Is it ok to photograph naked children for 'art'?

From thinking about this issue, I can see a couple of initial reactions to this:

1.) The children (depending on the age, lets assume significantly less than 18) may not have the concept of humility and shame, maybe societal norms of "covering up" haven't been drilled in yet. Is it only wrong if they children see it as wrong? But then things raises the question of whether the child also has developed the concept of right from wrong of photographs of this nature.

2.) Why do we instinctively see this as 'wrong'? Is it for protection of the child from sexual predators/pedophiles, etc.? Or is it because we things that children should not be given the 'choice' until they are able to conceptually make the distinction between whether it is right or wrong.

I am initially going to go with no, its not right. BUT I think this is broadly because the child shouldn't be making those decisions at that age, rather than for the protection of the child.

I am going to edit the original quaestion to, "Is it okay to photograph naked children?" Since no one can say what "art" is it just, in my opinion, muddies the topic.

I see nothing wrong in photographing children nude. I do not equate nude with sexual. I saw an exhibit of photos of young girls that were all clothes and intended to be sexually provocative. I thought that was inappropriate. I remember a photograph of Jon Benet Ramsey, a murder victim in the U.S., on the cover of a magazine. I held the magazine up for friends to see and guess her age. They all guessed 17 and older and one commented that she was "hot". She was six-years old when the photo was taken and fully clothed. I thought what had been done to a little girl before her murder was bad.

On the other hand, I've seen photographs of nude children that did not seem to be at all provocative. Recently I saw a copy of an old photo of a large group of children swimming nude in the Thames River. For me, not a problem. The same goes for a photo of a woman bathing her infant child. Not a problem.

The issue isn't, for me, whether they're nude or tarted up. The issue is the intent of the photo.

Its puzzling why there is so much sexual interest in children at present. Could it have anything to do with the chemical contamination that interferes with normal gender developement?

http://generalmedicine.suite101.com/art ... asculinity

Another possibility is that it is a result of the feminist revolution. Men unwilling or unable to deal with an assertive and independent woman, might be drawn to the innocence and pliability of a child.