STRKNG terms and conditions and guidelines



These terms and conditions regulate the relationship between you (the member) and the website STRKNG as well as dealing with your photographs and information. As called STRKNG, we understand this site, and possibly other forms of media, such as special apps for mobile devices.

  1. Membership

    1. Participation is open to everyone over the age of 18. Children under the age 18 require the consent of a legal guardian to open an account and submit their work to a portfolio.
    2. You agree to register with a valid e-mail address. All personal data has to be stated truthfully and your account kept up to date.
    3. Membership is free and begins with the confirmation of membership by STRKNG after successful registration. Membership is free. After successfully registering with STRKNG you receive a confirmation of membership. An annual subscription to an extended VIP-Account can be purchased to add further functions to your account.
    4. You agree to operate only one user account on STRKNG. If your account has been blocked, or you no longer can log in for any other reason, you are not authorized to create a new account, without the written consent of STRKNG.

  2. License Grant

    1. STRKNG is hereby granted rights to display and store your content on STRKNG in different sizes. All image rights remain with you and you will always be named as the right holder (and other people who were stated by you) in connection with your image on STRKNG.
    2. STRKNG gets the right to make your images shareable to social networks (e.g. Facebook, Google+, Twitter), therefor so-called "share buttons" will be displayed in context with your images.
      (Note: With the use of share buttons we can improve the formatting of shared information.)
    3. STRKNG receives the right to promote your profile and/or your photos on social networks and/or other digital and analogue channels in the context of STRKNG. Your pictures are always published with your name and where possible with a link to your profile.
      If you do not want this, disable the function "PromoteMe" in your settings, which is enabled by default. The settings of the function "PromoteMe" have no effect on the general "share buttons", as described in 2.ii.
      If any images with the “PromoteMe” function enabled had already been published on social networks and other media, they will not be deleted from these sites in case this function will be deactivated to a later date.

  3. Content

    1. Images are only permitted to be added in the specified topics. Images that do not match the criteria in that topic can be moved to a different topic or deleted at any time without notice for any reason.
    2. Topics with offensive, pornographic, racist, violent, discriminatory or other illegal content are not allowed and will be deleted. If a user violates these terms several times against our directive, he/she can be permanently excluded from STRKNG.
    3. We reserve the right to review your pictures and posts, edit, delete or block if they violate your membership obligations or the law. This also applies in cases of suspected infringement. We may delegate this right, for example, to other members. A claim for publication of images or contributions does not exist.

  4. Guarantees and indemnifications

    1. You warrant that you have all the required permits and sufficient rights to publish your content on STRKNG, in agreement to all the provisions in these terms and conditions.
    2. You set us free from all third party claims against us which are based on your submitted content e.g. infringement of their rights, particularly copyrights, licensing, competition or other proprietary rights. You have to compensate us the costs of any legal proceedings that arise as a result of your infringing content. You agree to assist us in the case of a legal dispute based and claims of third parties on your content, in particular to provide us with all documents necessary for the defence.
    3. You warrant that you have all the necessary model releases to publish images on STRKNG - that are in agreement with all the provisions stated in these terms and conditions - that show one person or several people.
    4. You warrant that you hold all necessary property releases (architecture, sculpture, ...) in your images to publish them on STRKNG, in agreement with all the provisions stated in these terms and conditions.
    5. You warrant that your images do not contain any illegal content and / or in itself constitute illegal material.
    6. You warrant that your photo does not violate the personal integrity and privacy of the individual, offend anyone, defame or discriminate.
    7. You agree to indemnify STRKNG for all expenses arising from damage caused by you as a result of any breach of the warranties under this Section 3.
    8. If you violate the rules of these terms and conditions, your account may be banned or deleted for a limited period or permanently. If a paid account exists, we will not refund you any costs as a result of a cancellation or revocation.

  5. Contract Period / Termination

    1. This contract is effective for an indefinite period and is free in its basic version.
    2. It is mutually terminated.
    3. An optional VIP-account will be made for a period of 12 months.
    4. You can remove your account at any time by deleting your master data in your account. In this case, all data is lost and a refund of an existing VIP-account will then not occur.
    5. A VIP-account will automatically be changed to an open-ended basic free account after the expiry of the VIP-account period.
    6. If any violation of these terms and conditions occurs the contract can be terminated by us immediately. A claim for a refund of an existing VIP-account does not take place in case of termination for cause.
    7. A basic account can be canceled by us anytime without giving a reason. A cancellation of a basic account is effective at the end of the canceled month.
    8. A paid VIP-account can be canceled by us anytime. A cancellation of a VIP-account is effective at the end of the canceled month, a proportionate balance will then be refunded by us.


    We are pleased that you have found us and hope that you like the concept and the portfolios!

    To help STRKNG to remain a place in the future, where you would like to stop by, we have put together some information to show the "soul" of the page.

    ... Likes are used in an inflationary and strategic way, thereby losing value. As a consequence of these experiences STRKNG offers only anonymous, limited evaluation possibilities and no public comment possibility with the pictures.
    STRKNG is the result of the desire to create an international gallery in which people exhibit their best pictures.
    The attempt to bring some order and calm into the chaos, to avoid the puffery and give photography enthusiasts a tool for orientation. ...
    Source kwerfeldein: STRKNG – Im Gespräch mit Gründer Cem Edisboylu

  1. Code of Conduct

    2. According to our terms of participation, it is not allowed to create multiple accounts.

    Unfortunately, this happens again and again, and then the own profiles and pictures are liked a lot - we can easily determine this technically.

    This does not make the pictures any better.
    No, you won't be automatically featured when you commit yourself to the 10th star.
    On the contrary - a deletion of all accounts is more likely.

    Invest time in improving photography rather than maintaining multiple STRKNG accounts.
    Exceptions are possible after explicit permission (for example, Model + Photographer in the same time), we then only take the promise from you not to vote for yourself, which should be self-evident.

    See also "Can I invite friends to push me and my pictures?" further down.

    You can not force, eat or buy real likes

    • No begging for stars, not even indirectly
    • Do not change pictures in the portfolio 20x per day because they are not liked - better review and revise your portfolio (#training)
    • No digital self-love, see above

    Shoot requests - What would your mother say ???
    • No stalking
    • No dubious shoot requests without comprehensible references or without a meaningful portfolio
    • No means NO. ✋

    STRKNG is a gallery for contemporary photography - yes, this also includes nude, but ...
    • No pornography, no cheap erotic content, no simple display of explicit sexual preference (e.g., SM, focus on primary and secondary genitalia, ...)
    • Please censor your nude images - even if you're a true system rebel - otherwise STRKNG will be blocked on Google and everyone will lose reach (#collective_punishment), nobody wants that - and we certainly neither
    • You have made for the first time exciting private nude pictures with your partner and want to show them among the other "nude pictures"? No! This is not the same, sorry. You're totally wrong here! All the best to you!

  2. Around the picture upload

    3. Choose well, because the number of possible portfolio images is limited to 9 (or 18 at VIP account).
    Select the images that represent you and your work best.
    The awards of your images will affect your overall ranking: If you replace awarded images by others, you lose those points. But then you have probably the chance to get even more awards with the better image.

    Currently, the largest images are calculated down by the system to an edge length of 1200px, so you can upload them directly optimized in 1200px if you want. Please use .jpg images with max. size of 6MB.

    Choose the right category for your image. We have set up an own area for wedding pictures .

    The page with new pictures is one of the most important entrance pages at STRKNG for our visitors.
    Pictures can be hidden by editors from this page. These pictures are then still part of your portfolio but no longer part of the page with new STRKNG pictures.
    Reasons could be:

    • The quality does not correspond to the required basic quality. Technical, design or content deficiencies. STRKNG images should be clear, impressive and / or unusual. We prefer natural and timeless photography. The more pictures of a species we have in our collection, the higher the requirements will be.
    • Content is sexist, flat or pornographic.
      Nude photography is an important and beautiful aspect of STRKNG.
      We promote aesthetic photography, which places the model/s respectfully in scene. Exceptions prove the rule. STRKNG is not supposed to be a collection of photographs of unusual sexual preferences, but rather display the artistic aspects of nude photography.
    • Your logo is displayed too powerful in the picture or the link under the image is dominating self-promotion. Your image contains logos from other photo pages.
      STRKNG is not build to be a cheap advertisement magazine full of ads. We would rather have the experience of visiting a beautiful gallery.
    • STRKNG is designed for advanced photography participants.
      Anyone can join, but the quality and the demands on photography are quite high due to the expertise of many participants. Other works are likely to slip through the grid, remain rather invisible and are not featured.
      Take a look around and decide for yourself whether your work will fit.
      But STRKNG should also be an incentive to be inspired and grow together, so do not give up!
      The portal is also a place to develop your own skills and from time to time upload the new "better" masterpieces.

    Yes and no!

    We would be very happy if you could recommend STRKNG.
    But your friends should be able to come and see for themselves and to evaluate all the pictures honestly and anonymously.
    If your pictures are considered by your friends, this is nice for you and will of course not be objected. Our concept is a departure from the well-known Buddy networks and a contribution to honest evaluation of quality.

    We can determine technically, however, if a "friend account" was only created, in order to push your account exclusively, but is otherwise inactive. Such an account is unfair, is contrary to our terms of participation and can be deleted by us without warning.
    Attention: Your pictures will then be less promoted by us, even if they are good. In case of repetition your main account will also be deleted.

    Nude images can be uploaded to STRKNG in the original! But...

    We are against censorship but we have to comply with legal (youth protection) rules.
    We also have to adhere to the rules of the participating media partners if we want to use their platforms. (eg social networks, search engines, e-mails ...)
    Therefore, we recommend covering the images with the internal censorship tool.

    Please do not spoil pictures with asterisks, hearts, giant logos, Vogue logos or other Instagram-suitable nonsense! Such pictures are made invisible with us.

    Attention!
    Incomplete or incorrectly censored posts are marked editorially, they will then get a lower reach and can even be set invisible or been rejected by us. (see Terms and conditions)
    The effort is worthwhile if you want to show your work to a large audience. Do not be sad, the interested visitor can always admire the original image on STRKNG, if everything is set correctly.
    To include blog posts on the blog.strkng.com page, correct censorship is mandatory.

    In the respective module (Image management, Blog, ..) you can place up to 3 transparent bars on the image/s. These will be used in the necessary context (e.g., at a social network feature or for search engines).

    Of course, the original images on STRKNG remain unchanged.

    Censorship example on STRKNG.com

    Thank you very much for your understanding!

    Content restriction ? Do images have to be censored?
    No restricted content, picture without nudity (female nipples)
    Content contains nudity (female nipples)
    Content contains nudity (visible pubic area)

    We want to set an accent against the flood of images on the Internet and prefer to have the most beautiful images permanently in our collection.
    That's why we only gather the features in the publication after a long time, in order to create an incentive for the image authors and to bring more peace and continuity to the project.

    That means, if it has to be absolutely, then yes. But it would be great if you did not replace them until they appeared in the publication , which is about 1 year later.

  3. STRKNG Editors' Selection

    4. Your portfolio includes the images that best represent you, your goals, and your work.
    When found by potential customers, they should be able to see both the range and quality of your work at a glance.
    That should be the most important to you!

    The STRKNG Editors' Selection is a subjective selection of the operators of the platform, who in turn pursue their goals (platform growth and collection of quality).
    That probably has nothing directly to do with your goals, but usually there is a big common intersection (visibility, recognition).

    But as we know that many people like the Editors' Selection and maybe some of them are just here for it, here's some insights on what we look for in our selection:

    See "Code of Conduct" and "About the Image Upload"

    Look around in the topic areas, the works are well sorted there.
    The best works are characterized by technical and creative quality and sensitivity to the topic. A globe means that the picture has already been featured.

    Of course, the more good pictures there are in a topic area, the higher are the hurdles for a selection.

    In the case of understaffed topic areas or countries of origin of the participants, explicit support may also be provided through a strategic selection.
    Currently we are very happy to support works from the understaffed topic areas "Fashion / Beauty" and "Landscapes".
    A minimum quality, which is based on the previous selection, of course, is still required.

    You made nude pictures with a model in a lost-place for the first time? Congratulation. Unfortunately, there are already millions of pictures of this subject. Worth seeing there are now only very sophisticated and surprising work.
    So it is in many topics. Look around, only copy is usually not enough. Create your own style. Improve your skills.
    Even if beginners do not like to believe it, it often takes a few years to get a feel for a good photograph.
    Great location, great participants, a lot of experience, empathy, professional skills during and after taking pictures - it would be boring if it was easy.

    We just want to see the best in the portfolio, but that may well be a snapshot documenting your development process.
    Write in the blog about current projects and image series. Gladly something more, instead of just a one-liners.
    Nobody is perfect and we are all human. Reading about other real people who deal with the same issues is exciting for everyone.

    Show the whole spectrum of your ability. If we have a picture of you featured and all others of yours looks the same, why should we feature one again?

    Sometimes a great job slips through our fingers.
    We try to sift through everything and often the swarming intelligence brings a good job up, but unfortunately there are sometimes beautiful wallflowers that are overlooked.

    A simple remedy against oblivion:
    Show presence on STRKNG. Participate in the daily events, blog current series, exchange a weak or old featured image (after moving into the publication).
    Your portfolio is visited and unseen masterpieces can be rediscovered.