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A_Wanderer

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POLICE have seized more than 20 nude photos of an underage girl by Bill Henson from a Sydney gallery and charges are expected.

A number of officers from Rose Bay command and the Child Protection and Sex Crimes Squad entered the inner-city Paddington premises of Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery to execute a search warrant just before midday.

A storm has erupted over the exhibition by leading photographer Henson, which features photos of naked 12- and 13-year-old children among its 41 works but was shut down before it could open.

The seized photographs were of the same girl, who was not from NSW and was believed to be 13 years old, said Rose Bay commander Superintendant Allan Sicard.

Superintendant Sicard said prosecutions were "likely" although he could not confirm whether they would be laid against Henson or the gallery.

"The images depict a child under the age of 16 years of age in a sexual context," he said.

Investigations were continuing, but Superintendant Sicard said the relevant offence was publishing an indecent article under the Crimes Act.

"It's likely that a future court attendance notice will be issued ... upon the completion of investigation,'' Superintendant Sicard said.

The raid was carried out as the gallery owner said it would withdraw the controversial images from the exhibition, which was shut down yesterday.

The Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery said today it would withdraw a number of works that have attracted controversy, and re-open without them.

"Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery will remain closed while the current exhibition is re-hung," it said in a statement.

Kevin Rudd today labelled the images "revolting".

NSW Law Society president Hugh Macken said that if an artist could prove nudity of children was depicted for artistic purposes only then a prosecution was unlikely to succeed.

``The depiction of the human form in art has caused controversy for thousands of years. There's nothing new in this,'' he said.

While not commenting specifically on the Henson issue, Mr Macken said: ``There are two elements to the law: the act and the intention.

``If (photos) show full-frontal nudity of children under 16, that's it.

``But if the artist says this was done for no gratification but for artistic purposes only, then there was no intention of committing the offence.''

For prosecutions to succeed they needed to establish there was such an intention, Mr Macken said.

``If the defence can establish pure artistic intention I can't see how any charges if brought would be successful.''

If an artist produced an image for hanging in a public gallery, it was easier to say their intention was to create art than it was for someone who downloaded it and put it on a personal computer rather than on a poster on their living room wall.
20 teen nude photographs seized from gallery, charges expected | The Australian
 
It's just yuck and for the artists rep and the gallery owners to say (as they have in subsequent news articles that have exploded in all the oz papers) they are suprised and shocked at the reaction :sigh:

Irresponsible of photographer, gallery owner and parents of the kids all round - absolutely falls under the banner of 'what were they thinking'? :grumpy:
 
I saw that a few days ago and I couldn't help thinking "oooh! the police are going all Mapplethorpe on that poor guy."

Nice to see it happens other places too. Now you can't laugh at us quite as much. :wink:
 
I saw that a few days ago and I couldn't help thinking "oooh! the police are going all Mapplethorpe on that poor guy."

Nice to see it happens other places too. Now you can't laugh at us quite as much. :wink:
You have the first amendment, I envy you.
 
This sounds like a bit of a smackdown of the police and some "outraged" politicians. Brought a smile to my face. :D

IT'S official. The picture of the naked girl that sparked the Bill Henson fuss is not pornography.

The sight of her on an invitation to the photographer's Sydney exhibition two weeks ago provoked shock and outrage, but the Classifications Board has now declared the picture "mild" and safe for many children.

Yesterday the Herald also learned that the Director of Public Prosecutions was on the verge of advising NSW police that any prosecution of Henson was unlikely to succeed. In Canberra, Federal Police also announced that no charges would be laid over photographs in the Australian National Gallery.

The Henson affair appears close to collapse.

Police seized 32 of his photographs from the Roslyn Oxley9 gallery in Paddington on May 23 following uproar on talkback radio. The Premier, Morris Iemma, declared the pictures "offensive and disgusting" and the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, called them "absolutely revolting".

Since then, Henson photographs have been removed from the walls of two regional NSW galleries and impounded at the National Gallery. Stacks of the invitation, along with copies of Art World, a new magazine containing Henson images, have also been seized by NSW police.

But the Classification Board, under its new chief, former ABC head Donald McDonald, is far less troubled by Henson's work. Earlier this week it cleared five images - four of them had been partly censored - and it has now given the young girl on the invitation a rating of PG.

The board's guidelines state: "Material classified PG may contain material which some children find confusing or upsetting, and may require the guidance of parents or guardians. It is not recommended for viewing or playing by persons under 15 without guidance from parents or guardians."

The picture came to the board for classification when it was found in a blog discussing pornography and the sexualisation of children. The classifiers found the "image of breast nudity … creates a viewing impact that is mild and justified by context … and is not sexualised to any degree".

While a minority of the board thought the impact of the picture was "moderate", none of the classifiers called for any restriction on its display.

On the politician side, I have to say Malcolm Turnbull is looking pretty sensible on this subject. This is from about a week ago:

Malcolm Turnbull has criticised the police raids of galleries displaying the work of photographer Bill Henson.

"I don't believe that we should have policemen invading art galleries," the Opposition treasury spokesman said on Sky News.

"I think we have a culture of great artistic freedom in this country."

Mr Turnbull's comments follow police inquiries at two galleries yesterday - the Newcastle Regional Gallery and the National Gallery of Victoria.

Last Friday, the Albury Regional Gallery took down three photographs by Henson on police advice. Police also raided the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Paddington and seized a number of images.

Mr Turnbull said he had two of Henson's photographs in his home - one of a face in profile and the other of a sunset.

But Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today said he was unapologetic and would stand by his criticism.

"I gave my reaction. I stand by that reaction and I don't apologise for it and I won't be changing it," Mr Rudd told reporters in Canberra.

"I am passionate about children having innocence in their childhood."

It was not appropriate for politicians to comment or intervene with the legal process, he said.

"It is properly in the hands of independent processes."

He said he was unaware that Mr Turnbull owned a couple of Henson photographs.


Both articles from the SMH.
 
Am I a hypocrite for agreeing that the police and media should have been more level headed in their handling of this and that whilst the photos are not pornographic I still think they are inappropriate given the age of the subjects, and that the artist and parents of subjects should have forseen some level of controversy when embarking on this particular endeavour? Context is everything
 
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