Attached Link: 'Authority' paranoia over photography in London
quite shocking bout the protests in Iceland....
well, I have been following news of such kind whenever it crops up though I've not had any first-hand experience of being told to stop taking photos (except when being deliberately cheeky in museums and such places hehe).... it seems a pretty 'grey' area at the moment and I think the whole thing essentially boils down to a few things
- the fact the UK has become something of a police state, one which is also on constant high alert for suspected terrorist activity ... I suspect many innocent photographers/film makers are stopped and questioned in public places so the fuzz can be seen to be doing their job 'diligently' as they pick on easy targets
- on one hand the government claims it does not want to dissuade photographers from taking pictures in public places, and on the other they're encouraging more stops and questionings... so far these have ostensibly been a huge waste of time for all involved... there's no law to stop the person taking photos so such encounters are more likely to be justifiably disputed, leading to arguments and increased animosity towards the police, who in an effort to get their point across may rise to such bravado as 'I am the law' so as not to be undermined.... the majority of the time there's no solid legal ground on which to argue, so such a confrontation is likely to just be a big wind-up and pain in the rear...
- the law may have been considered (in my slightly cynical mind) to free up hundreds of work hours for police officers, who can slip a legitimate legal threat into the early stages of stopping a photographer/movie maker, meaning less of the wasted time disputing... they'll be able to just send them on their way or bundle the 'guilty' party into the van for a ride downtown, in much less time than before...
I doubt this is likely to affect anyone outside of a major city though...
... oh, and I actually wanted to post 3 links... don't think I've posted one on the forums before, do we have the option of just the one attached link per post? anyway, below are much more 'amateur' vids but which show more of the issue at street level...
<span style="font-family:Arial;"><a href="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=z86z2WlqJws">http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=z86z2WlqJws</a> - Met police make up the law<br></br><a href="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=z86z2WlqJws">http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8py1-EW94Hc</a> - 'I AM the law!'<br></br></span>
Adam Edwards
Photography
