Photos 'in realm of porn' under state laws Email Printer friendly version Normal font Large font Michael Bachelard and John Mangan May 25, 2008
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Artwork by Simon O'Dwyer based on an early work by controversial Melbourne photographer Bill Henson.
25.5.08 The Age
The controversial career of Bill Henson
ARTIST Bill Henson's controversial photographs would be considered "in the realm of pornography" if they were displayed in Victoria, according to a leading criminal lawyer.
But NSW Police have not yet asked their Victorian counterparts to help in the investigation, despite the fact that Henson lives in Melbourne.
It is unclear whether Henson made his controversial photographs here, but a Victoria Police spokeswoman said they would do nothing "until NSW Police work out where the images were made". If asked to act, they would.
Stella Stuthridge, who has defended people accused of child pornography, said she was unaware of any defence on the basis of artistic merit in Victoria, nor any way in which a child or parent could consent to being part of making pornography.
It was a crime in Victoria to make any depiction of a minor "in an indecent sexual manner or context", Ms Stuthridge said.
"If you were under 16, it would be unusual if parent or child was able to consent to child pornography, for obvious reasons … in my experience, Victorian child porn laws have been very strict.
"My advice to clients would be that it's simply an age issue … Everyone takes happy snaps of their naked babies, but teenage girls taken between 10 and 16, it would be in the realm of pornography, especially if it was open for public display."
If Henson is charged in NSW, he cannot also be charged over the same images in Victoria.
As police pondered whether to charge Henson, others condemned any threat of prosecution and called on senior politicians to defend creative freedom.
Publisher Michael Heyward, who had planned to attend the launch of Henson's exhibition before police seized images from a Sydney gallery, said that the outcry was "completely hysterical".
"I now live in a country where we're not allowed to see the work of one of our major artists," said Mr Heyward, head of Text Publishing.
"It's extremely disappointing that the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the NSW Premier and the NSW Leader of the Opposition have denounced his work.
"This is the moment for a senior politician to come out and say something in defence of the principle of creative freedom in this country. Who is going to have the courage to do that?"
Henson had his first exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1975, aged 19. He has represented Australia at the Venice Biennale in 1995 and his work is in many national and international galleries and collections.
