Pose and smile

Some agents and even some amateur photographers usually organize shoots. If the model is obscure, the organizer charges every photographer 300 to 500 yuan for a two-hour shoot.

There is often no relationship between the organizers and the photographers and as a result, the models often lose control of the pictures, as in Yan's case.

"Yan Fengjiao or the models she stands for are just victims of promotion. Popularity means a history of sad stories including fraud, sex or sexual affairs," Jiajia said.

Some experts attributed the popularity of nude modeling simply to a huge public demand.

Li Yinhe, a sociologist and sexologist, told the Global Times that all that is real is rational.

"Not only men, but women, have such kind of interest in pornographic photos. The statistics show that 40 percent of all porn consumers are female," she said.

Some experts said some pictures are in the middle when it comes to deciding whether it's art or pornography.

"Professional artistic photography of the human body should be kept in art classes where students under the instruction of tutors take photos of naked models, otherwise it might be pornographic photography," Xia Xueluan, a profession of sociology at Peking University, told the Global Times.

He added that authorities should supervise such kind of photography, to clearly define and classify art and pornography.

The Ministry of Culture issued a notice recently that required cultural watchdogs nationwide to strengthen the management of online games marketing, a response to Web celebrities who used their "indecent" photos to earn fame.