Calgary removes artwork containing photos of people that didn’t consent

CALGARY – Publicly funded artwork that contained photos of a British comedian and others without their consent has been removed from an underpass in Calgary.

A series of giant photographs called “Snapshots” was installed along an underpass in the city’s southwest in 2015 at a cost of $20,000.

Comedian Bisha Ali, who is based in England, said earlier this week that one of her friends recognized her in one of the photos.

Ali posted on social media that she was upset because neither she nor any of the other subjects gave their consent to the artist for their photos to be used; she also says the photos were part of a promotion for a comedy show.

Artist Derek Besant says he received “torn-out pages from a handout flyer” and that he thought they were already in the public domain.

Besant asked the city Wednesday to remove the artwork and also apologized and said it was a “result of my misunderstanding.”

Workers used pressure washers to remove the photographs on Wednesday night.

(CTV Calgary)