[glowbelly]

i don't know if he was arrested, but his studio and home was raided by the fbi. they took all of his photographic equipment and personal files. there was a lawsuit filed against him and it was thrown out by the judge. it took him a very long time to get all of his stuff back.

i came about his work in a border's in philly. i was actually looking for a book on andreas gursky, because i had a powerpoint presentation due on a famous, yet alive, photographer the week after thanksgiving (i was in philly for the holiday). anyways, i couldn't find any gursky books, and was sifting through the other photographers. when i picked up this book, my first thought was "wow, what beautiful photographs." then i realized the subject matter...it didn't come across as pornographic to me, but rather serene and natural.

when i bought the book the cashier said something to me along the lines of "sturges, huh? you lookin to be watched by the fbi?" that's what shocked me. see, at the time i didn't know the whole story behind the photographer, all i saw was the beauty of it all, not the sickness of man's thoughts.