Censorship and photography don’t mix well and it has always been difficult to conform to local traditions and social mores when working with images and video.
From taboos to general discomfort, there are a wide range of issues that people have with images and it is probably something that isn’t going to go away.
Nonetheless, it is always shocking to encounter and a bit absurd like when Iranian music streaming website Melovaz goes through its entire catalogue removing females from album covers and other artwork.
Do female artists not make music? Have the people who use Melovaz never seen a woman before? What gives?
Apparently this is to conform with the very strict religious rules the country has in place regarding images depicting females. And this includes any portion of the female form which has resulted in everything from stray elbows to lips being removed from the covers.
As PetaPixel reports, this censorship doesn’t impact the lyrics of the songs in question, some of which are quite explicit.
This story has caught everyone’s attention not only because of how strange it is but also because some of the edits are pretty comically done. We have tons of examples of floating hands and sensual embraces with oneself instead of the usual romantic depictions of couples in love.
Of course, it probably doesn’t help to get too outraged over local laws and rules but that doesn’t mean you can’t make fun of some of these results.
Looking like a content aware fill parade, album covers featuring Lady Gaga on the back of a horse result in a picture of a horse taken with some vaseline on the lens and others just leave a big blank space where someone once was. You can check it out over on their website by clicking here.
What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Also, don’t forget to check out our other photography news stories on Light Stalking by clicking here.
