Photo Rules

PORTFORA aims to be a safe and respectful environment for people to browse creative work, and showcase their own. Thus, we have set out rules to help ensure it remains appropriate for all audiences.


Please ensure you have also read and comply with the Member Rules.


Photos must be appropriate for the fashion industry

The central premise of PORTFORA is to showcase talented people in the fashion industry. Thus, all photos uploaded should showcase fashion, or content specifically related to fashion (e.g. models, clothing, accessories, make-up, studios). While photography is a talent, and you may wish to show your talent for taking landscape or wildlife pictures, photographer images should focus on people (i.e. models/dancers/MUAs/actors/performance artists etc.).

Here are some guidelines to help show what is and isn't permitted:

Permitted

  • Models (fashion, beauty, bridal, make-up, hair, parts, editorial, portraiture etc.)
  • Dancers, performance artists, musicians, actors, etc.
  • Examples of make-up and hair-styling
  • Clothing/accessories (e.g. fashion designers, stylists)
  • Weddings (though the majority of wedding shots should contain people)
  • Photos of studio facilities and equipment

Not permitted
  • Wildlife, animals
  • Landscapes, architecture
  • Cars, bikes, sport, products not relating to the fashion industry

These examples are not exhaustive, but provide an idea of the sort of images that should be showcased on PORTFORA. We request that you use other photo hosting sites to showcase your non-person-related photography.


No Nudity

PORTFORA is designed to be a showcase for the fashion industry, and as such, images should focus on fashion. While we understand that high fashion photography occasionally includes nudity, we have decided to enact a no-nudity policy. This is a result of feedback from people in the industry, as well as many members. Our vision is to expand into the acting, dance, and music industries, which are less tolerant of nudity.

While we respect art nude photographers and models, there are many other sites better-suited to showcasing artistic images of models and nudes, and for networking with similar creatives. PORTFORA's focus is on fashion designers, stylists, fashion shows, and commercial opportunities.

Censoring any nude body parts within an image does not exempt the image from this rule - it is the content and concept of the image that matters, not whether a nipple or bare bottom is visible.

You should mark any non-nude photos as NSFW if they may cause offence when viewed by minors, or at work. These photos will not appear on the site unless a visitor chooses to show them.

Your profile photo and cover photo MUST be safe for work.

Moderators reserve the right to re-label an image as NSFW. You will be informed if this occurs. If this happens frequently, your account may be suspended.

It's easiest to stick to Facebook's image rules - if you think it would cause problems there, mark it as NSFW here. If in doubt about any photo, err on the side of caution and mark it as NSFW.

Here is a set of guidelines for image contents that would be deemed as NSFW:

  • bare buttock cheeks (e.g. wearing a thong)
  • see-through/sheer clothing, materials, or body paint
  • overly-sexual imagery (whether clothed or in lingerie)
  • implied erotic activity (solo or otherwise)
  • depictions of blood, violence, gore, or drug-use (more below)
  • profanity (any swear words visible)

Any nude or glamour images will be removed, and may result in the suspension of your account.

If this is the genre that you shoot, then PORTFORA isn't for you, and we suggest seeking an alternative site.


No Bondage/Violence

While some sites allow photos that depict bondage, fetishes, and violence, we have taken an editorial decision to not allow such images. This is for a couple of reasons:

  • to keep the PORTFORA brand professional, and aimed towards mainstream industry creatives
  • to promote respect and safety for our members, and people in general, especially women

Examples of bondage include, but are not limited to:

  • neck, arms/hands, or legs/feet, bound
  • mouth gagged
  • model in apparent pain/fear
  • visible marks on the skin (from being bound, or beaten, or scratched)

Where materials (such as rope) are tied around the model, in the style of clothing/fashion accessories, but without the model's limbs bound, and not relating to pain, this would usually be permitted.

We understand that usually bondage photos are shot with the model's consent, by experienced professionals, and are not always sexual/fetishistic in nature (e.g. shibari/suspension), however on casual viewing of the resulting images, the lay-person may be led to believe that abuse/violence towards others is normal and acceptable. Such imagery may desensitize people's view of abuse, and more importantly, may arouse and inspire salacious people to abuse unwilling victims. We intend to work with anti-abuse and pro-feminist groups to help promote respect, safety, and equality.

This is a grey area, and over time, we will seek to give more helpful guidelines as to what is and isn't permitted, but we reserve the right to remove any photographs that we deem inappropriate.

If this is the genre that you shoot, then PORTFORA isn't for you, and we suggest seeking an alternative site.


Photo Quality

Regardless of your skill level, uploaded images should meet this minimum level of quality:
  • no selfies
  • no webcam shots
  • no mirror shots
  • no personal/holiday snapshots
  • photos should be correctly exposed
  • photos should not be over-compressed (such that blockiness/compression artifacts are distractingly visible)
  • photos should be larger than 300 pixels on each side

Copyright

You must ensure you have permission from the copyright holder, for any photos that you upload. Normally, the copyright belongs to the photographer who took the photo.
You should always write the copyright-holder's name wherever you display a photograph (here, and elsewhere). There is a specific Copyright field you should use when editing a photo on PORTFORA; write the photographer's name here even if you have also tagged the photographer.
If you are paid for a shoot, you may not necessarily have permission to use the photos.
Do not post photos that violate copyright, trademarks, rights to privacy, or publicity laws; including mock-ups of tearsheets / magazine covers / adverts.
People shown in photographs must be over 18 years of age, or you must have a signed model release from the model's parent/guardian.
In general, logos are trademarked, so inclusion of any logo other than your own watermark, is not permitted.


Moderator Discretion

Our moderators reserve the right to re-label images as NSFW, or remove any photos that they deem to be editorially or technically inappropriate. You will be informed if this occurs.

You are welcome to contact us if you feel an image has been moderated unfairly; please include a link to the image in question where possible.