MARK HUMPHRIES, OCTOBER 15, 2012
A campaign has been launched to identify a photographer with a penchant for taking snaps of people as they urinate on sites of cultural significance. The search follows the release of a photo showing a man urinating on the former site of the Sari Club, one of the locations of the 2002 Bali bombings.
PerthNow, which published the photo, has thus far refused to name and shame the photographer, despite suggestions that the person may also have photographed people urinating at Gallipoli, Port Arthur and Granville Railway station.
The Sari Club had, until its destruction, included a toilet, so it is believed the man photographed was simply honouring its memory. There has been public outcry over the photographer’s decision to exploit such a private moment of grief, and the photo has been considered by some to be the male equivalent of “upskirting”.
There have also been reports that some Australians no longer feel safe urinating publicly, with many threatening to take their urine elsewhere. Australia’s Foreign Minister, Bob Carr, stated that “urinating in public is, of course, socially acceptable, provided that it is not on sites that we deem to have a cultural or historical significance”. A spokesperson for PerthNow went one step further by saying that “public urination is specifically the domain of animals, especially dogs. Humans must realise that they, unlike dogs, have not earned the right to urinate publicly.”
Meanwhile in Afghanistan, a reminder has been issued to members of the US Marine corps to not urinate on dead members of the Taliban. They are advised to murder the Taliban, but under no circumstances are they to urinate on them.
PHOTO SOURCE: PERTHNOW
