Photog Defends Racy Photos of Teen Model
Photog claims photos he took of 15-year-old model not racy, approved by parents
Aug. 22, 2011 -- Jason Lee Parry, the photographer behind the racy photos of a then 15-year-old model that ended up splashed across T-shirts and in fashion magazines, defended himself today against the $28 million lawsuit filed against him by the model's parents.
"I look at it and think, 'this is a really cool shot,'" Parry, 32, said today on "Good Morning America" of his photograph of model Hailey Clauson, now 16.
The photo shows Clauson, clad in leather shorts, sitting with her legs spread, perched on the back of a motorcycle. Another photo from the same shoot shows Clauson on a skateboard, dangling a six-pack of beer from her fingertips.
"Her facial expression looks tough," Parry said, defending his work. "Look at that, you can't tell me that doesn't look tough."
Click here for coverage of 10-year-old model's racy pics in French Vogue.
Clauson and her parents, however, disagree. They've filed a $28 million lawsuit against Parry, two boutique stores and the Philadelphia-based national retail chain Urban Outfitters Inc.
The suit, filed Aug. 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, contends the defendants allowed the "blatantly salacious" shot to appear on a T-shirt sold in both of the boutiques and at Urban Outfitter stores nationwide. The suit also claims the photo has damaged Clauson's reputation.
The lawsuit contends that "her crotch area [is] the focal point of the image" and notes that the shot is of interest to "the likes of pedophiles."
Parry and his production team contend that Clauson is, in fact, just as responsible for the images, and that her parents approved the shoot and gave him permission to release the photos.
"She's a professional model," said Alice Davis, a videographer who assisted Parry in the shoot. "She posed herself."
Parry told "GMA" he owned the photos and that his work was published one-and-a-half years ago with the permission of Clauson's parents, adding that Clauson's father saw at least some of the photos after the shoot.
"I flipped through the camera and I can truly say, I don't know which ones he saw, but I know he was happy," Parry said.
Clauson's father was not at the shoot when the disputed photos were taken.
