Elton John Owns Photo Seized By Police

Police Say Picture Of 2 Nude Women By Nan Goldwin Is Indecent

(AP)  Elton John said Wednesday that he owns a photo of two naked girls taken by award-winning photographer Nan Goldin that was seized by police at a British gallery.

John confirmed ownership of "Klara and Edda Belly-Dancing" in a statement on his Web site. He said it is among 149 images comprising Goldin's "Thanksgiving" installation.

Northumbria police said the photo was taken from the BALTIC Center for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, northeastern England. They confirmed Tuesday that an image had been taken from an exhibit "to assess whether or not an offense had been committed."

Both Goldin and the gallery have declined to comment.

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Photos: Sir Elton Turns 60

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"The photograph exists as part of the installation as a whole and has been widely published and exhibited throughout the world," the 60-year-old rocker said.

"It can be found in the monograph of Ms. Goldin's works entitled 'The Devil's Playground' (Phaidon, 2003), has been offered for sale at Sotheby's New York in 2002 and 2004, and has previously been exhibited in Houston, London, Madrid, New York, Portugal, Warsaw and Zurich without any objections of which we are aware."

John purchased the "Thanksgiving" installation in 1999, his statement said.

Goldin's frank and often sexually explicit work has drawn critical acclaim, as well as police attention.

In 2001, London police demanded that the Saatchi Gallery remove one of Goldin's photographs, saying it was indecent. The gallery refused, and officials later backed down, saying there was no realistic prospect of securing a conviction in the case.

[bizzzz-2009]

I love how this article is buried.
What?
The child photos have a name-"Klara and Edda Belly-Dancing?
They were shot by Nan Goldin?
They''re owned by Elton John?
It must not be child porn.

[jennmarie620]

God forbid that art gallery, or any other art gallery in Northumbria, happen to secure the Statue of David for a show ... the police would probably confiscate it and then smash it to smitherines! Jeez, it''s called ARTWORK. People need to get over themselves.

[puzzler125]

How old are the girls in the picture? Are they bellydancing or is it possibly a euphemism for something else?

[oleander8]

People don''t come more prudish than we Americans. This article doesn''t say the British people objected to the picture - it was confiscated by the Northumbria police. Good grief!

[mythoughtsr]

Add prudish to the list for Britain. Are people really this ridiculous that they can''t handle nude portraits/photographs/paintings? Do they realize how foolish they sound? If you don''t like it, DON''T LOOK AT IT! Good grief.