Should College Censor Art Professor’s Photographs?

A professor’s nude photographs that show him posing with students and faculty are causing controversy.

Artist Danny Guthrie is an associate professor at Michigan State University. According to The Detroit News, Guthrie “does not recruit currently enrolled students. Those who participate do so voluntarily, determine the extent of their involvement and approve the final photographs.”

Michigan State supports Guthrie. “Sometimes art, and the means by which it is expressed, evokes strong responses — both for and against it,” Heather Swain, interim vice president for university relations, said in a statement. “In situations where the art relates to an academic activity, MSU’s main concern is to maintain the integrity of the teaching and learning environment.”

What does Guthrie have to say about this controversy?

“I have reached a not entirely pleasant place in life one might call the fulcrum of middle age, with the balance shifting inexorably towards decrepitude,” Guthrie said in his statement on MSU’s website.”As one ages, it is with no small sense of remorse and regret that one comes to experience the realm of desire, romance, and carnality as existing more in the past than the future.”

One can’t help but think of Guthrie’s work as a beautiful illustration of Philip Roth’s, The Dying Animal. Some of Guthrie’s more “innocent” photos may be viewed here, while some with nudity may be viewed here and here.

Tags: age, dying animal, philip roth, teacher student relations