Indeed, Fear is an infectious and ugly disease. The extremists all
have it and use it to justify their paranoia. And whatever you do, do
NOT try to quell their fear. All you will get is a litany of
reasons/excuses designed to prove you wrong and reinforce their
behavior.
It has affected my public photography to the point that I rarely make
pix of someone I don't know, no matter how interesting the image might
be. Asking permission usually spoils the moment.
Again, I find myself wondering if HC-B and the other great street
photographers could still ply their trade. Would the parents of the
boy carrying the wine bottles hunt Henri down and accuse him of being
a potential child molester?
Sadly, Christos, the darkness is already creeping in.
On 8/18/06, Christos Stavrou <christos.stavrou@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> I was taking some pictures earlier on in front of a University here in
> England.. There were couple of bikes parked near there.. a water
> pool.. and few reflections contrasting the wet pavement..
>
> My thoughts were travelling around questions of dark tonalities, when
> suddenly a authoritative figure moved agressively in front me, pushing
> to my face a pale white illuminated card with a name, a stamp and the
> word 'Security' in badly printed fonts.
>
> -Can I ask you what are you doing? he said furiously and then demanded
> that I should identify myself, as well as the reason of taking
> pictures and couple of other personal questions.. I'm not sure, maybe
> he asked what time I wake up in the morning too...
>
> It's amazing how many irrelevant vague nonsense he piled up to me..
> About security, health and safety, directives, private property,
> permissions of filming, their almost-police status(!), that maybe his
> face was on the photo, that there are so many communities here and
> they have to treat everyone equally (what? so their paranoia is
> justified in the name of equality now!??).. Add of course, the usual
> self-convincing bullshit and mucho psychological techniques, often
> used by ex-military people who have been relegated to private security
> business, so that they can fantasise some importance for their tragic
> existance...
>
> Because I don't want to be harassed when I'm taking pictures, and
> because I don't want to end up taking pictures of lonely landscapes
> and my room only.. could someone here offer some insights on the issue
> and/or indicate where I can learn more about our rights and duties as
> photographers? I have a feeling though that dark days are coming...
>
> C.S.
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