"Peeping Tom" artist wins court case.

[pErvinalia]

Art.

What say you?

Keep your shades down, New York.

A judge ruled this week that artistic freedom trumps the rights of parents who don't want their kids secretly photographed in the privacy of their own homes.

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

"What are the implications here for parents?" said a friend of the plaintiffs yesterday. "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."

Photographer Arne Svenson took photos of his across-the-street neighbors through their windows without them knowing and made an exhibit out of it.

In the shadows of his own residence across the street, artist Arne Svenson photographed his Greenwich Street neighbors for a show entitled "The Neighbors."

Making use of their floor to ceiling windows, he captured his clueless 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.

Matthew and Martha Foster sued Svenson - who likened himself to a "birdwatcher" - after realizing that their kids' pictures were being used to promote the exhibit in California and at the Julie Saul Gallery in Manhattan.

(continued...)

edit: sorry, forgot to add the link. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/peep ... 8bPxQ1csxM

[Trinity]

Art.

What say you?

Keep your shades down, New York.

A judge ruled this week that artistic freedom trumps the rights of parents who don't want their kids secretly photographed in the privacy of their own homes.

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

"What are the implications here for parents?" said a friend of the plaintiffs yesterday. "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."

Photographer Arne Svenson took photos of his across-the-street neighbors through their windows without them knowing and made an exhibit out of it.

In the shadows of his own residence across the street, artist Arne Svenson photographed his Greenwich Street neighbors for a show entitled "The Neighbors."

Making use of their floor to ceiling windows, he captured his clueless 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.

Matthew and Martha Foster sued Svenson - who likened himself to a "birdwatcher" - after realizing that their kids' pictures were being used to promote the exhibit in California and at the Julie Saul Gallery in Manhattan.

(continued...)

I would be seriously pissed off.

[tattuchu]

Holy shit. Not cool

[Kristie]

That's insane!

[Arse]

Its a bit cheeky, but then again how hard is it to pull your curtains?

[Trinity]

Its a bit cheeky, but then again how hard is it to pull your curtains?

I guess if I lived somewhere like that, I'd want my privacy so would put up blinds/thin nets but there are an awful lot of people who feel compelled to look in other people's homes, blatantly.

[Kristie]

I live in a neighborhood. And my curtains are all open right now. I love natural light, plus it saves on electricity since I don't have to turn on the lights. If people look in and see me cooking dinner, I really don't care. But as soon as they start snapping pics, that's crossing a line.

[Arse]

Net curtains don't block out natural light, and yet they do give a certain amount of privacy.

[Strontium Dog]

This is a country where you can follow kids through the streets while armed to the teeth, then shoot them when they take exception to it. Invading their privacy is small potatoes in comparison.

[Svartalf]

will the parents appeal? I'd like to see if the appeals court will throw out too.

[klr]

Now that's a really bizarre decision. It seems to take no account at all of the precedent it has seemingly set.

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

Now that's a really bizarre decision. It seems to take no account at all of the precedent it has seemingly set.

I doubt it actually set a precedent. This must have been addressed before with surveillance cameras, etc.

While legal, I do think that photographing people in the privacy of their own home without their knowledge or permission is going too far.

[Svartalf]

Now that's a really bizarre decision. It seems to take no account at all of the precedent it has seemingly set.

Do lower rung courts actually set precedent?

[klr]

Now that's a really bizarre decision. It seems to take no account at all of the precedent it has seemingly set.

I doubt it actually set a precedent. This must have been addressed before with surveillance cameras, etc.

While legal, I do think that photographing people in the privacy of their own home without their knowledge or permission is going too far.

Yes, but AFAIK, publishing or otherwise distributing surveillance photos or video footage can land you in very hot water.

[pErvinalia]

But it's art, man..