Controversial photographer Henson speaks out

Bill Henson, the celebrated artist whose photograph of a nude child in 2008 was slammed as "revolting" by then prime minister Kevin Rudd, last night said it was "sheer nonsense" for critics to argue that a child did not have the capacity to consent to modelling nude. "People do get confused with notions of consent and harm," Henson told a sympathetic audience of 700 at Federation Square, with several hundred more watching on an outdoor video screen. "A 10-year-old can consent to something that might otherwise be unlawful assault - dental work," he said. [...]

Schools and parents also gave consent for children to participate in potentially harmful activities every day, he said. "I'm talking about the harm that results from under-age contact sport," he said. "Imagine being a happy, healthy, 12-year-old boy kicking a football around one minute and then finding yourself in a wheelchair the rest of your life." "There's no specific documentation to suggest anywhere, so far as my legal researchers have been able to discover, that shows that life modelling by children for artists results in physical or psychological damage."

source: Article 'Controversial photographer Henson speaks out' by Megan Levy; www.theage.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/controversial-photographer-henson-speaks-out-20100802-113bw.html; THE AGE; 3 August 2010