Emily Ratajkowski has broken her silence about photographer Jonathan Leder's upcoming book of photos, which has over 100 NSFW Polaroids of her shot in 2012, titled Emily Ratajkowski: Collector's Edition. Emily, who has openly championed women reclaiming their sexuality and finding empowerment through nudity [2], tweeted Wednesday that the photos in the book "are a violation" and go against her core beliefs: that women should determine how they share their own bodies.
I've been resisting speaking publicly on the recently released photos by Jonathan Leder to avoid giving him publicity. But I've had enough
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) November 30, 2016 [3]
This book and the images within them are a violation.
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) November 30, 2016 [4]
Emily went on to explain that the images she posed for were intended for an artistic magazine shoot. Given this claim, the description of the shoot [5] being circulated by Imperial Publishing comes off as particularly troubling: "In May 2012, photographer Jonathan Leder found himself alone in a house with a Polaroid camera and Emily Ratajkowski." According to the model, the images are being used in the book without her permission.
5 out of the now 100s of released photos were used for what they were intended: an artful magazine shoot back in 2012
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) November 30, 2016 [6]
These photos being used w/out my permission is an example of exactly the opposite of what I stand for:
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) November 30, 2016 [7]
women choosing when and how they want to share their sexuality and bodies.
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) November 30, 2016 [8]
Also disturbing is the way that photographer Jonathan Leder describes his shoot with Emily in the book's forward: "She was very, shall we say, comfortable with her body. . . . And as far as shoots go, I would say it was fun." The publisher of the book also adds: "By the looks of it, she was having a good time, too."
Emily is not stingy with the sexy snaps [9] that she chooses to share with the world, because she considers them a form of empowerment [10] on her own terms. However, if indeed published without permission, these photos are achieving exactly the opposite: violating Emily and using her sexuality as a weapon against her.