The key thing I grasped from this video was the fact that this debate has now been put out of proportion. As David Marr stated, this sort of material regarding sexualised children has been around prior to the internet, and even then, nothing was done about it. This is because the photographer is not in the wrong. Yes some people may dislike and disagree with the images, but no matter what seems to happen, nothing changes when it comes to the law regarding this situation.
Personally I do not see the point of these images, sure they are somewhat controversial, but I don’t think there is a need for them. These exact same images could be shot with people over the age of 18, and they would still make for great images. I believe people like Bill Henson do this not because they can’t do it with someone older, but because of the controversy that comes with the images. The controversy is spread further and faster these days due to the internet which in turn ends up bringing way to much attention to something that shouldn’t be that much of a big deal. In the end, no matter what we do about this topic, people will still continue to create images like this, and it seems that they will continue to get blown out of proportion.
From looking at forums including modelmayhem.com, it is clear that there are many people that feel the opposite than I do about these images. Some of the points raised is the fact that it is similar to children playing dress ups. On top of this, not everyone sees these images as sexually alluring, but rather see them as an interesting photo which isn’t typically seen on a day to day basis.
Hi James, you might want to expand on this post a bit as you need to specifically address the Vogue and Henson issues which are different in many ways (popular publication vs fine art context). Also, do read the article linked in the blog about Vogue - and take a position that is yours rather than the general "people think..." which is too vague.
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