More information is surfacing over these racy ads that were posted on Peking University’s Sina Weibo account on Sunday to recruit new students.

It turns out the photographer behind the images never planned to insinuate the models were actual students at the university. In a Sina Weibo post of his own, he said he didn’t plan for the models to appear as students, saying the only connection to the school is that the photos were taken on school grounds.

He also said the uproar online (and resultant criticism) has “deeply hurt” his models. He said they are students at other universities and are not professional models. He said they trusted him, and he feels he’s let them down.

He even posted a conversation he had with one of the models on WeChat:

Student: I never thought people will think about me in that way. No one has said that about me throughout my whole life until now.

Photographer: Don’t think about it too much…

Student: Right now I really want to cry.

Photographer: There are all sorts of people on the Internet… go get a good night’s sleep…

This all begs the question: if the photos weren’t intended for Peking University recruitment ads, what were they intended for?

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