The Danube is the second-longest river in Europe, flowing from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. In Vienna, Austria, the old Danube is famous for wild swimming, lidos and natural bathing spots. The shore of the New Danube, the Donau insel, is Vienna's nudist playground, and there are FKK areas near the southern and northern end of the island. Here women, men and children of all ages swim, sleep, walk and bathe in harmony and solitude, yet connected in the fact that nudity is completely natural.
After spending my summer photographing several women at the Danube Island, I decided to paint some of the photographs with paint, as a natural censoring, for something so pure and ordinary at the rivers in Austria, that would be considered pornography on social media. Nudity is a heated topic in western society and the situation couldn’t be more paradox: whilst the internet has exposed nudity in all varieties to everyone with access, it is at the same time the biggest censor of our time. Double moral has become a reality; over-sexualized images of women in suggestive poses are not only acceptable but also encouraged, as long as they follow the guidelines. If there is a millimeter of fabric, tape or blurred pixels covering genitals and female nipples, it’s not considered pornographic. An additional tension lies within the medium itself. Currently instagram allows nudity in painting and sculpture, but not in photography. It’s a sign that the female anatomy still has the ability to horrify and threaten, and it sends a message that women should be ashamed and apologetic for their body and automatically associate nudity with sex.
