Topic: Artists and their Freedom of Speech / Expression

[Nicole BM]

I've posted my concerns about artists / photographers and their freedom of speech / expression at
http://nicoleboenigmcgrade.blogspot.com/2009/01/artists-and-their-freedom-of.html
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this.

[hookstrapped]

I don't know how it is in Australia, but in the US often the limits to legislative overreach comes in the courts.  Either in lawsuits that argue the law is unconstitutional, or lawsuits that argue government / law enforcement acted in a manner contrary to the law.

It's a shame that the process is often so protracted, expensive, and damaging but that's often how it is in cases like this.

[db]

Bizarrely, even the silhouette (Rainman) in your 'Faceless' series would fall foul of the Arts Council guidelines if the subject was under 18 and you didn't have their 'permission slip' signed by the guardian.

The world has gone mad- or is it just Australia??   

[Ed Wenn]

I'm in the middle of reading a fantastic and very inspiring Time Life book from 25 years ago called, "Photographing Children"...the very title of which would raise an eyebrow these days. I suspect the majority of photos in this wonderful publication would fall foul of the same concerns as the photo that you mention in your blog post.

[db]

Quoted from Australia's Free Radical photographer's newsletter, and WA Today  this week..

Toddlers image sparks controversy in nanny state

The age of overzealous risk management and fear of upsetting the most sensitive of minds hit the West Australian arts community this week when an innocent photograph of two children without t-shirts was pulled from an exhibition.
Perth photographer Nicole Boenig-McGrade shot two young children pottering about on a typically Australian street for the exhibition entitled Kids in Suburbia. She  captured an image of childish activity that takes place in most suburbs every day.
Prominent arts figures contacted by WA today.com.au said the image was no different from that screened on countless nappy advertisements on television. Many questioned just what kind of a "nanny state" WA was becoming. The library manager charged with overseeing the exhibition in the Subiaco Library deemed the image too controversial to be hung. The decision was taken following the furore artist Bill Henson ignited when he showed an image of a naked 13-year-old girl at a Sydney exhibition last year.
Perth artists and gallery owners today questioned whether an arts specialist, instead of a bureaucrat, should have made the decision to pull the photo. The black and white picture by Boenig-McGrade shows a boy and a girl, both wearing pants, playing with chalk and a bucket on a suburban footpath. This morning the Subiaco Council reinstated the image in the exhibition. Deputy mayor Andrew McTaggart admitted the decision to pull the photograph was erring too far on the side of caution.
Artrage director Marcus Canning said the notion of restriction and censorship pained artists.
"In this instance a bureaucratic and administrative body has made the decision, and institutions have a tendency to play it safe," he said. "When risk management starts to filter down and results in an image as innocuous as this one being take out of the public eye it's getting a bit ridiculous."
read the full article at http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/toddlers-image-sparks-controversy-in-nanny-state-20090128-7ru3.html?page=-1

[artpunk]

It's all gone a bit mad!

Nicole, it wasn't until I got the freeradical newsletter today (which included the article that Don posted above me) that I put two and two together and realised the same Nicole who had sent me such a beautiful postcard of her daughter at ballet practice was the artist involved in the silliness in W.A. that I briefly caught a glimpse of on the news a little while back.
Funny (but not ha-ha) - but my wife whilst admiring the postcard, remarked to me that you (Nicole) were lucky to have been able to take the photo, as I had been told off for trying to photograph my daughter (then 5 or 6) at her ballet class a while ago...

btw - a plug for freeradical- whose site I also keep updated as its webmaster:  (hope you don't mind admins - if this is a problem I'll edit it out!) -
http://www.freeradicaloz.com/ -  free radical is a group of photographers supporting the art of photography. Membership is non discriminatory and is open to anyone with an interest in photography. It is a group given to the promotion of photography without the shackles of organisational dogma and excessive regulation and without taking itself too seriously. free radical is the fastest growing photographic group in the country with a membership of over 600 Australia wide. You too can become a free radical. Life membership is just $10. Go to the members page for joining info...

p.s. whilst the group has mainly Australian members we do have members from OS, the most recent member lives in Japan (no it wasn't Skorj)

and just to clarify & apologise to Nicole (sort of) for including this in her very important post - the free radical notes often bring up for discussion matters like these that should concern all photographers (and historians) ...

 

[Nicole BM]

Thank you, this has demanded much more attention than I expected.