I'm not sure if this has make the US media or if anyone has posted this else where on the forums. But I feel it's worthy of debate in the sexuality thread. Mods, if you have any problem with what I've linked to please let me know.
In the last week or so the Australian media and the community in general has been up in arms over a photo exhibition by a well known Australian photographer and artist Bill Henson.
The exhibition has a number of photos featuring young teenage boys and girls posing nude. To make it very clear, the photos were taken with the consent of both the children in the photos and their parents. Henson has been doing similar work for almost 30 years, and children who have been in previous photos and are now adults have come out in defense of the artist saying they have absolutely no regrets and felt completely safe during the photo shoots.
This however, did not stop the New South Wales police from pressing charges against Henson, and taking down not just the new exhibition, but any other photos around the country featuring similar works by Henson.
The media, of course, has jumped all over this, and has cause sharp divide in the community.
People on one side say that this is nothing more than child pornography, others say that this is valid art. One major problem is the actual definition of child pornography under Australian federal law, and New South Wales state law. However, this will be a matter for the Australian courts to decide, and I personally believe that Henson's name will be cleared.
I will post a link to some of the pictures which have been censored. But I would like to ask the wider TFP on their thoughts. Some questions I'd like to ask are:
- Do nude photos, even if they are of underage persons, constitute pornography when the artists intention was NOT to depict the subject in a sexual manner?
- Do the young teenagers in these photos have the right to consent, and for that matter, to the parents have the right to give consent on their behalf?
- Do you feel that this exploiting the young teenagers in the photos?
- Should the community at large, be mature enough to appreciate the human form, even of young teenagers? Or is this simply a line we shouldn't cross?
- Is it right that this can be considered pornography, yet underage models are constantly used in the media in sexually suggestive poses clothed?
This will be a fiery debate I'm sure, but I would ask that people try to debate the issue in an intelligent and objective manner.
Here is a selection of photos
here