Alison Croggon is an Australian writer and critic. She is also the driving force behind the 2020 Open Letter in Support of Bill Henson, a letter signed on to by a couple dozen luminaries of the Australian arts and culture scene. The night before last I decided I would e-mail her, and she’s been kind enough to assent to my posting  the resulting correspondence:

From: tony@comstockfilms.com
Subject: CensorshipDate: May 29, 2008 2:57:51 PM EDT
To: alisoncroggon@xxxx.net.au

Where were you and your friends when police were sent to prevent the screening of my film last year in Melbourne? Or the year before that in Sydney?

Rather stark, but it does get to the point. It also got a response… (more…)

Traffic is up 100% today, the increase entirely in the form of visitors from Sweden, and a bunch of sales to Sweden today too. Must have been something in print because we’re not seeing any inbound Swedish  links. I wonder what it was? If anyone knows, please tell us!

Another really nice review of one of our films from Essin’Em. Last time it was ASHLEY AND KISHA, this time it’s DAMON AND HUNTER. It’s a very positive, dare I say insightful review. This is my favorite part:

Oral, hand jobs, anal, general fucking, kissing; you name it, these boys are doing it. After hearing them talk, and then watching them fuck, you can really see how much respect and love for one another there is in this relationship, (more…)

“I have been a photographer my entire adult life. In the name of bearing witness to the human condition I’ve documented unspeakable suffering, violence, and death; and for that I’ve been praised as a courageous witness. When I review the scope of people, places and events that have passed before my lens, I am unable to comprehend the censor’s rationale for “protecting” adults from photographic images of sexuality. Adults have the capacity and the right to choose for themselves what sort of images they wish to see. They do not need to be protected from images of sex, and least of all from a film like DAMON AND HUNTER. In the face of horrific images we are exposed to each and every day, the OFLC decision is not only unfair, it is perverse.” –Tony Comstock, An Open Letter to the OFLC, September 8, 2006

I would guess that many of you who enjoy reading this blog also enjoy reading Ms. Naughty’s blog, and are already aware that Ms. Naughty and I find ourselves embroiled in a vigorous disagreement over recent events surrounding the photography of Bill Henson. At the heart of our disagreement is the strong exception I take to Ms. Naughty’s invocation of the word “art” as a justification and or defence of how Mr. Henson creates his work.

Mr. Henson’s work is problematic in that he feels the best way he can explore and express his ideas is by taking naked pictures of adolescent girls; a practice generally frowned upon on the grounds that children are not capable of giving consent to such activities, and that it is inappropriate for their parents to consent on their behalf.

The truth is, I don’t know how I feel about Mr. Henson’s work habits. On the basis of the facts as they’ve been reported, I find the particulars of how Mr. Henson makes his images disquieting. I am myself a parent, and have trouble imagining delivering my own daughter to Mr. Henson’s set where she can serve as a “vehicle for expressing the things that interest [Mr. Henson] about humanity and vulnerability.” (more…)

I’ve just read over on Ms. Naughty’s blog about some bloke in Australia who’s got himself into hot water taking naked pictures of adolescent girls. She linked back to my essay “A Criminal Intent to Arouse”, but I’m afraid she’s missed the point.

My essay  ”A Criminal Intent to Arouse” has nothing to do with whether or not a morally corrupt or sexually perverse person might have an inappropriate response to my films. How a theoretical person might theoretically respond to my work is not my concern.

Conversely, the absence of the “intent to arouse” is not some magical incantation by which sexual work is rendered intrinsically worthwhile (”Art” with a capital A,) or worthy of greater consideration by society at large. This misbegotten notion is how you end up with DESTRICTED screening at ACMI the same night that ASHLEY AND KISHA is suppressed at MUFF.

 But more than that, I am tired tired tired of critics, theorists, bystanders, moralists, politicians speculating on the intents behind a photograph. And I am outraged that anyone still thinks it’s sane or rational to either condemn or defend a photograph on the basis of the artist’s intentions.

Intentions don’t matter.

I’ll say it again. It doesn’t matter what the intentions are. Not what you think they are, not what the artist says they are. Not before the moment the exposure is made; not at the moment of exposure; not after.

Intentions do not decide whether or not a photograph is or is not art, and they sure as hell don’t decide whether or not a photograph is a crime.

I have a modest proposal.

When contemplating whether or not the making of a photograph constitutes a criminal act, let us conduct a thought experiment. Let us imagine all the circumstances of the creation of the photograph: where, when, who, how.

Now let us imagine that there is no film in the camera.

Get it? Everyone is there, everyone’s been informed, consented, tricked, bribed, lied to, flattered, compensated. Strobes pop, motors whir. But there is no film in the camera.

If absent the creation of the latent image, there is no crime, then the creation of the latent image is not a crime.

If, absent the creation of the latent image, the circumstances – the where, the when, the who, the how — constitute a criminal act, then let’s prosecute the criminality, and let’s not entertain any foolish notions that including a camera in the undertakings (with or without film) changes the circumstances in a meaningful way.

Simple enough?

And as far as the question ”Is it art?” is concerned, let’s leave that to history.

Not my cabinet. Tony Perrottet’s Secret Cabinet.”

Less than a year after its release, the first run of ASHLEY AND KISHA has sold out, the film has found its way into five film festivals on four continents, and received positive reviews in some of the world’s leading lesbian publications. It even made Violet Blue’s “Best of 2007″ list. I am, to put it mildly, thrilled!

There were moments when I wondered what the reaction would be to me — a middle-aged white guy –offering up a film about two young black women in love (“Am I a Punany Poet?” 4/23/05). Would I be regarded as an interloper? An intruder? An exploiter? That would have broke my heart.

But that didn’t happen. Over and over again people said, “Thank you, Tony. Thank you for making this beautiful film.” That breaks my heart too, but in the very best way! It also brings me back to something I wrote in that post over three years ago:

I am encouraged by this feedback. In the past few years, sexually explicit material has fractured into an ever-increasing number of what the industry (mis)labels “fetishes”. There are segregations by sex act, by race, by age. There are videos that show nothing but young white women getting fucked in the ass by black men, or videos that show nothing but asian women having sex with each other.

I don’t suppose there’s anything wrong with people wanting to see what they want to see (a photo I saw at an early age of Sophia Loren has left me easy prey for the word “Latina”) but as this fractured view of sexuality more and more defines pornography, it seems to imply that the way to reach the audience for graphic sex is by focusing on the most objective, quantifiable elements. I don’t think this is so. I think there ways to depict sex that can transcend race, gender, or sexuality, and Jessica, Linda, JAG and the others are helping to sustain me in my belief that by focusing on the subjective aspects of the sexual experience, I can reach across boundaries of race, or gender, or sexual taste.

Of course differences still matter – Jessica is a African-American woman, raised in the South by old church-going lady who “still had cotton under her fingernails.” I’m second-generation Irish and Jewish, raised in the white, middle-class suburbs of the West Coast – but those aren’t the only things that matter, and they’re not always the thing that matters the most. You don’t have to be African-American to be inspired by the story of the Tuskegee Airmen; you don’t have to be Jewish to feel the horror of The Holocaust; you don’t have to be young, black, or a lesbian to know when you’re watching Kisha ride Ashley’s face, you’re seeing something that’s as right as rain.

Three years later, I am happy to report that nothing that has happened to change my mind. Three years later, ASHLEY AND KISHA not only reached across boundaries of race, gender and sexual orientation, it’s also challenged the very way that sexuality can and should be depicted in cinema. It’s asked the question, “You tell me why not?” and then answered that question with defiant beauty, radiant joy, and abundant love.

 This is why I make these films. My deepest gratitude to everyone who has helped me keep making them!

One of those days. Actually one of those weeks. Plenty to be thankful for, but also plenty of businessy bullshit that can leave a person wondering, “Tell me again. Why am I doing this?”

Then my answer:

My girlfriend and I have just seen your beautiful film about Ashley and Kisha, and we just had to tell you that we loved it. The love-scene at the end was incredibly real and beautiful, and we both had tears in our eyes afterwards.

Thank you!

Lots of love from Sxx & Cxxxxx

No, thank you! Thanks to you I’m going into the weekend with a lump in my throat and a smile on my face!

Got a twitter yesterday from Essin Em.  A month ago Eden Fantasy picked up our series, and now Essin Em has named ASHLEY AND KISHA to her top 10 favorite things at Eden Fantasy. Yay! (A&K is #7, starting at about 5:15)

One thing. I can’t actually find ASHLEY AND KISHA, or any of our other films on the Eden Fantasy website. No wonder they haven’t made a re-order!

Scratch that! They’re right here. Don’t know what was wrong with me this morning. Need more coffee I guess!