AceShowbiz - Lindsay Lohan has defended a controversial new photoshoot in which she poses with a gun to her mouth, insisting the risque snaps are "art". The "Mean Girls" star can be seen looking into the camera while resting the weapon on her lips in one of the shots, which she posted on her Twitter.com page on Wednesday, April 28.

In another, Lohan holds a pistol while pretending to choke her photographer, Tyler Shields. Some of her followers complained about the pictures, with one user urging Lohan to: "Try to keep it classy, not more softcore porn with some guy draped over you."

But the 23 year old remained adamant the shoot was tasteful, 'tweeting' to her fans, "It's not soft core porn hunny (sic), it's called ART." Shields, who captured the star for his upcoming book "The Dirty Side of Glamor", writes in a post on his official site, "Everyone has an idea of Lindsay Lohan and last night I had the pleasure of working with her. She is a huge art lover and simply wanted to create some and that is exactly what we did!"

But the full shoot will cause an even bigger storm - the gory photos show Lohan stripped to a bra, skirt, stockings and high heels while cavorting in a blood-soaked room. In other pictures from the shoot - filmed exclusively by Hollywood.TV - the actress is seen with fake blood smeared on her mouth, arms, breasts, and legs. The shots were taken by photographer Tyler Shields for his new book, The Dirty Side of Glamor.