A Nan Goldin photo entitled “Thanksgiving” which was part of an exhibition of works owned by Elton John was seized last month as part of a child pornography probe. Authorities now say there will be no charges in the case.
Reuters reports: “Northumbria CPS said it had told police there was insufficient evidence to justify proceedings for possession or distribution of an indecent photograph. It said it had investigated the picture by U.S. photographer Nan Goldin in 2001 when it was part of another exhibition at the Saatchi gallery in London and had decided then that it was not indecent. Kerrie Bell, head of CPS Northumbria's South Unit, added: ‘In order to prove that the photograph is indecent we must be satisfied that contemporary standards of propriety are so different now to what they were in 2001, that it is more likely than not that a court will conclude that the photograph is indecent. I am not satisfied that is the case. Even if the photograph was now considered to be indecent, a defendant would be able to raise a legitimate defence, given that the photograph was distributed for the purposes of display in a contemporary art gallery after having been deemed not to be indecent by the earlier investigation.”
You can see the photograph here.
