From careful brushes to jealous scribbles, the stylistic range of how figures are censored is quite diverse. But the defacements here seem more concerned with the censor’s own feelings rather than enhancing the overall aesthetic. In these images it is easy to deduce that the censored figures are women – snippets of purses or high heels, the blobs’ lingering feminine form. The censor’s hand lends them an eerie quality, whether by accident or not. Yet the pictures are also very romantic...

Online auction sites often show photographs where details or sections of the photograph have been covered up due to privacy and/or censorship issues. As a result sellers are forced to come up with smart and practical solutions so that the photograph conforms to privacy and censorship guidelines but still show enough of the image to interest prospective buyers. This version of 'Ein Volk ehrt seiner Führer' was purchased at an online auction. Coins were used to censor the images.