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This man's art got caught in Tumblr's porn ban

60-year-old David Pevsner posts nude photos of himself to his 26,000 followers.
David Pevsner has used Tumblr as an art gallery for 5 years

When Tumblr announced it was banning porn in December, thousands of users mourned “the end of Tumblr. ” The decision dealt a blow not only to nudes but also to the labyrinth of subcultures that made the site a weird little world.

David Pevsner is part of that world. The subject of his art is human sexuality at any age. Pevsner is 60 and posts nude photos of himself to his 26,000 followers.

Pevsner had been using Tumblr for five years — as an art gallery, a way to connect with fans, and to overcome shame about his body. He thinks Tumblr’s decision is a concession to prudishness and that it implies there’s something wrong, or damaging, or embarrassing, about the naked human body.

”I've had people who said to me, ‘David, it’s porn,’” Pevsner told VICE News. “And I’m like, OK, you know, what is porn? Is showing your dick porn? Is a hard cock porn? The line is all over the place, but in my mind, I’m really trying to be more of a storyteller.”

VICE News went to Los Angeles to talk with Pevsner about his art — and how Tumblr's recent ban has affected him and the site as a whole.

This segment originally aired Dec. 20, 2018, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.