The photos Instagram deleted

This week I posted (what I thought) was a gorgeous and very personal series of photos featuring my little boy at bath time. The post was live on Insta for a few hours and then it was removed as it breached ‘child nudity laws’. I specifically cropped out anything from the waist down as I knew social media wasn’t the place for these images. I’ve since found out the issue lies with sharing images of nipples. I had an insta convo with Jennie that made me laugh…

H: “I’ve since realised it’s just the Insta bots using recognition software. And apparently, the issue is his nipples 😂

J: “How freaking creepy that there are ‘bots seeking nipples??!! 🤢

What do you think? Do these images both you?

I don’t pull my big camera out as often as I’d like (second child curse) - so when it comes out it’s because I’m feeling partially touched/inspired and this was definitely one of those moments. There’s nothing more wonderful than being able to observe your child playing uninterrupted without being particularly conscious of your presence.

My thoughts at the time

“Light glistens on the water droplets that sit on his soft, silky skin. He's deep in roleplaying mode, creating different voices with his lego, some of it my brother I played with as a kid.

I gaze longingly at his beauty, so youthful and full of potential. I glance down at my aging skin and laugh to myself, a mix of joy and sadness.”

These images were all captured using available natural light (my bathroom has very good light) with a Canon R6, ‘L series’ 50mm lens, mostly using F1.8-2.8 aperture for really shallow, soft focus images. Images edited in Adobe Lightroom, video made in Adobe Premier Pro.