I want to be clear about something. I think a painter can and should paint whatever they want - however. I just reserve the right to dislike it. If painters enjoy painting; violent, weird, pretty, blue, garish, small, loud - more power to them. It's a big world.
I also think they can use photos all they want. They can layer them like we used to do in school. They can be self-taught and skip school. Art should be very personal. But it's true that some extremely personal art is hard to look at.