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who?
Location: the phoenix metro
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art or child pornography? where do you draw the line?
Quote:
<i>as seen here:http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.c...80&xlc=1012347</i>
<b>River Walk art or child porn?
By Ihosvani Rodriguez
San Antonio Express-News
Web Posted : 06/15/2003 12:00 AM </b>
Jock Sturges used the beaches of France as the backdrop to his pictures of nude boys and girls, while Sally Mann chose her family's farm to shoot nudes of her children.
Benito Tovar went to the River Walk.
Sturges and Mann have garnered much controversy over their photographs of nude minors, but they've also received worldwide acclaim as artists.
Tovar is no artist, at least according to local prosecutors.
The part-time Domino's pizza employee and former photography student at San Antonio College was arrested Nov. 3, 2001, after tourists reported seeing him taking pictures of a naked young man in a semisecluded stretch of the River Walk, police records indicate.
Charged with inducing the sexual performance of a minor and possession of child pornography, Tovar faces up to 20 years in prison and the label of sex offender for the rest of his life.
The charges come to the dismay of Tovar, who says he's an aspiring artist looking to expand his photography portfolio. He claims the eight black-and-white photos of the teen in different stages of undress as his art of the male nude form.
Tovar, 33, is scheduled to go to court June 23 in what could become the latest stage for the centuries-old debate over the line between art and pornography.
"This whole thing is ridiculous. It's being pushed by short-mindedness and ignorance," Tovar said. "When are people going to learn that just because a person is naked, it doesn't mean it's something sexual?"
Tovar said he met the 16-year-old San Antonio boy on a VIA bus. He said he scheduled about 15 models, including the teen, to meet him that day on the River Walk in the King William area for a morning shoot.
The teen was the only one to show up.
Click, click, click went Tovar's camera and off the teen's clothes came until he was completely nude. Tovar said the teen spontaneously began taking off his clothes without being asked.
Moments later, Tovar was in handcuffs headed to a police station where officers questioned him and confiscated his camera and film. That's when Tovar claims he first realized his model was underage.
Tovar's attorney, David Cuellar, is mulling whether to let District Court Judge Juanita Vasquez-Gardner or a jury decide the matter.
Cuellar acknowledged there's a risk jury members may have their judgment influenced by the nudity and not focus on the laws relevant to the issues.
"His intentions were never of a sexual nature," Cuellar said. "They're going after him by saying that he induced the teen into doing a (lewd act). There is no clear definition of lewd, and there was nothing lewd if his intentions were solely artistic."
Cuellar said the teen merely was posing, not touching himself and not sexually aroused — possible indicators of lewdness.
Prosecutors, however, said the photos are so pornographic they wouldn't provide Cuellar or reporters with copies, forcing the defense attorney and a hired art expert to review the pictures in the district attorney's office.
Both prosecutors and the defense have given the same descriptions of the photos to reporters, differing only on their opinion whether it's art or porn.
"If I made copies of these, or distribute them, then I'd be here in court facing child porn charges," Assistant District Attorney Scott Simpson said. "The kid is underage, and this guy knew he was underage, and he was taking pictures of him. It's that simple."
Ina Minjarez, who'll be leading the prosecution's case, said the deeper issue is not so much the art or pornography, but rather the exploitation of a teen who had a troubled past.
Local child advocates agree.
"What worries me the most is what must've happened to this child in his past to get him to this point where he's willing to take off his clothes and not think there's anything wrong with it," said Dr. Nancy Kellogg, medical director for the Alamo Child Advocacy Center.
Kellogg said that at 16, most teens are more vulnerable to being sexually exploited because they are becoming more familiar with sex and may not think what they are doing is wrong.
Whether it's exploitation or not, images of young children and adolescents are nothing new in the art world, said Dr. Anne Higonnet, a professor of art history at Barnard College in New York City.
Higonnet wrote "Pictures of Innocence" about the history of nude children in art and changes in child pornography laws.
"People with no clothes, including children, have always been the staple of art throughout the history of humanity," Higonnet said. "And there's always been a very broad divider that separates art and pornography."
She pointed to the ancient Greeks, who regarded statues of nude male teens, called "Kouroi," as one of the most sacred of art forms. At the same time, definition of art varies from culture to culture and between individuals, she said.
In the late 1970s and early '80s, Americans began taking a more critical view of child pornography.
In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled child pornography doesn't fall under the right to free speech, and made no exceptions for artistic images.
Congress went further in 1984 by prohibiting the possession or creation of sexual images of anyone under the age of 17.
"This case has a lot of edges," Higonnet said of Tovar's case. "He's 16, still a minor, but almost an adult. He's not actually posing in a sexually suggestive manner, yet he's still a nude adolescent. (Tovar) might not possess aesthetic quality to his work, but he's still an artist if he truly considers it.
"Ultimately, this will all come down to the definition that your community gives to art and pornography. In this case, the community meaning the jury."
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okay... so where do you stand? where are these famous people right and this aspiring artist wrong? i am having real problems with the "child pornography hysteria" we've been noticing lately, it's just as bad as ashcroft covering up the statue behind him.
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My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.
- Thomas Paine
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