8/12/2013

A Rights Revolution



Arne Svenson - Photographer










A Manhattan judge ruled this week that artistic freedom trumps the rights of parents who don’t want their kids secretly photographed through the windows of their homes.

Judge Eileen Rakower tossed a lawsuit brought by two parents against a Tribeca artist who snapped pictures of their children through their apartment windows as part of a controversial exhibition this year.

“What are the implications here for parents?” said a friend of the plaintiffs. “You can just have people shooting your kids in their bedrooms, and nothing can be done about it? You can’t just hide behind the word ‘art’ to behave poorly.”

Artist Arne Svenson photographed his Greenwich Street neighbors for an exhibit titled “The Neighbors.”

Making use of their floor to ceiling windows, he captured his innocent subjects engaged in a host of mundane activities, from cleaning the floor to playing with their kids.

But controversy erupted after Svenson’s models learned that they were being photographed without their knowledge — and that the images were being exhibited and sold for up to $10,000 each.

While these parents have a chance to close the curtains on their windows, passengers on Allegiant Airlines had no curtains to close.

Jessica Stroble
A woman and her male companion were charged this week in a Nevada federal court after the duo allegedly committed a number of “lewd, indecent, and obscene” sex acts on each other during a June flight from Oregon to Las Vegas.

After landing, Stroble, and her male friend Christopher Martin were escorted off the plane and questioned by Las Vegas police. If found guilty of the misdemeanor charges, Stroble and Martin each face up to 90 days in jail and a fine.   

However, I am not totally convinced that 90 days will be perceived as much of a deterrent against public sexual gratification on an airplane.

It is not just the passengers of Allegiant Airlines that are up in arms but a group of Manhattan residents are upset over the drunken nudity of females on the roof top of an upscale hotel.  It is not just that these females are baring their breasts but they are baring their bottoms as well.

Apparently, it is not just the bar at night that is causing the problem but there seems to be a lot of nudity around the pool area just after lunch when children are present with their parents.

So, whose rights will prevail?

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