dancefloorlandmine

Now, I'll lay my cards on the table. I'm an agnostic, and an occasional photographer. I've taken photos of people posing in cemeteries myself. But I still think this guy deserves what he's getting, at least in the realm of the trespass action (I'm not really qualified to discuss blasphemy).

(And for those who want to see the photos which have got the Church so annoyed, the gallery is here. Bonus points offered for mocking his choice of name. Also, it's pretty much mostly NSFW - I'm slightly doubtful about the title of the gallery, "Fine Art Nude in Church Gallery".)

Now, am I over-reacting, or is taking photos of half-naked women frolicking on the altar of a working church, or sitting in the font, a little insensitive to the owners and users of the building? Or is this just a late resurgence of my high-church CofE public school early education? Yes, it's a beautiful building, and some of the models are reasonably attractive. But, basically, IMHO, sneaking in and effectively desecrating a church in the name of 'art'? Not so sure about that.

Feel free to fire up the engines of righteous indignation on both sides of the argument.

(Link courtesy of the fine folk at London Gothic Meetup Group.)

EDITED TO ADD
A bit of clarification:
I don't have any issue with the content of the photos, nor what they depict. Nudity in church? No issues there, either. It's just a couple of the photos that I feel cross the line of respect for others - the ones on the altar and in the font. Had he called up an architectural salvage company, and built a set himself - no problem. It's the use of those key items of a working church which I object to - it's just hard to explain exactly what I think is wrong about it in words - it's something like going into someone else's house and resting explicit polaroids against all of their wedding photos. Still thinking about it. I'd also object to scribbling in library books (even in pencil).
Also, this kind of thing results in the locking of church doors, which means that people like me who like to take photos of the insides of churches cannot do so.

EDIT 2
steer has done a bit of digging, and it looks like the photoshoots may well have taken place back in 2007, before he even moved to Cornwall, which would explain why he was being threatened with the no-longer-extant blasphemy offence. Strangely, however, the story broke again the day after he opened his new studio. Hmmmm.

... and the gentle scents that it brings upon the soft cooling breeze through my study door ... accelerants on neighbours' barbecues. [sigh]

These questions have been asked on feedback, but I thought I'd ask them of my Friends-list to find out what your approaches are:

* Is your Friends list more "the journals you read" or "the people who can see your Friends-only entries"? How do you use your Friends list?

* How do you find the people you add to your Friends list -- interest searches, recommendation, community memberships, something else? How do you decide who to add to your Friends list?

* What sort of "friending policies" do you have in place (even if you don't specifically call them that)? What factors do you take into account before friending or defriending someone?

( Colours, mast, nails, etc )