Just a few items to add to the discussion (from Alabama):
I shop at the Barnes & Noble store in Montgomery Al. occasionally. I
have never seen Sturges' work in the front window or on display inside.
His book is available in the Photography section along with dozens of
others, all in the bookcase.
There is nothing to tie the clinic bombing to the book issue. There are a
lot of extremists around, some of whom go after school text books and some
who go after abortion clinics. I think they are all a little nuts. To
label them "Christians" gives them an undeserved hint of respectability.
Jock Sturges is only one of two whose books are being attacked. The other
is David Hamilton.
Why dont we hear it for David?
I am not on sure ground here but I think the Alabama law says that to
be illegal the children being photographed must be shown in a sexual
connotation. I think this would exempt Sturgis, but possibly not Hamilton.
I haven't seen any Hamilton work in the last several years but I seem to
recall some were sexually suggestive.
I think it is Barnes & Noble who is under attack. No one that I know of
is after Sturgis.
As a Matter of interest, I recently read that in the state of Ohio it
is illegal to photograph a person under 18 in the nude, period. Including
the baby on the bearskin rug.
I suspect the net effect of all this is that Sturgis will sell a lot
more books.
Cheers,
John Dixon, Tuscaloosa Al.
E-mail from: JOHN L. DIXON, 24-Feb-1998