The strange case of Sir Elton's 'obscene' photo (first time around)

There is more than a sense of déjà vu to the seizure by Northumbria Police of a photograph by Nan Goldin on the grounds it may be child pornography.

Six years ago Scotland Yard's Obscene Publications Unit hauled the same photograph out of an exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London. A week later the Crown Prosecution Service ruled there wasn't enough evidence to go to court, much to the annoyance of the police, who believed that a failure to prosecute would send the wrong message to paedophiles.

The photo is part of Goldin's celebrated Thanksgiving installation of 149 pictures, one version of which is owned by Sir Elton John, recognised as the world's biggest collector of photography.

"Elton purchased Thanksgiving in 1999," Jane Jackson, curator of the collection, said earlier this year. "It's very biographical, speaking about her life and addictions and her relationship with it. When [Elton] saw it he said, 'I have to have this. I've been there.' This is a chance for people to see this kind of work firsthand. And Elton's name brings in people who don't normally go to a gallery."

Detectives were called to the Baltic Gallery in Gateshead a week last Thursday after being contacted by a concerned member of staff. The exhibition opened on the Friday as planned, without the picture, which is being examined, again, by the CPS to see if it breaches the 1978 Protection of Children Act.

Goldin, an American, is known for the provocative nature of her work, which often involves explicit pictures of couples in her flat in New York.

The picture in question, called "Klara and Edda Belly-Dancing", shows a partly clothed girl dancing above a naked girl who is kneeling with her legs apart and towards the camera and her back arched to the floor. The girls are no more than seven years old. We have decided against showing it.

The only comment Sir Elton wanted to make was posted on his official website. It read: "The photograph entitled 'Klara And Edda Belly-Dancing' (1998) is one of 149 images comprising the Thanksgiving installation by renowned US photographer Nan Goldin. The photograph exists as part of the installation as a whole and has been widely published and exhibited throughout the world. It can be found in the monograph of Ms Goldin's works entitled The Devil's Playground (Phaidon, 2003), has been offered for sale at Sotheby's New York in 2002 and 2004, and has been exhibited in Houston, London, Madrid, New York, Portugal, Warsaw and Zurich without any objections of which we are aware."

A spokesman for Northumbria Police said: "This item is being assessed, and Northumbria Police in consultation with the CPS is investigating the circumstances surrounding it."

A spokeswoman for the Saatchi Gallery confirmed the picture was the same one seized from the "I Am a Camera" exhibition in 2001.