LOOK3 Dispatch #1: Can Virginia Handle A Monkey Penis?

I am here in Charlottesville, Va., for the first ever LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph,   founded by National Geographic photographer Michael "Nick" Nichols. As part of the festival, some of Nichols' acclaimed wildlife photographs have been printed on banners and suspended in trees in Charlottesville's downtown pedestrian mall. One of those photographs happens to feature, rather prominently, a monkey penis.

Was this too hot for Charlottesville? After the banners were installed, word spread through official channels that parents might find this particular monkey in poor taste. And so Nichols, wanting to keep peace, climbed up a ladder and obscured the penis by attacking his own photograph with a can of spraypaint! I wouldn't have believed this, but the local alternative newspaper, C-VILLE Weekly, printed a photograph that clearly shows Nick spraying the monkey.

When I went to see this print for myself on Friday afternoon, the monkey was all there in full view. There was no sign the print had been altered. What happened? It seems that after the story ran in the newspaper, there was a change of heart among the powers that be, and Nichols replaced the painted-over banner with a second banner he had of the same photograph. Nichols was attending his son's high school graduation Friday, so I couldn't reach him for a quote. The monkey was also unavailable for comment.

UPDATE: I spoke to Nichols Saturday about the monkey (actually a chimpanzee). He said someone from the city government had e-mailed him about the chimp picture, but they backed off a bit after the newspaper article, saying the city's concerns were only a suggestion. "They were just responding to the complaints of a few parents," Nichols said. Nichols, who lives in the Charlottesville area, said it's best for the festival to "keep the issues inside." "You can't show Eugene Richards on the street," he said. (A large show of Richards work is on view, uncensored and free to the public, in a gallery downtown.)

Comments

[Rob Mercatante]

Huh. And here I thought I'd go my entire life without reading an article that mentioned both spray paint AND a monkey's penis! One has to wonder if the phrase "spraying the monkey" will now become a synonym for self-censorship.

[wanda dibenedetto]

too bad you had to alter your monkey, but so nice of you to be that accomodating. how are you nick?

wanda

[johnsamuels7484]

One has to wonder if the phrase "spraying the monkey" will now become a synonym for self-censorship. too bad you had to alter your monkey, but so nice of you to be that accomodating. how are you nick?