Photo returns minus penis-shaped spot of spray paint
There’s no nice way to say this: The boner is back. A new print of Nick Nichols’ photograph of a Congo chimp clearly enjoying the up-tick of testosterone washing through his body is back on the Downtown Mall, sans the spray paint Nichols used the cover its erect penis. Last Friday, after unhappy parents complained and city officials “suggested” that he “defuse” the photo or take it down, Nichols covered the chimp’s excited crotch with a spritz of Krylon [see photo-gallery at right, video at end of article, or slide show here]. Nichols says that he initially understood the city’s suggestion as a request. “They came back and said, ‘No, that was just a suggestion,’” he says.
Now the chimp is back without its spray-on jockstrap. This Tuesday, as C-VILLE first ran the story below, Nichols replaced 10 prints on the Mall due to color issues. The chimp was one of the 10, and Nichols didn’t amend it this time. “If I get another outcry, I’ll do the same thing,” Nichols says about his paint job. So far there have been no more complaints, and Nichols doesn’t anticipate any after Friday’s temper tantrum. “I’ve got a feeling people will be too embarrassed to say anything.”
A boner-fied disturbance
Parents look to government to protect their kids from nature
By Cathy Harding
Is there no stopping the power of local government? Apparently some parents think not, turning to local law enforcement, and by extension city government, to shield them and their children from the realities of wildlife. Faced with the difficult question, “Daddy, why is that monkey’s penis so engorged and why is he so happy about it?” some parents raised objections to Nick Nichols’ photograph of a Congo chimp that leads off his exhibit of jungle pictures hanging throughout the Downtown Mall in connection with this week’s Festival of the Photograph.
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In the name of the children: Images from the Festival of the Photograph, an effort funded in large part by Apple and National Geographic and which runs throughout Downtown this weekend, offended some vocal parents. Top, the displaying chimp in all his hormonal glory. Bottom, the chimp in another state altogether, courtesy of Nick Nichols who shot the original picture in Africa.
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The city dutifully made Nichols aware of the issue, though city spokesman Ric Barrick stresses that the city did not demand any particular action from the much-lauded National Geographic photographer. Still, simply seeking three days of undisturbed peace, love and photography, as the festival’s slogan says, Nichols “diffused,” as he puts it, the offending member, using a can of Krylon spray paint.
See the video below or photo gallery shots at right for a look at the "diffusion" in progress.
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