To think the photos aren’t appropriate/too revealing for college work

[ThatsMyPenguin]

DS is 18, he’s in his second year at college doing an Art and Design course, one of the units is all photography based. He’s loving it.
As part of the unit they need to create a mini portfolio of some portraits, landscapes and still life images. There seems to be a fair amount of creative control. He wants to be a photographer so this unit is important to him.

Last night he was working on the computer downstairs and I was looking at his images (he was editing them).
He has taken some pictures of an old school friend (currently 17) in lingerie. They are quite tastefully done (I won’t post them here as like I said they seem inappropriate to me).
Some have been done to look like she is laying on a bed I think and the placement of her hands make it seem quite sexual, another is from behind and the lingerie doesn’t provide much coverage of her behind so that seems quite inappropriate. He’s taken pictures of her which aren’t revealing too, focused more on her face etc. They are much better but he is insisting he will be fine to use a combination and it’s “art”. They are well done I just don’t think it’s appropriate to take pictures like that of a 17 year old!! His college tend to display some of the work too so I’d be surprised if they allow it, DS says they are fine with it but admits they don’t know she is 17.

AIBU to say pictures of this nature aren’t appropriate considering they are for uni and she’s not 18?

As he's clearly decided you know nothing and are 'close minded, when in fact you are wise to the world men and telling it like it is. He thinks he is cool, progressive and edgy, so could you present your argument against the idea as it's boring and predictable for a young man to present what he pretends are 'arty and tasteful' photos of a young woman? The college will have seen it all before, as we all have. Plus, does he really want to be considered a sleaze just as he's starting out? That might limit his career (and relationship) options somewhat.
Another angle is that he should care more about his friend, the girl in the shots (how did he convince her to do this?) Imagine she's interviewing for a job in the future, her prospective employer googles her and finds these images online. I highly doubt their first thought would be, 'these are beautifully shot, such good composition'.

I agree, he could have done a mix of photos with the girl and then similar posed photos with a bloke. Then there would be no sexual connotations being made. The male and female form.

At least he's backtracking now OP and might be learning something from the experience.

If he's serious about pursuing photography, he'll probably gain more from his course by refining his photography technique and taking high quality photos than trying to take semi-nudes of peers and tangle himself up in word vomit about why his semi-nudes are different to the other semi-nudes of women.
It's a right of passage for teens to get into various isms and how they're misunderstood/doing something groundbreaking/not like the boring old farts who came before them, but part of growing up is going to involve realising that some of that is the foolishness of youth.

His tutor was in and out of the studio while he was taking photos of a 17 year old in her underwear?? I bet he was.
Seriously this gets worse - if your son wants to be a photographer understanding the law around this is pretty important. His personal opinion is not.

I think it’s good your son has reevaluated this, I studied photography at college and one of my friends did a lovely series of self portraits of himself in underwear/states of undress with editing to make him into an almost fantasy-type character and our teacher had to rein him in a little as they were being exhibited publicly and even though they were of himself he hadn’t really factored in his age. All the photos we shot in the portrait modules tended to just be of each other, but we weren’t allowed to be excessively revealing. I kind of realised why when my friend and I were on duty looking after our exhibition (it was in an empty shop in a town centre) and a local well-known creep stopped by and asked where ‘the nudes of us’ were. So grim.

And his own mother came on here trying to justify this, yet it didn't cross her own mind or scream out to her that this isn't appropriate??

So does minimalist have to mean underwear or very little clothing?

Photos of a male the same age as the girl would still have been illegal if they hadn't turned 18. The sex of the model uses is irrelevant, it's their age and the style of the photos.

did you even read the thread title or the first post?

she's not trying to justify it, she's explained what her son was thinking. She thinks it was inappropriate!

This is illegal. So no. Absolutely not.

In addition to all the other comments, he's not being very creative is he? The content sounds very clichéd. There are many ways of the human form, in all its variations. Yet he's gone for the least original way of doing so.

I don't know how any 18 year old can be so oblivious about the laws about taking, making and sharing images.

It's been all over the bloody news for ages. Just last week i think BBC were were on about the problems of kids taking and sending pics of each other ect. and how it's ILLEGAL.

Where the hell was the college on this?

Even my NINE year old's year - yr 5 !!! - is being coached this week at school to understand.

And as for being ''different with his art'' .... blimey. Really? Pictures of half naked attractive women is ''different''? You didn't shoot that idea down?

I'm eyerolling so hard my eyeballs are in danger of falling out the back of my head OP.

As a photographer myself, I'd recommend that your son gives the processed images to the girl and deletes all raw and edited images of her in underwear.
Email her stating he's done this and carry on with his work having learnt a lesson.
Best of luck to him although I'd be very careful of planning a full career in photography. He should Google photographers in his local area and he'll find they're coming out of the woodwork.

Oh op, this sounds so dodge and honestly if it was my daughter I would go nuts. I think even if the images are not intended to be sexual this could really blow up on your son. He might be trying to be arty but she is still 17 and nothing changes that. I wish you luck if her parents find out. And the thing is even if it is ok by the college that does not mean there will not be fall out!

It’s over 50 years ago, I was a teenager and a boyfriend used some similar photos taken of me in a college exhibition of his artwork. The tutor thought they were great. I went into the exhibition after it closed with a pair of scissors and removed all that showed me.

As PP’s have clearly stated, distributing sexual images of an under 18 year old is illegal under any circumstances. He needs to destroy the photos and they can arrange another photo shoot when she’s over 18 if she wants to (although I also think someone should have a serious talk with her about how images like this can resurface and how she would deal with it, if when she is 40, someone finds them and sends copies to her colleagues…)

He's just messaged from college, the tutor has said they aren't appropriate if she is under 18 and he should delete them. He's going to send them to the girl first so her time wasn't wasted - I've warned him against this, he says she wants them.
He's rescheduled with her for next week and is going to re do them.

And I also agree that if this was my daughter I would be reporting your son, the college and the tutor to the local safeguarding team.

Have you made it absolutely clear that if he sends them to her he is breaking the law and is career as a photographer will be over before it has begun?!

I’d be reporting them all to the police. Let them all try and talk themselves out of child porn (filmed on college grounds!) charges.

I've suggested that he reschedule for after her 18th as sending her them would be illegal but he's insisting it will be fine and they are of her.
I don't see an issue with her wanting the pictures for herself if they make her feel good/confident but should definitely be rearranged for after her 18th - not sure I can force him to do anything though.

Oh no, how embarrassing it would be to convey that you are only semi literature on the internet 😄

Well, if you don’t mind him risking ending up on the sex offenders register and the consequences that will have on his life….

Just to note, child sex offences on his record means he can never do most careers involving children and many careers that don’t. They will always come up on a enhanced background check.

Edited to say: she doesn’t have to make the complaint. Anyone who knows about the pictures can do it and her consent is irrelevant. In this case, I can see her parents going straight to the police. I would, particularly with the tutor involvement - two adults, one in a position of authority using college resources to take lingerie shots of my underage daughter (which is how it comes across with the tutor actually coming in during the session)? I’d be at the police station asap.

Well tbh it sounds like he has learnt an important lesson. He will get there with the thinking that young ladies in underwear is new and subversive- perhaps he needs to think of using an older model if he wants to actually do something different?!? He is clearly just seeing the obvious beauty, rather than going deeper. From an artistic point of view he needs to see more.
Definitely underwear on a 17 year old is a big no no.

THreaten him with the police. ANd be prepared to go through with it.

He is bout to commit a crime. Call the college and tell them he is not deleting them.