The image deemed too offensive for Facebook

MANY would call it the most natural thing in the world, but Facebook has deemed it offensive.

REMOVED: This photo of Samantha Engle was deemed too offensive for Facebook.

MANY would call it the most natural thing in the world, but Facebook has deemed it offensive.

When Imbil photographer Phoebe Geltch posted photos of a maternity shoot to Facebook, she couldn't believe they were removed by the social media giant hours later.

The photos, taken yesterday and posted the same day, were of her friend Samantha Engle; a mother-to-be for the fourth time.

The photo shoot, which took place beside a sunlit creek in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, shows Mrs Engle posing naked while smiling gently at the camera and down at her unborn child.

Mrs Engle's breasts, including nipples, are exposed, while her hands subtly rest below her 37-week pregnant belly.

The series, posted with her friend's permission, attracted a string of praise on her business page Flea Bee's Photography, leaving Mrs Geltch to wonder why Facebook would remove the photos after they were reported 'due to nudity.'

"They show my friend in all her glory as a beautiful pregnant woman," Mrs Geltch said.

"We see so many photos in the media and on Facebook and then I get criticised for posting what I believe is a beautiful photo of a pregnant woman."

The rules of nudity on Facebook have evolved over time, webpage Gadgets360 says.

"The latest community-standards policy, from March 2015, says Facebook restricts photos of genitals or fully exposed buttocks, as well as some images of breasts if they include the nipple."

The Facebook policy states:

"We restrict the display of nudity because some audiences within our global community may be sensitive to this type of content - particularly because of their cultural background or age."

The subject of the controversy said she had decided to pose nude to share in the natural beauty of pregnancy.

"I went nude. I chose to share this because this is natural beauty," Mrs Engle said.

"How a woman's body can do this - to produce a beautiful child after this - is amazing."

A fellow supporter of the photos said there are far more offensive things on Facebook.

"Why can't people just unfollow if it offends?," Meg Matthews wrote.

"Yet Kim Kardashians a** and t*** are all over facebook. I find that more offensive. I've reported graphic videos of people getting their head blown off and Facebook came back saying it's not against their guidelines."

Mrs Geltch believed some of the problem lay around the stigma of women, pregnancy and breastfeeding and that society needed to accept it as a natural part of life.

"There's just so much hatred when it comes to things like this and there shouldn't be."

FB COMMENT:

Emma Carlson: I found them absolutely stunning....it shows the true beauty of what pregnancy is all about.

Katrina Geerlings: Your images are beautiful and by no means less tasteful than many memes. Creative photography is a pure art form. Where are people's minds at?

Mel Lissa: People have too much time on their hands, so much easier for them to scroll past than report a photo They were lovely photos. If you looked at those photos and only saw the boob, there's something wrong with you. When I looked at the photos, I saw an empowered woman, a beautiful Mumma, and a talented photographer to capture all of it in stunning pics. Bahh these people have no idea about art!