Here we go again …

[r_a_feldman]

PetaPixel (https://petapixel.com/2025/01/07/texas-police-seize-photographs-from-sally-mann-exhibition-modern-art-museum-fort-worth/) is reporting that police in Texas have seized some of Sally Mann’s photographs from an exhibit at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth:

“However, after a reporter from The Dallas Express visited the exhibit and accused the museum of ‘promoting child porn’, authorities have begun attacking Mann and the museum. The online newspaper shared photos of Mann’s work displayed at the museum that show a naked girl jumping on a table and a boy with his genitals exposed and liquid running down his body. …

‘There are images on display at this museum that are grossly inappropriate at best. They should be taken down immediately and investigated by law enforcement for any and all potential criminal violations. Children must be protected, and decency must prevail,’ Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare previously tells The Dallas Express.”

[paulbarden]

You should see the letter (https://glasstire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Danbury-Institute-Letter.jpg?x88956) that this faction submitted to the museum. It's a real eye-opener.
Read the full article posted by Glasstire (https://glasstire.com/2025/01/07/police-report-filed-against-the-modern-art-museum-of-fort-worth-county-judge-calls-for-investigation-of-the-museum/). It's very thoughtful.

Diane Durant is a Fort Worth photographer who is quoted in the article as saying:

Fort Worth-based photographer and educator Diane Durant, who often depicts her daughter in her work, offered Glasstire her opinion about the complaints made by Tarrant County residents. She remarked, “Whoever is making these complaints is clearly projecting their own perversion onto the work — you see what you want to see, I guess — and doesn’t know much, if anything, about Sally Mann, her photographic oeuvre, or even what it’s like, as a parent-artist, to photograph your kids for public consumption.” Ms. Durant’s comments echo statements made by Ms. Mann, who has said, “All too often, nudity, even that of children, is mistaken for sexuality, and images are mistaken for actions.”

(Emphasis mine)

[Michael R]

“decency must prevail”… seems like the kind of thing you say when you’re doing some indecencies.

Anyhow, while Sally Mann’s photography isn’t my cup of tea, these photos have been in the collections of great art institutions for a long time now, so she don’t need no yahoos no how.

[nolindan]

This sort of thing used to happen in Massachusetts - "Banned in Boston..." the headlines would read.

[jnantz]

This sort of thing used to happen in Massachusetts - "Banned in Boston..." the headlines would read.

I used to serve coffee to someone about 28 years ago whose work was seized by the police at a Boston area lab, and her kids ( under 7ish ) were threatened to go into state custody. I never saw the photographs but they were described as artful nudes of her naked kids at a "north shore" beach ... lab called the cops.

[paulbarden]

I used to serve coffee to someone about 28 years ago whose work was seized by the police at a Boston area lab, and her kids ( under 7ish ) were threatened to go into state custody. I never saw the photographs but they were described as artful nudes of her naked kids at a "north shore" beach ... lab called the cops.

I said this elsewhere this morning (in another discussion about the seizure of the Mann photographs in TX): If anyone had suggested to my mother that taking photographs of her 4 and 5 year old children playing in the bathtub was in any way "obscene" or "offensive", she'd have been astonished. The only difference in Mann's case is that 1) she's a skilled photographer with the making of genuine art in mind, and 2) she had the balls to share the photos with the world.

[Michael R]

Yeesh I just read the open letter. Talk about obscene. It's what the internet kids used to call "cringe".

[paulbarden]

Yeesh I just read the open letter. Talk about obscene. It's what the internet kids used to call "cringe".

I find the language and intent of that letter to be immensely more offensive than (supposedly) the images that were seized when the Police raided the museum. It's tragic how much power some of these zealots can summon when they have opted for outrage. I can just hear my mother now, saying "Keep that up and I'll give you something to cry about!" LOL

I wonder if the Fort Worth Museum will consider bringing the Mapplethorpe collection down for a showing?

[Bob Kerner]

A couple of thoughts. Just because someone says “that’s how I make my art” doesn’t mean it might not also be offensive or illegal. I think there might be a legitimate bone to pick with some of the images and I wouldn’t dismiss someone’s concern just because the “art” label was applied to the work.

By the same token, we’re moving toward being an outrage society where people get worked up over the most trivial thing, and call for book bans etc. I don’t find her work appealing in any way, and I won’t buy her books or go to an exhibit. I vote with my feet and wallet, it doesn’t rise to the level of outrage.

[Pieter]

There is much more suggestive imagery featuring underage subjects in advertising and all over the internet. Nobody seems to feel compelled to take any action about it. The Texas case is a bunch of over-zealous closet perverts.

[Willie]

Possible that current events can change how this is viewed.
Roe vs Wade was overturned by the Supremes.
What happens if this one hits the Supremes?

Things are changing.

[paulbarden]

There is much more suggestive imagery featuring underage subjects in advertising and all over the internet. Nobody seems to feel compelled to take any action about it. The Texas case is a bunch of over-zealous closet perverts.

Surely "sex in advertising" is a much bigger societal problem than a handful of art photographs depicting the photographer's pre-pubescent children at play? I find a lot of what I see in advertising to be far more offensive in that it clearly uses sex and titilation to sell a product. Some of it is really horrible. If anyone feels the need to "save the children from offensive content", surely a lot of what is created in advertising is a much more worthy target.

[paulbarden]

Possible that current events can change how this is viewed.
Roe vs Wade was overturned by the Supremes.
What happens if this one hits the Supremes?

Things are changing.

And little of it is change for the better.

[nolindan]

The Puritans have always been with us: Cromwell, Salem Mass., Taliban ... At least in this case they aren't running the government. But it is decidedly a case of "Here we go again..."

A statement on the Danbury Institute website (https://www.danburyinstitute.org/) is interesting:


"While it was not perfect, the America we grew to love was characterized by civility, mutual respect, the merit of honest debate, an appreciation for a diversity of thought and opinion, a freedom to bring ambition to fruition, and an overall acceptance of the facts of physics, biology and logic."

Seems a bit at odds with the their open letter.

[paulbarden]

The Puritans have always been with us: Cromwell, Salem Mass., Taliban ... At least in this case they aren't running the government. But it is decidedly a case of "Here we go again..."

A statement on the Danbury Institute website (https://www.danburyinstitute.org/) is interesting:


"While it was not perfect, the America we grew to love was characterized by civility, mutual respect, the merit of honest debate, an appreciation for a diversity of thought and opinion, a freedom to bring ambition to fruition, and an overall acceptance of the facts of physics, biology and logic."

Seems a bit at odds with the their open letter.

At odds? It's a blatant contradiction! The Danbury's actions are the polar opposite of the values expressed in their manifesto!! "Diversity of thought and opinion" my arse.