<> APPROVAL PROCESS

Images to be approved for display into the BareLens gallery are generally reviewed within an hour or two of your posting, though this time may vary.  Most approvals will take place well under 24-hours from your time of posting the image.  If you do not receive a rejection notice and do not see your image in the gallery after a 36-hour time period has passed, you are welcome to contact the site administrator for further information as to the status of your submissions.

If you feel your image has been wrongfully rejected through the approval process, it is recommended that your first action be to re-upload the image again.  It is possible the image was denied mistakenly or inadvertently.  If your image is denied a second time, please DO NOT upload it again to attempt the approval for a third time.  If you are still feeling that your image should be approved for displaying in the gallery, please contact the WEBMASTER to ask for an explanation as to why your image was denied the second time.  Please be sure to have reviewed the entire POSTING GUIDELINES as outlined on this page prior to contacting the WEBMASTER to question a photo denial.

Approval into the gallery is not a guarantee.  Images in the gallery can and will be re-evaluated at any time.  If there are complaints against an image, it may be deleted.  As the gallery continues to evolve, images may be moved to other categories or deleted from the gallery altogether.  Likewise, any posting member may remove any of their own images at any time of their choosing, or re-apply to have their images moved to another category within the gallery.  If you wish to remove your entire collection of photos from the gallery, please email the webmaster directly for the easiest method. 

<> IMAGE CONTENT

There are some basic rules for what is allowed to be posted as photographic content on the BareLens community gallery.  The goal of this site is to be a community gallery dedicated to displaying the works of both amateur and professional photographers who seek to explore the fine art of nude figure photography.  Art, as with beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.   Here we would seek to draw a distinction between what is photographic nude artwork, and what is typically referred to as pornography.  Hopefully common sense will be as much of a guide as most people will need.  For others who like details, here is a short (and ever evolving) list of what we would ask not be uploaded to BareLens:

• NO ILLEGAL IMAGES INCLUDING DEPICTIONS INVOLVING ANIMALS OR CHILDREN

• NO IMAGES OF ANY SORT THAT INCLUDE FECES OR URINE

• NO EJACULATION OR 'CUM SHOT' CLOSE-UP IMAGERY

• NO EXTREME VIOLENCE OR RAPE SIMULATION IMAGERY

• NO DEGRADING OR HATEFUL IMAGERY AGAINST A CULTURE, RELIGION OR BELIEF.

• NO GRAPHIC OR 'VULGAR' DEPICTIONS OR SIMULATIONS OF SEXUAL ACTS

• NO BLATANT SIMPLE SNAPSHOTS OF ERECTIONS, ANUS OR VAGINA

• NO GRATUITOUS CLOSE-UP PHOTOS OF GENITALIA.

The BareLens community is primarily a place for the exhibition of nude photographic art, and not blatant pornography.  We do not want either pornography or lascivious eroticism posted into the BareLens community gallery, but will accept artistic eroticism that has merit in our view.  Most of these images will be filtered out through the APPROVAL PROCESS, though some images may still get through.  If you, as a viewer of an image, find it to be questionable or contrary to the rules that are in place for image content, please contact the site administrator right away.  Please do not contact the site administrator if it is simply a matter of artistic taste.  We do not currently have any rules governing artistic merit, and instead leave such judgments up to the community members. 

Images can be re-reviewed at any time, and either moved to a new category or deleted from the gallery due to being viewed as inappropriate material for the BareLens gallery.  Such decisions will be made at the sole discretion of the site administrator and/or moderators with an eye towards maintaining the distinction BareLens members enjoy in this community gallery.  It is important that all members continue to keep the administrator/moderators aware of any concerns that there may be over any imagery posted into the gallery.  The goal of the BareLens site shall always remain to showcase artistic works by aspiring artists that reflect on the beauty of the natural human form.  We strive to keep pornography or lascivious eroticism from being posted into the BareLens community gallery.

Pornography is defined as any and all material (regardless of medium) that is lewd and/or sexually explicit in nature. This includes any blatant show of a male erection or the female's labia minora and/or any act of a sexual nature such as cunnilingus, fellatio, coitus, sodomy, sado-masochism, masturbation, bestiality, urination, and bondage. When in doubt please refer to U. S. federal law, 18 USC Sec. 2256.

Lascivious eroticism is defined as any and all material (regardless of medium) that is intended to excite the viewer in a sexual way. This includes material that gives the appearance that the person being photographed is sexually aroused, or which depicts blatant fondling of the breasts or genital organs for the purpose of arousing the viewer. Pictures that are sexually stimulating to one person may not to be to another, so broad leniency should be practiced.

Artistic eroticism is defined as any and all material (regardless of medium) that may arouse the viewer in a sensual way. This includes but is not limited to poses that give the appearance that the person is sexually aroused, and may also include the touching but not fondling of breast and genital organs. This type of eroticism should be judged on the over all artistic merit and is considered on-topic.

We hope that these guidelines will work for everyone.  There are a lot of strictly sexual imagery websites out there where people can post their images if they don't wish to abide by the above noted posting exceptions.  Not everything that is prohibited from the gallery is listed on this page, and the site administrator will always have the final decision.  The above list is not written in stone and is simply a guideline.  Everything is essentially dependent on the presentation of the subject matter, and open to review by our moderators.  There can be instances of images that may be artistic presentations which will get approved though they may fall into one of the above points.  See the APPROVAL PROCESS above for more information.

<> WHERE TO POST

You are welcome and encouraged to post your photos and other images into any of the appropriate community gallery categories that are available.  Please be sure to choose an appropriate category when uploading your photos.  For those who wish to take more control over the categorization of their own gallery images, you may wish to upload your photos into your own personal Albums.  You must create your album first before being able to upload your photo.  Your albums can be open to the public so that anyone can view your photos, or you can password protect your album so that only your intimate friends can see the images you've posted.  Please be aware that all images posted into the main community gallery categories are accessible to the public as thumbnails and viewable by all registered members as full sized photos. Be sure to submit your photos to whichever current category you feel is most appropriate.  Category descriptions are listed on the main Home page.  If you have an image you would like to submit for one of the ongoing friendly photo contests, then please be sure to do so.

For further assistance on where to post your images, or how to create and maintain your albums, or how to move images between albums or categories, please see the Visual Guide within the discussion forums, or contact the WEBMASTER for help.

<> NEW CATEGORIES

If you have an idea for a new public category, please contact the WEBMASTER via EMAIL with your proposed new category name and a brief description as to what sort of content you would like to see posted in this new group.  We are always open to new ideas, and encourage our members to develop their own groups within the community.  The entire gallery category structure is subject to change at any time, without notice.  We greatly appreciate all input and feedback from the BareLens members who use the site, and hope that everyone will help make this be the website that you want it to be.