With all the fuss about certain provocative children photographs that has been going down lately, I feel that everyone should have a chance to share their own view, no matter how insignificant it might seem. I am not a photographer. I am not a mother. But, I do have an opinion. Art deserves to be talked about. Artists deserve to be talked about. And pedophilia disguised in art definitely deserves to be talked about.
There’s a big difference between photography and pornography. Yet, some so-called artistic photographers have found a way to walk a thin line between these two, never crossing it completely, but always pushing it further than the last time. If it is now okay to take staged photos of 11-year olds in stripper boots, booty shorts, holding a cigarette half-naked in a pickup truck, or holding a whip while wearing a mask (50 Shades of Gray much?), what are we to expect next? Maybe some 8-year olds staged to look around in a sex shop, pointing at what they would like to get for Christmas? This seems over the line? Sure, but the line was way, way easier to cross in the past. With the way things are going, it might become way, way harder to cross in the future and this photograph of an 8-year old in a sex shop might turn into art, justified with “children having the right to discover themselves at a young age”. Oh, come on… Why don’t you just make toddlers pose in brothels and get it all over with??
Every photographer sets the scene, the mood and determines the pose of their models. And that’s fine. As long as everyone is comfortable and AWARE of what they are doing and posing for. According to the scenes that a certain popular child photographer sets, kids dream of marijuana being legalized. What’s that? Puppies, ponies, tooth fairies and Santa Clause? That is soooo old school. Pot, booze and $100 bills tucked in girls’ shorts are the new unicorns and Easter bunnies. Yeah, right. The tragedy is that these children are completely unaware of the messages that their photographs are sending. The bigger tragedy, however, is the fact that the photographer and the parents are completely aware. And yet, the parents choose to let their child be sexualized for the sake of popularity and the photographer takes advantage of that. Smooth, I must say. I wonder what those kids will feel when they look at the photographs far down the road, as formed adults. They’ll probably be “grateful” to their parents for letting them be a part of such “beautiful art”…
Hiding behind art… Smart… But, not smart enough. Let me ask you a question. Who thinks that sexualizing children the way some photographers out there do is art? #meneither
People are sensitive when it comes to children and their innocence. Some adults went through horrible experiences as children. So, when you strip kids off their innocence, and their clothes for that matter, there are going to be consequences. Backlash, criticism… This kind of “art form” doesn’t even deserve that. Just let these “artists” sink into oblivion. Do not share their photographs for the world to see how it should not be done, do not comment; do not give them negative popularity. Instead, choose to share, as I did, photographs of children being children. This is what child staged photographers should be about! #letkidsbekids
Here's the link to some beautiful art featuring children: https://www.facebook.com/LiliaAlvaradoPhotography
https://www.instagram.com/liliaalvaradophotography/
