Art?

Sometimes there are things that really blow my mind and right now it’s this Bill Henson thing. For those of you who don’t know Bill Henson is a photographer and there is an exhibition of his work going, well it was closed down for a few days because it was raided and certain works confiscated. The controversy is this – in the exhibition were some nude pictures of an (allegedly) 12 year old boy and 13 year old girl.
In my opinion it’s completely fair that these pictures have been removed. If this was some guy showing pictures of naked kids on the street corner, or with a stash of pics on his computer or in a shoebox in his cellar, we’d be yelling for him to be sent to prison. This guy happens to be an artist so people are now saying we can’t complain or shut it down because that would be censorship of art.
Bollocks to that. Just because the photos are artistic – read black and white and well lit – doesn’t mean it is acceptable to have them shown in public. Bay all you want about ‘who the hell do I think I am – the morality police’, and what right do I have to tell you what is or isn’t morally acceptable. Bottom line is these are kids. We should be protecting them, not exploiting them. We should be looking out for them not taking a position that says ‘well as long as it’s artistic then it’s alright’. That attitude opens a floodgate I don’t want open, even though in some cases it’s obviously already been opened. If we don’t say something now people are going to realize they can do just about anything and get away with it as long as they say it’s art, and lets face it some people do already.
One line of comment is that Henson is a renowned artist (a point I won’t argue – I’ve seen some of his work). Well so what, it’s not hard to have your models keep their clothes on. His work with clothed models is intriguing. And yes the argument would be different if the models were older, once people hit a certain age they have the right and hopefully knowledge to make their own choices.
The other thing supporters are saying is that the images aren’t sexualized. Here’s where I think it’s not so simple. We live in a highly sexualized society, so many images thrust at us are sexual in one way or another. Movies and tv used to imply/suggest sex, now they just show it. Advertising shoves it down our throats. When we sexualize so much how is that we are surprised when something whose subject is obviously indicative of sexuality (nudity) is condemned for being sexual.
We want to have it both ways. We want to say images of naked kids are pornographic and we shouldn’t sexualize children but this is okay because it is art. Well I don’t think that’s good enough. I think it’s terrifying in a way but mostly incredibly sad that we find ourselves here.
There are many comments about the photographer but what about the parent/s of the models? No-one should be able to make that kind of decision for someone else – not even a parent (there is simply no way I would let my children do it). How do you even contemplate it for your children? And these children – for that is what they are – don’t have enough knowledge or life experience to make an informed decision about doing something like this. What happens when they are older? What if they regret it? It’s not something they can take back. My thoughts turn to so many negative possibilities. “I’ve already seen you naked so we may as well…” You know what I mean. Perhaps I’m being overly negative but surely it’s got to be a consideration.
We need to realize that images like this are put into the public domain and no matter what our intentions may have been when we produced them, we can’t control what the public think or their interpretations. And truthfully to me displaying pics like that does convey a definite tone of – it’s alright to look at naked children. From there how many steps is it to more explicit pictures, more than looking, and so on? Sure many people wouldn’t think that but what about those that do? And the lives they end up effecting. Then again maybe I only think that because my life has intersected with people from those places we wish didn’t exist. Take picture by all means. Be artistic. But please take the time to realize some boundaries simply don’t need to be pushed. I know we can’t be responsible for someone else’s actions but we can sometimes limit the repercussions our actions produce.