Children who posed naked for a controversial art exhibition will today be interviewed by police investigating whether a prominent photographer and Sydney art gallery breached child pornography laws.
Police last night raided the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Paddington, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, just hours before the opening of the exhibition by photographer Bill Henson.
The exhibition shows photographs of naked children as young as 12 in a variety of poses - some of which may have been taken up to a decade ago.
Henson has been called one of the "leading contemporary artists" by the Art Gallery of NSW - but his obsession with pre-teen nudity was slammed yesterday as little more than a fetish for child porn.
"He has a tendency to depict children naked and that is porn," said child protection campaigner Hetty Johnston of Bravehearts.
Late yesterday detectives swooped on the Eastern Suburbs gallery, interviewing owners Roslyn and Tony Oxley and Henson over the content of the exhibition.
The Daily Telegraph understands that a squad of police spent several hours yesterday examining the photographs of boys and girls believed to be about 12 years of age.
Detectives from the Child Exploitation Internet Unit were also called in to investigate the contents of the gallery's website.
The web page displayed all 41 of the naked images with just a click of a button, but they have now been taken down and a spokesman from the Australian Communication and Media Authority said the web link was being investigated.
While the models are apparently Australian, the website appears to have been sourced from another country, making it hard for Australian authorities to act.
Ms Johnston called the unit a "toothless tiger" and said that even art should be classified.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma also weighed in from China, condemning the exhibition.
"I find it offensive and disgusting. I don't understand why parents would agree to allow their kids to be photographed like this," Mr Iemma said.
Henson last night defended his exhibition, telling The Australian: "You can't control the way individuals respond to the work."
He said he was interested in exploring "something which is absolutely inviolate and unknowable".
Henson revealed the pictures were taken in his Melbourne studio and that the children were not professional models. He recently explained his obsession with the naked form in an interview for the industry magazine Art World.
"You apply yourself to the maximum of your ability but nature is always a step ahead of you.
"These portraits are much more connected to the suburban dimension of my work. Right down to the skanky fingernail polish she's wearing," he said.
"But I think the more you look at her the more she draws back. There's an incredible sense of displacement. The models seem to get in a trance. And the slower their movements are, the more interesting they become."
The Daily Telegraph understands the exhibition was never classified officially, as art is considered exempt, and that the exhibition and the web page will be investigated separately.
NSW Minister for the Arts Frank Sartor saw the images - some of which may have been taken up to a decade ago - yesterday and said they crossed the line. "I have been shown some of the images and I don't like them," he said.
"I'm sure these images will be debated by the community.
"Ultimately, I think these images do push the boundaries and I can understand why people would be offended."
Gallery manager Amanda Rowell said the reaction was blown out of proportion.
"It has never been like this before. This is no different to any other exhibition he's had and he's had many exhibitions here," she said. "He's a master, there's no one in the world like him."