Arvida Bystrm is a 25-year-old Swedish artist, currently living in Los Angeles. She has a background in photography and modeling, and has appeared in andwritten for a wide variety of publications, including Dazed & Confused, NYLON and Lula Magazine.
Molly Soda, a 28-year-old from New York, is an artist working across a variety of digital platforms on the subjects of feminism. She was named byComplex Magazine as one of the most importantartists of 2013.
Together, they have about 230,000 followers on Instagram.
In 2015, Bystrm and Soda discovered they shared a mutual frustration: they both had a significant number ofInstagram posts taken down by the platform without explanation.Can we make a ceremony for all banned IGposts? Bystrm saidon Twitter backin September 2015, towhichSoda responded, We should make a book. Two years later, Pics or It Didnt Happenwas born, featuring hundreds ofphotographs that were once banned from Instagram, with some of the authors shots too.
Instagrams Guidelines prohibit violent, nude, partially nude, discriminatory,unlawful, infringing, hateful, pornographic, or sexually suggestive photos. Unsurprisingly, thesepolicies have been a source of tension and debate for many creatives who use the platform as a means of self-expression. So whenBystrm and Sodaputout an open call to submit censored images, the response was overwhelming.
We had to do a lot of sorting, Soda said, acknowledging that most submissions came from friends or friends of friends. However, the authors dont think any of the submissions were fake, and luckily didnt receive any absurdlyshocking ones either. So Bystrmand Soda selected pictures they thought lookeddifferent from other submissions, extraordinary in getting taken down, or just photos we thought were awesome and deserved some kind of platform. They also preferred photos taken with a cell phone and immediately uploaded, ones that capturedthe real vibe of Instagram.
The authors dont want their book to be seen as a book against censorship, nor as a book curatedby people who want to do whatever theyplease, or believe a society without moralswould be a better place. Its also not a how-to guide on feminism.Bystrmand Soda simply describe their publication as a collection of photostaken by people with a range of conflictingviews.
A debate about content moderationwho is doing it, and how does it happenwas one important motivation forthe book. Content moderators are supposed to act as arbiters of good taste and social norms,applying their own sensibilities to andthrough those of the platform. But how realistic (or subjective) is that? On another level, Bystrmand Soda want to getpeople thinking about todays digital and artistic culture.What gets removed from online, is what gets removed from history.Our minds eventually get shaped by what is allowed and what isnt, and then we subconsciously adapt to that. Even Instagrams layout us designed to make people think in certain ways! saidBystrm.
In a way, Bystrmand Soda feel Instagram and its guidelines reflect the mindset of todays society. Its a complicated issue, Soda admits, but it does say a lot about which bodies, what type of clothing or what kinds of posing are considered to be acceptable. Just likeInstagram, the world in general, especially with teens, also comes withvery vague guidelines,' Bystrm adds.
Do they think the guidelines are discriminatory toward women? Bystrm repeats its the world in general. Its sexualizing womens bodies. Its discriminating in a certain way, I guess.And Instagram is just trying to do what they think most people want, which might as well be censorship! But maybe this book will help the discussion about how bodies can or cant be shown.
When you look at most of the pictures with Instagramsguidelines in the back of your mind, youcan usually find a reason why most of the books pictures were taken down. But for some, its downright bizarre. Like@isaackariuki.jpg, for example (see below).The artist who took it told me it came with a caption that, for someone with Islamophobic thoughts, probably came across as violent, Soda and Bystrmexplain. But it wasnt. We could have used the same caption to talk about the internet or even as a title for this book, but because it was put under a woman in a hijab, someone chose to read it completely different.
That was the most bizarre example of a take-down. Most of the other ones, obviously, showed bodies, and could be interpreted, by some, as sexual. I think there are a few surprises, but I think that one is just the most controversial. Why? Because its really-really not sexual.
Instagram ultimately didnt really cooperate with the book, but that never wasBystrmand Sodas intention. I think certain people at Instagram definitely know that we made this book, but were not really interested in Instagrams reaction, Bystrm explains. Yeah, thats not the point, Soda adds. Also, who is Instagram? A lot of people see Instagram as this one persona that you cant really talk to. But Instagram actually has how many people working for them?
Pics or It Didnt Happen: Images Banned From Instagram, published by Prestel, came out in the UK as a hardcover on March 1 and will be available in the US April 27. You can pre-order it now via Amazon for $17.36, a 30% discount from the recommended retail price.
Originally posted here:
Exploring Modern Day Censorship Through Banned Instagram Photos (NSFW) - Resource Magazine
