Nudity is Evil but Sex Isn’t
Samantha and I made a website using Photocrati (a WordPress plug-in) quite awhile ago where we showcased our nudes in the landscape fine-art photography. Photocrati is specifically designed for photographers and is a great plug-in to produce a good-looking, functional website. It’s user-friendly and great for photographers who know little about HTML or coding (like us). We built the website in a day and loved the results. Photocrati highly recommends Bluehost (based in Utah) as the hosting company to use for photographers and we went with that option. The interface between the Photocrati and Bluehost was seamless and we could not believe how easy it was to make a website!
All went while until about 2 weeks ago when Bluehost sent us a note that they were going to close our site down because of ‘adult content’ (specifically nudity) which is not allowed in their terms and conditions (we admit to not having read these terms closely and missed the part about zero tolerance for nudity). We just assumed that a host of photography sites would have no problem with things like fine art nudes, or boudoir photography because these types of photography are common.
In discussions with Bluehost they told us that a women in a bikini is OK (no matter how sexually provocative), but nudity is forbidden. So we could post a shot of a buxom woman, in lingerie with a gun and stilettos stepping on another woman in a back alley but we can’t post an image like the one below. Hmmmm….
So we have had to move our Gaia Nudes Gallery over to this gallery page on my website… check it out and see if you think any of the work is offensive.
If you are planning a photo website with fine art nudes then don’t sign up with Bluehost — of course if you want to post your dominatrix lingerie photos, then Bluehost is happy with that! I guess sex is good, nudity is bad.
©Darwin Wiggett - Nude in Utah
Darwin Wiggett 
August 13, 2011 at 5:17 AM
aww… that is just too bad! I don’t find your nudity photo offensive at all, Darwin. On the contrary, your vision are very artistic. I’m impress on how you manage to include (beautifully) nude subject in those wonderful landscape. Love it!
For the website, I was just thinking of starting one, thanks for the info! I’m okay, I don’t so nude (yet). 😉
Congrats to both of you!
August 13, 2011 at 5:54 AM
Hi, Darwin –
Certainly nothing offensive to me, just lovely artistic images.
I couldn’t find the shot of the lingerie-clad woman with gun & stilettos, though – can you post a link?
;^D
– Jack
August 13, 2011 at 7:08 AM
I ran into that very issue many years ago when I was doing portraits and boudoir / nudes.
It amazes me that on tv or in movies you can see people getting chopped up, blown up, tortured and all the rest, but show a little bit of nudity and all hell breaks loose! It is the human body for pete’s sakes!
Your nudes are very artistic Sam & Darwin. I am sure you won’t let a bad experience with one company spoil your artistic visions!
August 13, 2011 at 4:52 PM
Go figure.
August 13, 2011 at 5:29 PM
We all live in a Theatre of the Absurd.
This is an except from a magazine article out of Utah, a state my wife and I frequent for it’s beauty and it’s geological richness, I means it’s been there since the Permian, a lot stuff happened in that there geology. Anyway, the following excerpt is indicative of many, many places in the USA, and the World at large and has been for some time. But you know that.
“The Rev. France Davis doesn’t want any nude Adam-and-Eve figures in his Salt Lake City church — even if they were painted by the famed Michelangelo himself.
Davis is unequivocal in his view that there is nothing inspiring or redeeming about naked figures in religious art.
“Since we sinned, as it says in the book of Genesis, the human body has certain parts that are private,” says the outspoken pastor at Calvary Baptist Church. “We should keep them for more intimate settings like people’s bedrooms.”
Davis is hardly alone in that view.”
Darwin, I’ve hit the same wall you guys have. It’s hard to fight. You just kinda have to shake your head and move on, kinda like the creationist movement, the anti-Darwin crowd. It’s getting out of hand. I mean this kind of none-sense is still happening at the same time the Large Hadron Collider has the potential to re-write the Standard Model of Physics.
Your work is terrific. the Nude in Utah is wonderful; the contrast of texture form and shape. Very nice. And yes, in my opinion it’s Art.
August 13, 2011 at 7:58 PM
Photobucket has the same problem, BTW. Couple of years ago Live Journal deleted a group account because it had an icon of a woman breastfeeding–it was a support group for breastfeeding mothers. WTF? W. T. F. ???
August 13, 2011 at 9:40 PM
Like Craig, when I arrived in the US from England in the mid 1970’s, I was amazed at the attitude over what was appropriate fare for TV. No nudity, but lots of violence, shooting, you name it.
In England in those days “nudity” had to be “appropriate” to the program.
Keep up the good work and thanks for expanding on Bluehost’s policies.
Interesting name for a site!!!
August 14, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Beautiful picture!!! I am not surprised to read what you just shared Darwin. The things you see and the things you hear… but this type of image is ofensive to blind and deaf sytems that understand the purpose of sex but not the purpose of art… So, where are all the other photos???
August 14, 2011 at 7:40 AM
Piper Mackay had something like this happen on facebook recently. She posted a photograph of a young woman from Africa, a stunning piece, but facebook removed it because of an uncovered breast. I didn’t even notice it until she reposted an airbrushed version.
Some people are looking for sexual content in everything and missing the reality of beauty in nature. I see the blend of natural beauty and beauty of the human form when I look at your photograph above. There will always be people judging and claiming your work is offensive… they’re the same people that sit at home and watch mind numbing television.
If one door closes, it’s time to find another one that’s open. Keep working Darwin and Samantha!
August 14, 2011 at 9:57 AM
Very very artistic image, I have seen this image before in your website. They are just so different and blend in perfectly to the background.
August 14, 2011 at 7:50 PM
Why in the world did you put this on this site? My respect for you as an artist just just went down to nothing. I have enjoyed looking at this site for several years now. It will now be off my favorites. What a way to ruin such a beautiful place with filth. You know, there is a good reason why you were asked to leave, because most normal people do not view this garbage as art but pornography. Would you let your childen view this “art?” If you have any character at all you would say, no. The human body is a beautiful design but it is only appreciated this way between a husband and his wife, not for everyone else to see. This is degrading to women. I know, I know here it comes…I am just a closed minded, ignorant, religous zealot who just needs to wake up to reality. The reality is that this world is full of filthy perverts like you and everyone that is stroking your enlarged ego in this feed. I don’t care about what you think, just like you won’t care what I think but you will care what God thinks at the end of your short life (100 years is short compared to eternity). Live it up with your beer and your vain life because that is all you have. Don’t worry about responding to this comment nor your little constituents because I won’t come back to view this trash again.
August 14, 2011 at 8:33 PM
Hi Keith, Obviously we’ll disagree but I appreciate that you stand up for your convictions and most of all I appreciate that you left your real name and website and did not hide behind anonymity – usually people with contrary comments hide their identities. I respect you for standing by your values. Darwin
August 14, 2011 at 9:40 PM
Great reply man. That’s about as close as I’m going to get to stroking your ego…..
August 14, 2011 at 11:47 PM
Oh gosh… You and Samantha’s nude gallery is stunning. I think the images are simply beautiful.
August 15, 2011 at 10:04 AM
One should redefine the word “obscenity”. Obviously, my understanding of that term does not coincide with that of ridiculously prudish bigots.
Congratulations on your work. Go on!
August 15, 2011 at 11:48 AM
I note that Vistek has had a few annual photo competitions but I noted that no nudity and pornographic images etc etc terms were applied to limit the application competiton. I do not recall the exact words but you get the idea. I was miffed and contacted the Toronto location and spoke directly to the person who set the rules of the competition. I made it very damn clear that many of HIS store customers did shoot art related nudes and to be lumped in with pornography was not only an ignorant insult but would prevent my choosing Vistek as one of my suppliers. They had the same rules the next year and so whoever approves these rules is some sort of retro Puritan and I will NOT support a company that lumps me and many of you into pornography for working with the nude and I suggest that all of you consider who you give your money to when you are lumped together with porn for treating the human body as a beautiful form..I thus, purchase all of my pro equipment anywhere but at Vistek. They are fools for being narrow and ignorant and it turned me off their company for good.
August 15, 2011 at 12:12 PM
The crappy customer service and ‘holier than thou’ attitude turned me off of Vistek years ago. I use The Camera Store in Calgary. Service is great, selection outstanding and they actually supported and hosted our “Nudes in the Landscape’ photo seminar.
August 30, 2011 at 1:48 PM
Darwin,
If you have issues with the Calgary store I would like to hear about them, please email me Holly customerservice@vistek.ca we welcome your comments and suggestions and will are striving each and every day to improve upon our service.
Best,
Holly Thomas
Customer Relations
Vistek
August 31, 2011 at 7:55 AM
As an artist myself, I understand your feelings, however, I must look at this from a business perspective because as a retail store we have a responsibility to the general public. Our clientele range from the basic consumer who visits our store with their family to buy a simple camera, to the pro photographer outfitting their entire studio. We must be sensitive and responsible to all our customers regardless of age, sex, background, or beliefs.
Our desire and responsibility to the public is to provide a safe, comforting environment for all that enter our stores and visit our website. As you know, during the course of our contests, images that are submitted are posted at random on our website and the winning images are featured in both our website and in our store galleries, both are open to the public.
We respect fine art nude photography and we apologize that our contest rules gave you the impression that we do not. I have asked our Marketing team to review the rules and adjust accordingly since the information is not clear.
I hope this helps you understand our position in this matter.
Best,
Holly Thomas
Customer Relations
Vistek
August 15, 2011 at 3:15 PM
Thanks for the thoughtful comments, everyone. It is a sad day when people in our culture are so uneducated as to be unable to distinguish between attempts at artistic expression and attempts at pornographic distribution.
August 16, 2011 at 7:33 AM
Looks like Jesus’ General picked up my retweet of this article, Darwin! If you’re not familiar with his blog, it can be disconcerting at first. He writes in a faux theocratic right-wing voice. It’s meant to be satire. You can read it here:
http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2011/08/jesus-cries-when-you-get-nekid-in.html
All the best,
Edie
Former life model for art students
August 16, 2011 at 10:23 AM
An absolutely beautiful photograph. And though you scolded Jesus’ General you may find that he’s sent some traffic your way. (Like me.) Now I’m off to look at more of you work.
August 19, 2011 at 11:27 AM
Hey, this is Erick, founder of Photocrati.
Darwin, I just happened to come across this. I’m sorry to hear you had this issue with Bluehost after following our recommendation. We’re genuine in our recommendation of Bluehost as a quality hosting company, but when I saw this I did a bit of research and Bluehost does have a very strong policy on these issue.
I just wanted to let you know I’ve updated my personal blog post recommending Bluehost so this doesn’t happen to other photographers. I appreciate you bringing it to my attention.
Separate from that, I wanted to add that your imagery is beautiful! Very creative.
Best of luck and success to you,
Erick
August 19, 2011 at 11:57 AM
Hi Erick,
We really love Photocrati and recommend it to others all the time, it would be nice if you had an alternative recommendation to Bluehost for those photographers who might do some fine art nude work.
Keep up the great work and thanks for responding to this post!
Darwin
January 25, 2012 at 10:08 PM
I’m glad I read this. I had thought of BlueHost…guess not!
May 10, 2012 at 8:37 AM
hostgator…
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