Artist Leaks Her Own Nudes So No One Can Do It For Her

Molly Soda is an acclaimed artist (and Tumblr icon) whose earlier work includes critiques of “natural makeup” and the culture of selfies. Her most recent project, however, is quite a departure. It’s a zine in which Soda, who admits she overshares online, leaks her own nudes and embarrassing text messages. Why? Because she doesn’t want anyone else to have that power.

Refinery29 reports that Soda, whose zine—entitled Should I Send This?—can be viewed online (or purchaed here if you’re going old school) released the photos as a way to control who sees her naked and vulnerable, parcelling out pictures she’s taken on her iPhone to those interested in looking instead of fearing that someone might one day leak them without her permission, something that’s now happened to countless celebrities.

Here’s how Soda explained her project, which is a bold mix of exhibitionism, vulnerability, and some very grainy pictures from her phone:

“I believe if you’re embarrassed about something or you feel a little bit shy or weird about something, the best way to deal with it…is to put it out there and let it exist…I wanted to use things that I was even a little bit apprehensive or shy about…I felt like I had a lot of text or poems on my phone, and I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t really want to post these anywhere. It’s a little too emo. It doesn’t really feel right.’ So I decided to make the zine in order to deal with those feelings.”

That’s pretty powerful and a reminder that it’s not just naked photos that can make someone feel naked and exposed on the internet. Among the photos are snippets of text Soda has written, some of it (like all of ours) terribly overwrought and cringey in their drama.

Here’s an example:

And another one, which looks suspiciously like something most of us have in our notes app right now:

The rest of Soda’s zine can be seen here. It’s important to note that it’s NSFW but definitely not pornographic, unless you count someone laying their soul out on the internet to be porn.