Omission Of Photos Raises Questions

Upon settling down to their reading last month, the students and teaching fellows of Literature and Arts B-10 were startled to find that photos and illustrations had been omitted from an article on Robert Mapplethorpe's photography of the black male nude.

Professor of Fine Arts Norman Bryson, who teaches the introductory art history course "Art and Visual Culture" with Professor of Fine Arts Irene J. Winter, said he was disappointed that the illustrations accompanying an article by Kobena Mercer titled "Skin Head Sex Thing" were not included in the 666-page source-book.

Mapplethorpe's federally-funded photography was attacked by conservative lawmakers who described many of his nude homoerotic images as pornographic.

Bryson, who said the article reached the sourcebook office late, said it may have been difficult to obtain copyright permission from the Mapplethorpe estate.

Still, Bryson said that upon contacting William G. Witt, copyright officer in the sourcebook office, he was dismayed to learn that the reason for the photos omissions were dual.

"He didn't want his office to become the center of controversy," Bryson said, reading from notes he took of his conversation with Witt.

"I'm not quite sure who is being offended," Bryson wondered. "It is offensive to a number of people to have the photos removed. I'm not sure who is actually being offended."

Among the 12 illustrations in the article, only five are Mapplethorpe photos and only three of these include male nudity.

The most controversial photo in the article is "Man in a Polyester Suit," which shows the arms, torso and legs of a black man dressed in a suit. The open fly reveals a large penis which is the central focus of the photo.

Other Mapplethorpe photos in the article include two facial shots of black men and two poses of nude black men, one with an erect penis.

None of the Mapplethorpe illustrations portray sex acts, although two photos by Rotimi Fani-Kayode show two black men in a sexual pose and a black man's behind juxtaposed in front of a bronze head.

A commercial greeting card reproduced in the article reads "Every thing you ever heard about black men is true!" and shows photos of a black man dressed and undressed with an erect penis.

According to Witt, the illustrations included in Mercer's article were the property of their artists or the artists' estates and could not be reprinted.

But none of the illustrations in the article was reproduced, including those from the greeting card, newspapers and magazines, which were the property of other publishers.

Due to time constraints, Witt said he told Winter that it would be impossible to have obtained the permission of Mapplethorpe's estate and produce the sourcebook in time for the first week of classes in September.

"Professor Winter agreed that, this being the case, it would probably be best to include the text and just put the material on reserve so that if students felt it was absolutely necessary to look at this for their education they could do so," Witt said yesterday.

But Witt acknowledged yesterday that time constraints were not the only factor affecting his decision not to publish the photos.

Witt said he told Winter that the content of the photos concerned him.

"One of our concerns is that we do not want our office to become exactly what it has become--a center of controversy," Witt said.

"Aside from being frankly titillating, the photos also portrayed black males in a manner that is frankly demeaning," Witt added.

Witt said he was concerned that black students would be offended by the sourcebook and that parents would protest the fact that their children were required to purchase the material.

"The one thing I do not want to have is the Peninsula and parents calling me and raving at me and saying, 'Why is the sourcebook office publishing pornography?'" he said.

Although the omission of the photographs may have temporarily stifled controversy, the controversy seems likely to arise in the future.

Bryson said he will teach the course again next year with Professor of Fine Arts Henri T. Zerner. He said he is likely to include the Mercer article in the sourcebook again.

And this time he will leave plenty of time for the sourcebook office to obtain copyright permission for the illustrations in the article.

"It depends on what Henri and I cobble together," Bryson said this week. "But I'm quite keen for the Kobena Mercer article."

Witt said yesterday he will deal with that issue when it arises. "This office is not in the business of censorship," he said.

"[But] academic freedom pertains not only to faculty but also to people like myself." Witt added. "I have to be thinking about the young black women [who work at publishing the sourcebooks] who probably would not want to see this kind of thing."

Winter said last night that to exclude the photos for any reason other than copyright law would be inappropriate.

"Witt has projected the possibility of offense in the African American community by his reading that those images demean black men, but there has been no investigation of the response of that community," she said.

At the same time she questioned "whether in fact there might not be more offense in segments of the community offended by the homo-social or explicitly sexualized suggestions in the imagery."

Ironically, the omission of the article from the sourcebook may have created a controversy despite the fact that few students have actually seen the images which accompanied the text.

Winter said the most controversial images, such as "Man in a Polyester Suit," are not in the University's slide collection and thus have not been shown in class.

"We have both shown a selection of Mapplethorpe photos," she says. "They are not the most provocative and explicit of them."

Winter adds that the class is not focusing on Mapplethorpe's work but on the use of photography as an art form.

The text of the article with the original photographs is on reserve at the Fine Arts Library

Other Mapplethorpe photos in the article include two facial shots of black men and two poses of nude black men, one with an erect penis.

None of the Mapplethorpe illustrations portray sex acts, although two photos by Rotimi Fani-Kayode show two black men in a sexual pose and a black man's behind juxtaposed in front of a bronze head.

A commercial greeting card reproduced in the article reads "Every thing you ever heard about black men is true!" and shows photos of a black man dressed and undressed with an erect penis.

According to Witt, the illustrations included in Mercer's article were the property of their artists or the artists' estates and could not be reprinted.

But none of the illustrations in the article was reproduced, including those from the greeting card, newspapers and magazines, which were the property of other publishers.

Due to time constraints, Witt said he told Winter that it would be impossible to have obtained the permission of Mapplethorpe's estate and produce the sourcebook in time for the first week of classes in September.

"Professor Winter agreed that, this being the case, it would probably be best to include the text and just put the material on reserve so that if students felt it was absolutely necessary to look at this for their education they could do so," Witt said yesterday.

But Witt acknowledged yesterday that time constraints were not the only factor affecting his decision not to publish the photos.

Witt said he told Winter that the content of the photos concerned him.

"One of our concerns is that we do not want our office to become exactly what it has become--a center of controversy," Witt said.

"Aside from being frankly titillating, the photos also portrayed black males in a manner that is frankly demeaning," Witt added.

Witt said he was concerned that black students would be offended by the sourcebook and that parents would protest the fact that their children were required to purchase the material.

"The one thing I do not want to have is the Peninsula and parents calling me and raving at me and saying, 'Why is the sourcebook office publishing pornography?'" he said.

Although the omission of the photographs may have temporarily stifled controversy, the controversy seems likely to arise in the future.

Bryson said he will teach the course again next year with Professor of Fine Arts Henri T. Zerner. He said he is likely to include the Mercer article in the sourcebook again.

And this time he will leave plenty of time for the sourcebook office to obtain copyright permission for the illustrations in the article.

"It depends on what Henri and I cobble together," Bryson said this week. "But I'm quite keen for the Kobena Mercer article."

Witt said yesterday he will deal with that issue when it arises. "This office is not in the business of censorship," he said.

"[But] academic freedom pertains not only to faculty but also to people like myself." Witt added. "I have to be thinking about the young black women [who work at publishing the sourcebooks] who probably would not want to see this kind of thing."

Winter said last night that to exclude the photos for any reason other than copyright law would be inappropriate.

"Witt has projected the possibility of offense in the African American community by his reading that those images demean black men, but there has been no investigation of the response of that community," she said.

At the same time she questioned "whether in fact there might not be more offense in segments of the community offended by the homo-social or explicitly sexualized suggestions in the imagery."

Ironically, the omission of the article from the sourcebook may have created a controversy despite the fact that few students have actually seen the images which accompanied the text.

Winter said the most controversial images, such as "Man in a Polyester Suit," are not in the University's slide collection and thus have not been shown in class.

"We have both shown a selection of Mapplethorpe photos," she says. "They are not the most provocative and explicit of them."

Winter adds that the class is not focusing on Mapplethorpe's work but on the use of photography as an art form.

The text of the article with the original photographs is on reserve at the Fine Arts Library