Student turns cruel anonymous messages about her selfies into powerful art project

Lindsay Bottos, a photography major, used screen caps of cruel anonymous messages on her Tumblr page to create a series of photographs

The negative messages come almost exclusively when she posts a picture of herself

They reference her appearance - saying she's too fat, too thin, ugly and pimpled

A college student from Baltimore has turned cruel, anonymous messages that she received on Tumblr 'selfies' into an art project.



Photography major Lindsay Bottos, 21, posts pictures of her artwork and the occasonial selfie on her Tumblr page.



It was the images of herself that drew the most vitriol, with internet trolls telling her she was fat, too thin, ugly, stupid, a slut - and one told her they wanted her to die.



The project, entitled Anonymous, features images of Bottos with screen caps of the hateful messages posted over the top.

The project calls attention to the harsh words people feel emboldened to say about others - especially women - in an online environment, things that they would most likely never say to someone's face.



'The anonymonity allows people to say whatever they want without any consequences,' Bottos told the Baltimore Sun. 'They want to get a reaction, to bring you down.'



Bottos says the hurtful messages are clearly related to her gender.



'I almost exclusively get [cruel anonymous messages] after I post selfies. The authority people feel they have to share their opinion on my appearance is something myself and many other girls online deal with daily.

Selfie: Images like this of Bottos have garnered hundreds of negative comments from Tumblr trolls

Take down: Bottos says that people feel compelled to bring others down when they appear confident

Mean: Messages like this one are posted on Bottos Tumblr account by anonymous users constantly

Hateful: The taunts are almost always about Bottos physical appearance

Turning the tables: By using the comments as the basis for art, Bottos has started a conversation about the way women are treated in online environments

Cyber bullying: Anonymous Tumblr users spew venom at others in a phenomenon known as trolling

Hypercritical: Some tell Bottos she's too fat, others imply she starves herself and is too thin Compulsion: Being anonymous gives people the feeling that they can say anything without the threat of being found out

Sticks and stones: Bottos says she's been dealing with online trolls since she had a MySpace page at 13