Australian police have dropped an investigation of Bill Henson’s work and have announced that no charges will be filed against the artist.
Last month, the police raided a showing of Mr. Henson’s work, seized 20 of his photographs, and announced they were “likely” to press obscenity charges over the depiction, in the 20 images, of a nude adolescent girl and boy.
However, today the New South Wales (NSW) Police reversed their position following advice from the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdery, who told them there was no reasonable prospect of a successful conviction.
Australian law prohibits “depict[ing] a child under the age of 16 years in a sexual context.” It seems the Director of Public Prosecutions now joins the many people who have argued that Mr. Henson’s images do not depict a child in a sexual context.
Mr. Henson responded to the news in part by saying he had found support extended to him over the past weeks “profoundly humbling”.
This appears to end the legal battle over Mr. Henson’s images, but in my opinion, it does not end the cultural “battle” over the many issues raised by the images and their confiscation. People of good faith on both sides of the line have expressed legitimate concerns in this matter, and I believe those concerns need attention. Ideally, some kind of productive dialog will come out of this.
References:
Henson in Clear: Prosecution Scrapped
Naked Photo Future Humbling — Henson
Sydney Nude Art Inquiry Dropped
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6 responses so far ↓
blixity // June 6, 2008 at 8:18 am
ah! thank you for posting this. good to hear. we’ve been posting about this case as well here at http://www.blixity.com since the initial police seizure. it certainly has roiled people at on both sides. like you say, the larger controversy will undoubtedly continue. drop by and let us know what you think.
Dana Hunter // June 8, 2008 at 12:02 am
Good for Bill! I hope he can go on celebrating the human body without fear of prosecution now.
Gregory Carlin // June 8, 2008 at 4:17 am
“Good for Bill! I hope he can go on celebrating the human body without fear of prosecution now.”
Only if he sticks to Oz, Cambodia, and Japan,
Paul // June 9, 2008 at 4:26 pm
@ Dana: I completely agree with the sentiment this is a very good thing for Mr. Henson, for the arts, and for society in general. I would beg to point out, however, that Mr. Henson’s images do not seem to me to celebrate the human body so much as they seem to reveal the emotions of adolescence. A slight difference, perhaps, but one I think interesting.
@ Gregory: Welcome to the blog!
Gregory Carlin // June 21, 2008 at 3:56 pm
If a 13 year old has agency to say yes to Bill, she has agency to go into internet publishing on her own account to cut out the middle-man.
There is no logic to the pro-Henson faction, there really isn’t which is why the US and EU people have turned their backs on the hick cousins in Oz,
Serious galleries don’t want a child porn franchise!
The fact that Oz galleries got sucked into a child porn syndicate is proof positive, they’ve a way to go.
Paul // June 22, 2008 at 2:16 am
Hello, Gregory. We’ll have to agree to disagree on the question of whether Mr. Henson’s work is child porn. I happen to think it clearly is not. But I recognize you do not share my opinion on that.
We will also need to agree to disagree on the notion that people from Australia are hicks. I happen to believe it’s absurd to suggest the entire population of a country are hicks.
Thank you for you comments!
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