People called these photos of an artist's daughter 'pornographic'

Wyatt Neumann is a photographer and a father. In 2014 he took his two-year-old daughter Stella on a cross-country road trip, photographing their journey along the way. Neumann captured sunsets and cornfields and, of course, Stella, often donning one of most two-year-old girls' two favorite ensembles: a princess dress and nothing at all.

In the middle of the trip, what the Safari Gallery describes as "a hyper puritanical, neo-conservative group" launched a cyber-attack on Neumann's images, specifically those of Stella. Calling the images "perverse," "sick" and "pornographic," members of the group attempted to remove all traces of them from the web. They successfully prompted Facebook and Instagram to shut down his accounts, and they criticized his artist website as well. While Neumann claims he was open to others expressing their opinions about his work, the "forced censorship" went too far.

"The anonymous public made their opinions about my work," he explained in an interview with The Huffington Post. "It was the actions they took against me, the reality for me was that these people could actually affect my ability to express myself. They took down my Instagram and Facebook; those are huge digital platforms for a photographer. It had a physical effect on my ability to communicate with people. The fact that they had that ability to control my experience in this life made me want to fight back. I really believe that the work is beautiful and {reveals} the innocence of childhood."

source: Article 'People Called These Photos Of An Artist's Daughter 'Pornographic.' And This Was His Response.' by Priscilla Frank; www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/21/wyatt-neumann_n_5683243.html; Huffington Post; Updated 22 August 2014; Original from: 21 August 2014