Aussie arrested over nude shoot at ancient Egyptian temple - NSFW

Most photographers shooting in foreign countries make themselves familiar with local traditions, and understand the notion of cultural sensitivities. But sometimes they think, “Screw it. I’m going to do anything to get the shot that I want”, and while that may seem cool to them at the time, they are opening themselves up to a whole world of trouble, aggravation, and worse.

Australian photographer, Jesse Walker was in Egypt at an ancient temple in Luxor, with Belgian model, Marisa Papen, shooting a campaign for his company, Enki Eyewear. Although arrested back in April, and held overnight in a squalid cell, the images have only just been published.

The images have drawn comments from those accusing Walker of disrespecting Islamic culture. But Walker insists the images are art, and not the porn that they have mistaken for. As reported on Nine.com.au, Walker said, “It’s no disrespect to the Egyptian culture because I love the country so much. I do this for the love of art and I do this to get that imagery that no one else can get.” His fifth trip to Egypt, he says that he is “very well aware of the culture over there”.

On the day of the shoot, the pair were approach by guards who then called the police. Walker deleted the images and told authorities he had not taken any photographs, but was just testing the light. However, once they had been released, and back at the hotel, Walker was able to retrieve the deleted images, and the campaign now appears on the Enki Eyewear website.

Given that the pair had been caught at a number of other ancient sites at various times, they were lucky to get off with a warning from the judge. On this particular occasion, Walker’s modus operandi of offering bribes to guards failed, and  Walker states: “I was trying to give him some money and he just wasn’t going to go for it”. Whether or not Walker again tries his luck in Egypt is yet to be seen, but he's unlikely to get off quite so lightly again if the authorities manage to join the dots.

Shaken by the experience, Papen left Egypt the following day, with Walker flying out three days later. Papen gave an account of the arrest and the experience on her blog. You can see the full campaign on the Enki Eyewear website.

Photographer and founder of Enki Eyewear Jesse Walker.
Courtesy http://www.9news.com.au.