British police conducting a child pornography investigation confiscated a photograph belonging to Elton John and exposed in an art gallery as it may violate child pornography laws.

The photograph is tiled “Klara and Edda Belly-Dancing” and was taken by American photographer Nan Goldin. It is part of an exhibition series called “Thanksgiving” from Sir Elton John’s photographic collection, at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead.

The gallery’s management contacted the police prior to opening the exhibition to the public, as it had doubts over the appropriateness of the photograph. Police removed the image from the Baltic Art Gallery on Thursday, the day before it was to be viewed by the public.

It is currently being examined by police while Crown Prosecution Service lawyers have offered their consult. They are to assess whether Goldin’s photograph breaches the 1978 Protection of Children Act.

“Thanksgiving” is comprised entirely of photographs taken by Goldin and is described as a “micro-retrospective of her career.”

The exhibition went on display Friday, bearing the following notice for visitors: “We would like to advise you that this exhibition contains some material of a sensitive nature. It may include explicit language, nudity, sexual imagery or violence.”

A statement on Elton John’s official website informs that “Klara and Edda Belly-Dancing” has been widely published and exhibited throughout the world, “without any objections of which we are aware.”

It says the controversial photograph can be found in the monograph of Goldin's works entitled “The Devil's Playground” and has even been offered for sale at Sotheby's New York in 2002 and 2004. It was previously exhibited in Houston, London, Madrid, New York, Portugal, Warsaw and Zurich.

The statement confirms that the 60-year-old singer purchased the “Thanksgiving” installation (comprising of 149 Goldin photographs) from the White Cube gallery in London in 1999 and that the installation is presently on loan to The Baltic Centre For Contemporary Art in Newcastle.

“Elton John is known as one of the world's foremost collectors of photographic art and has several thousand photographs in his collection, including works by Man Ray, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Diane Arbus and Ansel Adams,” the statement reads.

Elton John’s most recent album was released in September 2006 and is titled “The Captain & The Kid.” The pop icon is to launch a U.S. tour this month in support of his album.