If you are a New Yorker,
you might have heard of the controversy surrounding Arne Svenson. A celebrated
photographer specializing in people portraits and an uncanny eye for quirk, his
latest collection entitled ‘The Neighbours’ has landed him into a legal soup.
The collection is a series
of shots taken of the apartments opposite Svenson’s Tribecca home in 2012. The
shots were taken secretly with Svenson’s zoom lenses. They capture mundane but
intimate moments of modern domestic life, and each image is now up for sale at
prices ranging around USD $7,500.
Needless to say, the
collection has been seen as a breach of privacy. Although the shots have been
cleverly taken (as a form of art) and disguise the subject’s actual identity,
Svenson is facing a lawsuit from Martha and Matthew Foster who claim certain
shots of their young children “are clearly recognizable” and pose a danger to
their safety.
Svenson’s response to this
was “For my subjects, there is no question of privacy. The neighbours don’t
know they are being photographed; I carefully shoot from the shadows of my home
into theirs.” If I was in his neighbours’ shoes, I’d find this comment
infuriating. It’s one thing that space-starved New Yorkers know better than to
expect privacy in their glass-and-steel residential boxes, but it’s a completely
different ball-game when your daily duties are printed and posted as sellable
art for the world to see.
Svenson’s lawyer is looking
for solace under the First Amendment of Rights that gives artists a freedom of
expression, thereby making such actions legal. But what about the subjects in
question? It is a heated debate.
We have read of
controversies surrounding celebrities who yearn for privacy. They say it’s the
price they have to pay for fame. Now everyday people are entering the same
mess. Would you appreciate finding an image of yourself cleaning the toilet
(even if your face cannot be seen), and read it’s a hot-seller in a glorified
art gallery? Rather disturbing I’d say. Keep the curtains down and beware of
artsy neighbours!
- Big Sis.
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