• Insufficient Light: This point does NOT mean "subdued" light, but rather the fact that your camera does not have enough light to either focus properly, or use a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the subject. The less light available to your camera, the longer the shutter speed needs to be. The longer the shutter speed, the higher chances of introducing "camera shake" into the image, thus blurring the scene. Most consumer cameras will deal with insufficient light by boosting the ISO when a minimum shutter speed has been exceeded (usually 1/60th sec) while on "auto". This will land you in the point above if the light level is too low.

• Harsh Flash: This is a minor topic, and is very situational, but I thought it should be mentioned anyways. When a subject is against a solid object (such as a wall or backdrop) and a direct flash is used (meaning pointed directly at the subject from where the camera is), the light emitted from the flash will cause a very unnatural shadow to appear behind the subject. This shadow is usually distracting to the image, but can easily be avoided by "bouncing" the light or "diffusing" it. I will not go into the details on how to achieve this as it is not the focus of this journal, but some quick searching on google will give you plenty of information. Another downside of a harsh flash is that it will produce a "red eye" effect in the eyes. Luckily most cameras have a "red eye reduction" flash mode which should be used any time a flash will be pointed towards a person's eyes.

• Clutter: If you shoot indoors, a "cluttered" frame will almost always be seen as a snapshot. I see this a lot when browsing the AN gallery. Someone takes a picture in their bedroom/bathroom/living room and the image is "cluttered" with things like clothes on the floor, parts of appliances (TVs, tables, stereos, fans, etc), wires, or other distractions that have no apparent meaning to the picture. Take the time to clean the area of any such distractions before taking the picture. Doing so will make the image much more appealing to viewers, and will demonstrate that you put some thought into the picture.

• The "Myspace" Effect: I think many people reading this will understand what this means, but for those that need a bit more information, here it is. A self portrait taken by extending your arm and pointing the camera lens towards you. This not only makes the picture repulsive, but also doesn't show much artistic intent. The framing and the focus will usually be off, and there will be an awkwardly placed arm protruding out of the corner of the frame. Instead, use a tripod (or at the very least, a sturdy stand/table/chair) and your camera's self timer feature to take self portraits. There is a reason these images are labeled as "myspace" pics: they belong on myspace (or your dA scraps) and not dA's art galleries.

Part 5: Under the age of 18
DeviantArt is used by people around the world, and each country may have different laws pertaining to the age requirement to view or appear in a nude photo. This, however, is irrelevant because dA is an established business that resides in the United States, and as such, MUST abide by US law.

FAQ #250: The laws of my country differ from those of the United States- which ones apply?

As we are a U.S. based company the laws which govern deviantART are those of the United States of America.

By agreeing to abide by the deviantART Submission Agreement and our Terms of Service you are also agreeing that you will abide by the laws which govern our website.

I've seen many people posting images try to argue this simple fact, and it almost always ends in their account being banned. If you are in a country where there is no law against a person under the age of 18 posing nude, DO NOT post those pictures here on dA, take them elsewhere! The term "nude" when referencing a person under the age of 18 doesn't necessarily mean that person IS nude. Here is the FAQ that covers underage persons on dA:

FAQ #249: Are there restrictions on photographs of teenagers or children?

Any person under the age of eighteen (18) may not legally be depicted nude, partially nude, or in an erotic or other sexually driven manner in any deviation or scrapbook submission.

Official limitations on child/teenage photography;

• No photograph will be allowed to show a penis or vaginal area of any child of any age below the legal limit of eighteen (18).
••This includes infants and children under the age of two.
••There will be no exceptions for 'artistic content'

•No photograph may display a nude minor with an appearance of being age two or older.
••This includes any angle of shot including front, side, back or any other possible viewpoint.
••This prohibition stands regardless of whether breasts or genitalia are visible or not.
••An exception for infants under the age of two with a bare bottom showing may be granted providing that neither penis nor vaginal area is visible. Exceptions are not guaranteed.

•Female children may be shown topless only if they appear to have not yet passed their second birthday.
••No female between the ages of two (2) and eighteen (18) may be depicted topless or implied to be topless in any manner whatsoever.

•Minors below the age of eighteen (18);
••May not be photographed in lingerie or undergarments.
••May not be photographed in any bondage or sadomasochistic scene or manner of dress.
••May not be photographed in any clearly sexual or alluring pose.
•••This applies for both clothed and unclothed photographs.
••May not be photographed in possession of sexual toys, condoms, or any related "adult" materials.

•Efforts to bypass any of these restrictions through the use of transparent clothing, blurring, 'black bars', props or other means of censoring will be considered invalid and inadequate by reviewing staff and will be treated as if these measures were not used at all.

•For minors (primarily teenagers) caught resubmitting nude or erotic content which has been previously removed a Two Week Suspension at minimum will be given on the second offense. If the same minor resubmits similar material a third time an Indefinite Ban will be placed by staff and they will be barred permanently from operating any deviantART account whatsoever.

•Any minor caught creating an account in order to deliberately falsify their age so that they may submit otherwise prohibited erotic content will be placed under an Indefinite Ban and they will be barred permanently from operating any deviantART account whatsoever.

Fin
I know this has been a long journal, but I think that having this information in one place can benefit a lot of people here. If you feel that I've left anything out, or that something needs to be changed, please comment or note me. Hopefully, as more people understand what does/doesn't belong in the AN gallery, we'll see less violation reports being submitted. If not, well then at least I tried


Refrences

FAQ #565: You prohibit the submission of 'pornographic imagery'; what do you consider this to be?
FAQ #23: What are DeviantArt policies on nudity?
FAQ #305: Is posting 'Adult' oriented artwork alright if I censor it first?
FAQ #3: Are there restrictions to comments?
FAQ #242: What are scraps?
FAQ #250: The laws of my country differ from those of the United States- which ones apply?
FAQ #249: Are there restrictions on photographs of teenagers or children?