Tea with Auntie Social
Load. Aim. Shoot. Photographers are scary, and if you’re snapping pictures in Britain you might want to pay a lawyer to schlep your equipment. Much has been said recently about the capricious bullying by police of photographers in public spaces, and a recent protest in Trafalgar Square helped bring the issue to the general public. British police have been invoking Section 44 of the Terrorism Act to stop people on the street who are armed with cameras and Look Suspicious. Well, don’t we all? Please watch this footage for a first-hand encounter with The Law. I lived in London for many years, and much of my work had bits of people passing through the image frames. My tactic was to act like a tourist and pretend I was focusing on something else. The camera I use now, a Fuji 6×7, says Professional in large white letters across the front, and while I’m grateful for its confidence in me, I don’t know if it means I look less, or in fact more, suspicious. If you are planning a trip to England and will be taking pictures of any kind, please know that the police might not like the look of you, and might like to make this perfectly clear.
The Metropolitan Police released the above poster in 2008 and I have desperately coveted one ever since. Do you seem odd? Pretty sure I do. I promise a nice little gift to the first person who can get me one of those posters.
February 23rd, 2010 at 7:33 pm
I was removed from the Westminster station under the guise of the Terrorism Act a few years ago. Hand on my arm all the way up the escalator. They said I had a bad attitude. I was trying to shoot w/ a rented Noblex and I was using a TRIPOD, which strangely seem to be at the root of the matter.
March 27th, 2010 at 11:26 am
I am shooting in Cardiff at the moment – and I had a police car crawl beside me as I walked along for about 3 minutes. I then realised that I had been taking photos of the Welsh Assembly Offices and the Police Station. Oops.
May 3rd, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Having a “bad attitude” isn’t a crime – yet.