Spain ‘beach bodies’ ad edited out my prosthetic leg, says British model

Spain’s summer campaign encouraging women of all shapes and sizes to hit the beach has backfired for a second time, after one of the models featured said her prosthetic leg had been edited out.

The likeness of Briton Sian Green-Lord features on the far left of the promotional poster, in a white swimsuit with floral patterns. Compared with an image on her Instagram account, the colour of her swimsuit has been changed, and a left leg added where her prosthetic limb should be.

The motivational speaker and model, who lost a leg when she was hit by a taxi in New York in 2013, said: “I don’t even know how to even explain the amount of anger that I’m feeling right now … I’m literally shaking, I’m so angry.

“There’s one thing using my image without my permission but there’s another thing editing my body, my body with my prosthetic leg … I don’t even know what to say but it’s beyond wrong.”

The artist behind the body positive campaign poster, Arte Mapache, has already apologised for using the models’ likenesses without their permission, and for using a typeface that she had understood to be free.

“Given the – justified – controversy over the image rights in the illustration, I have decided that the best way to make amends for the damages that may have resulted from my actions is to share out the money I received for the work and give equal parts to the people in the poster,” the artist said on Thursday.

She said she had never intended to “abuse” the models’ images, and had only sought to demonstrate how great an inspiration they had been.

The artist also said reports that the commission was worth €84,000 (£70,500) were false, and that the fee had been €4,490.

On Wednesday, the Women’s Institute – part of Spain’s equality ministry – launched a campaign called “Summer is ours too”. The accompanying poster, designed by Arte Mapache, shows five women of different body types, ages and ethnicities. It also shows a topless woman who has had a mastectomy.

The institute said at the time of the launch: “The campaign is intended as a response to fatphobia, hatred and the questioning of non-normative bodies – particularly those of women, something that’s most prevalent in the summertime.”

But the campaign ran into trouble within days. The British model Nyome Nicholas-Williams said she had no idea the image had been used until an Instagram follower sent her a news story about the poster.

“It was nice to see the image initially but then I saw that it was for a campaign and I then felt annoyed as I hadn’t been asked to even be a part of this,” she told the Guardian.

Nicholas-Williams said while it was good to know that she had inspired the artist, she would have appreciated being approached about the use of her image – and being paid for it. A photoshoot in Spain, she added, would have been even better.

The model welcomed the artist’s apology and offer of a share of her fee, but said she would still like to have “a conversation on the importance of consent and asking people to use their images”.

source: theguardian.com