search

The Real Deal Logo

Trending

Lawmakers reach sweeping housing deal with “good cause eviction,” new 421aLawmakers reach sweeping housing deal with “good cause eviction,” new 421aSL Green, Vornado kick in $100M to extend 280 Park loanSL Green, Vornado kick in $100M to extend 280 Park loan“Investing before the ‘all clear’ sign”: Jon Gray on Blackstone’s $10B apartment deal“Investing before the ‘all clear’ sign”: Jon Gray on Blackstone’s $10B apartment dealHGTV’s “Mr. Flip It” gets four years in jail for $10M fraudHGTV’s “Mr. Flip It” gets four years in jail for $10M fraud
New York

Artist voyeur OK’d to take shots inside Village homes

Images from Arne Svenson's "The Neighbors" exhibit (Source: Facebook)
Images from Arne Svenson's "The Neighbors" exhibit (Source: Facebook)

A Manhattan judge has thrown out a case against an artist who secretly photographed Greenwich Village residents through their windows, finding that artistic freedom should prevail over homeowners’ privacy concerns, the New York Post reported.

Photographer Arne Svenson’s exhibit “The Neighbors” drew the ire of parents Matthew and Martha Foster after he snapped pictures of their children without their permission, exhibited the images in Manhattan and California, and sold them for as much as $10,000 each.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

The Fosters sued Svenson and demanded he turn over the remaining images.

The pieces captured the couple in a variety of everyday activities, from cleaning the floor to playing with their kids. But Judge Eileen Rakower ruled in favor of Svenson, deciding that the end of the exhibition and the artist’s promise to remove images from his Facebook page and web site figured into the decision.

“What are the implications here for parents?” a friend of the plaintiffs told the Post. “You can just have people shooting your kids in their bedrooms, and nothing can be done about it? You can’t just hide behind the word ‘art’ to behave poorly.” [NYP] — Julie Strickland