Mr Marr, a journalist and former host of Media Watch, authored The Henson Case - a book detailing the ongoing controversy of Henson's photographs, which include images of naked children.

He said the panic surrounding Henson's photographs stemmed from an already nervous public about the use of children in artworks and their ability to be viewed out of context on the internet.

Mr Marr said the works were not pornographic and that Henson had been "demonised" by a "tabloid-driven uproar".

"The fact of the matter is that even before the internet came along, there was a growing fear and apprehension in our society about the power of the photograph. The internet super-drives these fears."

In May, police seized a number of Henson's works from a Sydney gallery, including images of naked children. The police investigation failed to result in charges, because objections against them were based on "moral" grounds, Mr Marr said.

"They fail because the works are not pornographic. They fail because the objections to them are objections which stand well outside the traditional areas of material that our societies regulate and ban."

He pointed out a number of images on loan from the Monash Gallery of Art were seized during the police investigation.

Earlier this month, Henson was criticised for scouting a St Kilda primary school for pupil models.

Mr Marr, however, said Henson had been into hundreds of schools during his career to give speeches and had found models in schools "for years".

He finished his talk by saying "let's just all calm down". "One of the happy upshots is that we have all these pictures on display in this gallery and it's wonderful."

An exhibition of the MGA's Bill Henson collection is on at the gallery until November 16.