It seems that the authorities think that photographers are terrorists now. The BBC has highlighted a growing number of people being stopped by police for nothing more than taking pictures of buildings or in stations.
The Met even have a poster campaign going.
Who’s next? Shoppers? Drivers?
Seriously, if someone wants to take a photo of a building they will, and they are hardly likely to get their digital SLR out with a tripod. Some of the best photos are taken ‘covertly’ on the street to capture people in a natural state rather than posing. Is that going to be outlawed?
I was reading about this earlier and I’m utterly gobsmacked. The story seemed to imply that it was those with ‘pro’ gear who were being targeted, yet the poster has a bog standard ‘tourist/consumer’ camera highlighted. Now I can understand some of the personal privacy issues associated with kids shows and the like but the way to tackle terrorism is not to stop people taking photos of buildings.
I have to confess, I’ve been getting a bit more wound up about the state’s invasion of our privacy and our freedoms. I can’t help but feel there’s some sort of underlying motive to make us feel vulnerable or to allow more draconian surveillance measures and we’ll be so used to it that we will capitulate.
I can’t see this one lasting to be honest. It’s so utterly nonsensical and I hope it’ll be subject to such ridicule that it gets tucked away for a very long time.
And you’ve just bought a new camera…