"Keith (R.K.) Berry" schrieb:
>
> I've had very few experiences of being accosted for photographing in public
> places, the most memorable being when I'd just taken a shot of a window
> cleaner carrying his ladders in the centre of Walsall, Staffordshire. Two
> men seized me by the shoulders, thrust CID warrant cards in my face
What´s CID? Central Intelligence Deficiencies?
> and
> asked me why I was taking pictures.
Sounds like former "east block".
> "Why shouldn't I?" I asked. "We think
> that burglaries round here are being planned with the aid of photographs of
> buildings
Haha, like Woody Allen in one of his films (camera in bread loaf)?
> and we'd like to know what you're up to," said one of them. I told
> them I worked for the Erdington Photographic Centre and that I was field
> testing this pre-war Contax III
Everybody can say it´s a _pre-war_Contax_, who can be sure it´s not a
nazi spy camera? ;-)
> for a potential customer who wanted to be
> sure that it still worked okay. They wrote all that down and let me go...
You will be observed, next time police stops your car you might notice
their nervous finger on the trigger of the MP. ;-)
> I had just taken a picture with my problematic XA
> of a new fish & chip shop when the Asian owner came running after me and
> demanded to know why I'd done that.
Once I was taking photos of the outside of our university, when a guy
aproached me loud crying and arm waving. He has played football with
some others on the lawn in front of the building. When he reached me, he
told me not to take photos, because he didn´t like to be photographed. I
explained him what I was photographing. He wasn´t content, mumbled
something about "powerful" lenses (he obviously had no clue). I
responded: "Fine you´re standing on the side of me, so it´s guarantied
you´re not on the photo".
I went on to take the photo (without him) but then he became realy loud,
he threatened me to remove the film with force out of my camera. He
became quite agressiv too and was close to attack me. In the meantime
another member of the football team reached us, he wasn´t agressive like
the first one but demanded also that I should cease to take photos.
I didn´t wanted to start a fight and risk my equipment for a photo I
could take later too.
I still wonder who were this men? The football team of the secret
service? Or some lunatics (sorry, some mentaly challenged ;-) on
excursion. After this experience I´m not sure if I should be
thankfull for the strict German gun laws or not.
Anyway it´s not a good idea to argue with morrons, better retreat to a
secure position and come back when the situation has changed.
Legal remark: You can take as many photos of people in the public in
Germany as you like. People on the photos have no right to object the
publication as long as they are not the main object of the photography
(bystander, passers-by).
Regards
Richard
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