You’re free to go topless at the beach—but not on Instagram. Ever wonder why?

By That Arnold, for HEATWAVE.

Let’s Talk About It (Even If No One Else Wants To)

There’s something strange that happens when you tell people you photograph naked women.

It’s not always judgment. Sometimes it’s silence. That weird, uncomfortable silence from people who aren’t prudish or conservative, but who just… don’t want to talk about it. You see it in their face: “Okay, cool, but let’s talk about literally anything else.”

I’ve felt that silence many times. And I’ve also seen something just as strange—something that happens after the shoot. A girl will be radiant in front of the camera, completely topless, playful, confident, enjoying the moment. We review the photos together and she’s excited. Then, later, something shifts. Suddenly it’s “Can you censor that one?” or “I don’t think I can post these.” Not because she changed her mind about the photos—but because the internet changed her mind about herself.

Bodies in the Sun vs. Pixels on a Screen

We live in a world where the female nipple is banned—but only online.

I’ve been living in Spain for almost a decade now. You see topless women enjoying the sun at virtually every beach. It’s practically impossible not to see nipples while you’re lying in your chair under an umbrella, drinking a cold beer. And that’s just a regular beach. There are countless nude beaches where you’ll find kids building sandcastles next to old men with sunburned penises and gorgeous girls tanning with everything out. No one flinches. No one stares. It’s just... life. Bodies in the sun. Freedom.

But online? A nipple triggers an immediate shutdown. A topless photo—even in a totally non-sexual context—becomes something we’re told we have to censor. At the beach, it’s totally fine to lie down topless next to a family of five. But post that same beach selfie to your IG Stories? Your account might get deleted before you’ve even finished wiping the sunscreen off your screen.

How did we end up here?

A Strategy, Not a Standard

Platforms like Instagram have created a culture where this kind of censorship feels normal. But it’s not. It’s just a strategy—a tool that helps a company make more money through advertising. And hey, I get that. Money runs the world. Sex and money, honestly. We all play that game—including me. The problem isn’t that Meta wants to make money. The problem is when we start to believe that their rules are the rules. That hiding the female nipple is not just a business decision—but a moral one.

What I See in the Lens

Because here’s what I see when I shoot: I see beauty. I see a woman playing with her body, expressing herself. I see laughter, power, joy. Not shame. Not vulgarity. Just freedom.

I talked about this recently with Pablo Alonso (a.k.a. Bilbofoto), in an interview we published on here as well. He said that sometimes, after a nude shoot, the girls go home feeling amazing—proud of what they created. But then someone in their environment says something, or gives them a look, or just stays silent… and that joyful feeling starts to collapse.

That silence again. Loud, heavy, invisible—but very real.

Some People Undress to Be Seen. Others Don’t. Both Are Fine.

Nude art isn’t for everyone. And that’s okay. Some people feel more themselves in sweaters than in swimsuits, and I respect that 100%. But for the ones who want to be seen—for the women who choose to undress, not for a man, not for a paycheck, but for themselves—we should be celebrating that, not censoring it.

Mirror Selfies, Then and Now

Let’s also be honest: a lot of the girls who create spicy content or sell on OnlyFans, they’re not just doing it for the money. If they were, most would’ve quit already. These are the same girls who, if they’d been born twenty years earlier, would’ve been taking nude mirror selfies with those little silver Panasonic digital cameras—figuring out how to transfer the files to their chunky family desktop, maybe even uploading them to some obscure forum just for the thrill of being seen. There’s something deeper there. A part of them that wants to feel sexy. That wants to play.

Life Is a Game. So Is Self-Expression.

And play is the right word. Life is a game. A weird, messy, beautiful, sexy game. And there’s joy in playing with your body. In teasing the camera. In knowing you’re hot and letting the world see you. Even if it’s just for a fleeting moment.

Instagram might want you to cover your nipples. But the universe doesn’t. The sun doesn’t. The sea doesn’t. And if you were comfortable showing them when the light was golden and the waves were crashing behind you, then why feel ashamed just because a platform chose that rule to boost its ad revenue?

This Isn’t Porn. It’s Power.

This kind of self-expression—this art—is often erotic without being explicit. It’s in the tension, the suggestion, the confidence. It’s not porn. It’s not performance. It’s a statement. This is me. Unfiltered. Uncensored. Unapologetic.

So yeah, I photograph nude women who like to feel sexy and sensual in front of a stranger they’ve never met. And I think it’s one of the most honest, beautiful things a human being can do—to show up bare, vulnerable, and proud. And if that makes people uncomfortable, maybe that discomfort says more about them than it does about the girl in the photo or the photographer behind the lens.

Because the female body is not a problem to be hidden.
It’s a masterpiece to be celebrated.

LINKS

That Arnold on Instagram: @that.arnold

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