The exhibition 'The Birthday Party' has sparked controversy during its exhibition in The Little Black Gallery in Chelsea / London. Apparently some neighbors have been shocked because part of the photographs show children with naked torso, in this regard they have come to qualify as 'semi pornographic'
The images represent small living an imaginary costume party. Seeing a pornographic image on the body of a child disguised in curious costumes is only possible from the point of view of some adults. Why the controversial photographs are nothing more than artistic creations of the Australian photographer, and resident in Paris, Vee Speers. Pornography is an attribute applied to literary or artistic works that are obscene, and it gives me the feeling that in the attempt to be more sensitive towards child pornography, there are people who go to the opposite extreme.
We have heard the news from the hand of Xataka Foto's colleagues, and the newspaper that sparked the controversy, the Huffington Post, has inserted an online survey to probe the opinion of the readers. The results? 34.14% of affirmative answers (today) to the statement 'the photos seem horrible and inappropriate to me', the truth is that the question is not formulated so that readers think about whether or not they are pornographic, so we can accept that they do not like them for different reasons.
Inspiration came to Vee photographing the youngest of her three daughters while dressing in different ways, and the truth is that I only see original and curious images. Do you want to know if I like them? I have a somewhat ambivalent opinion because on the one hand some of them seem pretty to me, although in general they convey a bit of concern due to the expression of the little ones and some of the outfits.
For example, I do not like to see a child holding a gun and with a helmet, and I feel rejection by one who wears an anti-gas mask and a rodent (I imagine lying) in a stocks, but in the end ... it's about art . What I have clear is that 'those photographs have nothing to do with pornography'
They should not have seen the same thing, however, the neighbors who shouted in the sky, since a lady complained even about how inappropriate they were having schools and a church nearby, and also said that when she passed by, she turned her head to Don't look out the window. ' Well, we must respect the tastes of others, although I think it is too forced to see something dirty in the images.
This exhibition has been staying in rooms around the world for several years and the models are her daughter and some classmates At the time of taking the photographs the children were between six and nine years old. Account Vee during an interview with BG Magazine, which somehow decided to portray 'the last days of childhood, which are also of innocence'
With regard to the education of children and with these attitudes, the only thing that is achieved is convey to children that instead of appreciating art and being critical of it, they should get carried away by prejudices. Afterwards, it doesn't surprise me that things like what I witnessed a few years ago occurred when a companion of my son (then six years old) called the drawing of 'The Birth of Venus' on a poster of artistic classes, such as 'a cochinada', where would the girl get that idea?
And by the way, the show will be in The little black Gallery until October 20
Images | Vee Speers More information | The little back Gallery, Vee Speers In Xataka Photo | A London gallery receives strong criticism for some photographs of minors taken by photographer Vee Speers
