Pubic Hair, Nudism and the Censor: The story of the photographic battle to depict the naked body

A 3000-word invited article for the 'Insights' section of The Conversation, reflecting on the contemporary resonances of Pollen's research into the history of social nudism (or naturism), and especially its photographic representation, from the 1920s to the 1970s in Britain. The article reflects on the moral and legal debates about the depiction of the naked body in print and the challenge of reconciling nudist campaigns for bodily and mental liberation with contemporaneous attitudes to art and obscenity among public audiences and in courts of law. These conflicts often played out in relation to the depiction of genitalia and pubic hair. The article considers censorship of the nude historically and in present day social media. The article was widely republished online with translations into Spanish, German, Dutch and Indonesian.