Bill Henson may not be a paedophile, but sure acts like it

What?!

Last week, the Herald Sun published this story of controversial photographer Bill Henson rising yet again to defend his infamous photographs of nude children.

Readers will remember the outrage over a set of photographs two years ago that catapulted Henson into the public spotlight. It questioned where to draw the line between art and pornography and whether employing children for such means was fine as long as the outcome was not in the interest of self-gratification.

What is interesting about this particular story, however, is that the author carefully paints Henson’s media image into that of a possible paedophile, not unlike the hum around Michael Jackson, making the reader wonder what kind of a person Henson is.

Wouldn’t it be peachy if Henson was indeed pursuing his passion for self-gratification? In other words, if Henson was revealed to be a paedophiliac, wouldn’t all who accused him experience a self-satisfying feeling of ‘I told you so’ righteousness?

The media is like a poacher, setting a snare that does not guarantee a catch but the temptation is too big to pass up.

The story also made an interesting selection of Henson’s quotes to keep the reader guessing:

The comment that “children consent to all kinds of significant things” is perhaps not unlike those of convicted child molesters who claim that their act was done by consent.

Furthermore, Henson’s argument that children posing nude for artistic photography has no “documented results of physical or psychological damage” and "to say that children can't consent to a thing like that is sheer nonsense" lacks credibility and is rudely dismissive of his critics.

The supplied video has Henson admit that controversial art exists to challenge social norms and that art does not play by the rules – “that’s not how imagination works”. The story thus permits Henson to bend certain rules to allow him to survive this confrontation and set him up for the next.