‘This is too cool’
Facebook apologizes to Bedford artist for removing tattooed nipple photos
A Bedford tattoo artist is thrilled that after years of battling with Facebook, the social media giant is now allowing her to post photos of the cosmetic tattooing she does for breast cancer survivors.
For the past eight years, Amber Thorpe of Adept Tattoos has helped clients through cosmetic tattooing of nipples and areolae after they’ve been through reconstructive breast surgery following breast cancer.
Over that same period of time photos of her work have been repeatedly taken down by Facebook, typically within one to five hours of being posted.
Thorpe said Facebook is one of the most effective ways she can publicly spread awareness about what is for many breast cancer survivors the “final phase” of their journeys.
She charges $150 to cover the cost of ink and supplies.
“I’ve had a lot of just excitement and genuine happiness and I’ve had a lot break down crying because it’s done. It’s like an elephant leaves the room at the end,” Thorpe said of her work.
“Because they’re laying on their back when I tattoo, they can’t see it pretty much until the end when it’s finished and then they look in the mirror and I see their reactions … That’s my satisfaction.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Facebook responded to Metro’s inquiry asking if there was ever room for concessions regarding what constitutes nudity given
the nature of Thorpe’s work.
“We’re very sorry about this mistake. The pictures were removed in error and restored as soon as we were able to investigate,” a Facebook spokesperson told Metro News in an email late Tuesday afternoon.
“Our team processes millions of reports each week and we sometimes get things wrong.”
Shortly after Metro received the email, Thorpe received a notification from Facebook about the error.
“I’m super happy. This is too cool. It’s awesome. Now it’s time to create a page and share stories and stuff too,” Thorpe said.
“I’m actually kind of speechless. I’m surprised because this has been such a fight with Facebook and Instagram. Instagram finally let it go and now Facebook is going to let it go. This is like a huge win.”
Thorpe said being able to openly post photos and share discussions about what patients go through will help further
highlight the struggles faced by breast cancer survivors.
“I know I do one (of these tattoos) every two to three weeks and that has been for the last eight years,” she said.
“Nova Scotia has one of the highest breast cancer rates and while the cure for breast cancer would be the ultimate thing I wish for, it’d be great to have (these tattoos) covered by MSI because obviously we’re not getting rid of the disease anytime soon.”