The photograph (Klara & Edda Belly-Dancing, 1998) shows two young girls, one clothed and the other naked, both of whom have their legs spread open. It has previously been seen in several international exhibitions: Thanksgiving (White Cube, London, 2000), I Am A Camera (Saatchi Gallery, London, 2001), Le Feu Follet (Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2001), The Devil's Playground (Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 2002; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, 2002; Castello di Rivoli, Rome, 2002-2003; Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, 2003), and Still On Earth (Fundacao de Serralves, Porto, 2002).
BBC TV news reported on the image yesterday: "we're not showing you the whole picture; we've covered the bottom part of the photo". It has previously been printed (again in censored form) in the tabloid News Of The World (on 11th March 2001). There's a full-page reproduction of the original image in Goldin's monograph The Devil's Playground (2002).
Photographs of children by Robert Mapplethorpe, Graham Ovenden, Ron Oliver, Will McBride, David Hamilton, Tierney Gearon, and Annelies Strba have previously been seized by UK police as potentially obscene. In America, the FBI investigated photographers Jacqueline Livingston and Jock Sturges, though ultimately no charges were brought.
10 comments:
this image is paedophilic. how will these young girls feel when they are adults, knowing such an image was plastered all over the internet?! if it was me, i'd be mortified! what right do people have to post such images of children? HOW SELFISH.
Well what do we see two children one naked the other standing clothed what impression does this give the the viewer i really am puzzled to what if any this image is trying to give to the viewer is it trying to provoke a reaction outrage at the nakedness of the child and the position or is it my own uncomfort at seeing a child depicted in a manner like that?
It does make me feel uncomfortable and unsure of my response to it firstly the children are being themselves and not reacting in a adult fashion ie playing so let them but the adult in me says cover that child up put some clothes on but the overall idea i think is that the viewer is being forced to realise their misgivings not the children they are playing so to finish it si we as adults who have the problem not the kids as they are only playing and we need to look at ourselves and the society we have created for these children.
Sorry about the spelling mistake its late and I cannot spell!
We do feel uncomfortable when we see it, but is that because we are conditioned by Puritanism? Rationally, there is no reason for discomfort. Presumably the photo could be used for all kinds of purposes by pedophiles, but most people are not pedophiles and there's nothing pedophilic about the photo itself.
Wow, erm, the only problem I see with this photo is the lighting, that and the girl's cobbled-together outfit are the only things that make me feel uncomfortable.
One day people will realise that the human body is not offensive - it's the way modern man tries to hide it that's offensive.
It's not a good photo, but where is the offense? A naked child is offensive? A naked child makes you feel uncomfortable? Men have a body, women have a body, old people have a body, and children have a body too. There's nothing wrong in our bodies. Why do you feel uncomfortable when you see a naked body, whatever the age it is? If you see children genitals in a photo, does it mean that it's paedophilic? I just see a nude girl playing, and I don't care what a sick person can see in this picture. This picture is not porn!!
I agree with the poster above, it's not a good photo but it's just a couple girls playing. So what if one is nude? Haven't we all seen nude bodies before and of kids? Big deal. Since when did a naked human body become evil and sick? People are too hung up about sex nowadays and accuse everyone of being pedophiles, it's just getting ridiculous.
I would not be surprised if it's found that some of those who have commented above (in support of these perverse pics) are infact paedophiles and perverts including the one who posted and spread these pics.
So you are saying I'm a pervert (because I'm the one who posted the photo)?
But presumably you visited this page after searching for the photo? Why search for it if you think it's only for perverts?
I posted it here not because I'm a pervert, but because it was censored elsewhere.
Mat.
look, im not trying to be paedophile or anything and im not a pedo, im 14 but still its true that god did not invent clothes, but only our bodies. god did not make the human body for clothes. someone told me to look it up at school so i did and found this page. not my fault.
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