Suspicion, Fear and Photography

[Hamish Gill]

It really frustrates me these day that I don't have the freedom to take a photo of what I want, where and when I want!
We have probably all heard about the possibility of photographers being arrested and held under the terrorism act for taking photos of government buildings etc. That annoys me quite a lot, but I won't get into the politics of it!

What frustrates me is a suspicion of photographers by the general public!
We have it hammered in to our minds by the media and popular culture day and night that everyone is out to get us! The worrying thing is that we lap it up, it seems to be human nature to thrive on drama and fear!
The downside of lapping up this devils cream is of course unquantifiable social paranoia!

Me and Hannah watched the latest series of 'Luther', great show - disturbing violence from a pair of brothers with bats, hammers and water pistols full of acid. These chaps spend their days wondering around killing and maiming people depending on the out come of the roll of a couple of dice. Of course I really enjoyed it, its fairly well written, well shot and the theme tune to it is 'Paradise circus' by massive attack which bodes well from the get go for me!

I mention this as it caused a very real example of fear based on popular culture.
Next time me and Hannah were in the park there happens to be a chap on the hill with a long lens pointed at some flats. He was staring intently through the glass! Eventually He noticed us, stood up and wondered around a bit. Ok, he might have looked a little dodgy, but I'm not sure he was anything to worry about. I asked Hannah if I could take a photo of her with the dogs. She said no, and that she wanted to leave the park, this chap was freaking her out, she suggested that he might have a hammer or something!

Madness really, what are the chances of actually coming across a maniac? But, I agreed(!) he did look a little nervous and was looking over at us... He did look a bit scary, so we shuffled off. The thing is though, we were looking at him too, of course he was nervous! He was wondering why two complete strangers were giving him a funny look!

Another situation like this came up last Sunday. Hannah's father runs an 'inflatables' hire company - bouncy castles and the like... Once in a while he ropes me and Hannah in to going and watching these castles. It basically involves telling kids to take their shoes off and not to climb on the sides.
Last sunday I was monitoring some kids and a chap with a camera came over, watched the kids for a little while then started taking photos.
My instant reaction was, I hate to say, to assume the worst ...
As it turns out he was from the local paper ... or at least that's what he said!

I hate the fact that I do that! The problem is, I am a product of my time, I live with in this society of suspicion and fear. Don't get me wrong, I don't want anything bad to happen to these kids and it is natural to want to protect them from evil.
The horrible thing for us photographers is that the humble camera pointed in the wrong direction might as well be an ak47! The camera pointed in the "wrong" direction incites fear a in people! What a horrible thing to have quite literally hanging around our necks!

The biggest irony is of course that i would actually like to be able to take photos of children. There is an innocence in children, a blissful ignorance of this paranoid world we have created for our selves that I would love to be able to capture but am currently unable to!

As some of you know, I am days away from having my own child, at last I will be able to capture that innocence and joy without the worry of being accused of something by a concerned parent. The down side is of course that i will then become a concerned parent my self ... I will no doubt just add to this cycle of fear, suspicion and paranoia!

So what are we to do as photographers? Accept it and become a part of it? or something else?
Any suggestions? I'd love to know a solution to this!

 

[Thomas brookes]

Well put Hamish, what gets me it that if I was an evil nasty peado would I really ...... Really go out with a large dslr and lens and take photos of kids!?!?! Errr no.

On a parallel to this ridiculous mentality last winter with the snow fall a mates shed roof collapsed with the weight of the snow he wanted to get his valuable stuff out so I said I would give him a hand.

I went to wicks (home improvement store) and picked up a crow bar to dismantle the shed roof.... At the counter they where selling winter clothing for builders I presume.

I thaught it was a good idea to get insulated so I picked up a pair of gloves and a balaclava.......

In the bargain basket was a torch for a quid ... Grabbed that as well bargain I thought.

when I put my goods on the counter the manager looked at me in horror and at my goods.

A crow bar, torch , gloves and balaclava. It never dawned on me what the spotty manager at the till was assuming......

" sorry sir I'm not going to sell you these items as I belive your going to use them for criminal activity

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's company policy that if we belive you are going to use our product for criminal activity I have the right to refuse you!!!!!!!! I walked out gob smacked!!!! Unreal!!!!

 

[Chris Dodkin]

I have no idea whether things were better back in the day, or if we simply didn't hear about the bad stuff.

Either way, we sure are restricted by our perceived fears these days.

The only times I've been told to stop taking photos were:

1) In Salford Quays (Manchester UK) by a jobsworth security guard who pulled the 'it's private property mate' line on me

2) When setting up a tripod in front of the White House (Washington DC) - a chap popped up out of nowhere and said I couldn't set up a tripod on that side of the street - I had to walk 20 feet to the other side of the street...

Oh, and on a military airbase in Egypt - but that was just me being a stupid tourist!

 

[Thomas brookes]

Haha !! Where you one of those guys that got incarcerated not so long back??

 

[Chris Dodkin]

No, thank goodness - just had my camera confiscated for half an hour whilst they figured out how much to 'fine' me - in cash of course... no paperwork...

 

[Pete Askew]

And then there's the small matter of the railroad security in the US!! How many more skelletons are there in that closet Chris?!!

But seriously, inocence once lost by a society is like viginity, you cannot get it back. From the first seeds of suspicion an infection starts and it affects us all. Sadly, I do not think there is a way back, at least in any of our lifetimes. When you see the shots of people like Bert Hardy, Robert Doisneau even Cartier-Bresson of children playing the streets, bits of real social history, where will these come from in our times (if indeed chlidren still play in the streets). Much of this innocent play will be isolated to personal pictures, probably trapped on cheap P&S's or mobile phones and lost when they crash. Even though I have stated publicly that I do not like his work, maybe people like Martin Parr are more important than we think. I really wonder where this will lead. Interesting, it seems to be much less of a problem in Germany (and maybe elsewhere in mianland Europe), what about, say, Small-Town USA; Chis, Darren et al?

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Ah yes, forgot about that encounter Pete - my personal homeland security alert!

 

[Hamish Gill]

And then there's the small matter of the railroad security in the US!! How many more skelletons are there in that closet Chris?!!

But seriously, inocence once lost by a society is like viginity, you cannot get it back. From the first seeds of suspicion an infection starts and it affects us all. Sadly, I do not think there is a way back, at least in any of our lifetimes. When you see the shots of people like Bert Hardy, Robert Doisneau even Cartier-Bresson of children playing the streets, bits of real social history, where will these come from in our times (if indeed chlidren still play in the streets). Much of this innocent play will be isolated to personal pictures, probably trapped on cheap P&S's or mobile phones and lost when they crash. Even though I have stated publicly that I do not like his work, maybe people like Martin Parr are more important than we think.

Indeed!
Its one of the things i like about Martin Parr (as discussed before)
On the subject of personal pictures/through away shots, thats exactly why i started the snap of the day thread ... these throw away images are actually the ones that will tell future generations about our time
That said though, think about facebook and twitter! we have a on going archive of the lives of the worlds population. It might be looked upon by many as a waste of time, but think about what people will find looking back a hundred years from now. In the last 10 years human beings have started documenting their individual lives!
History will no longer be confined to the opinions and thoughts of the limited few, but the random uttering and snapshots of the masses!
Its quite an awesome thing if you think about it!

 

[Rense Haveman]

Thanks for bringing this under my attention Hamish! No solution, of course, if I could give you one, you would have thought of it yourself.... But while shooting, I try to be part of my own environment. Not to be invisible, stealth-like, but with a smile, and open towards the people around. Especially during my street photography exercises this helps a lot. Be friendly, don't do things you wouldn't like to be done towards yourself.... Something like that. The strange thing is: I am not a very open guy normally. I don't speak freely to people. But almost always when I do some streetshooting, I have some conversation with strangers, just because they want to know what I do, and why. And these are mostly quite open conversations, with real interest in the other... Strange.....

 

[Hamish Gill]

Oddly, I am very open... My missis is always telling me off for talking to strangers ...
But when shooting street I step back and try to blend in with my surroundings and despite having a camera to my face almost pretend im not using it ... Or at least not shooting my subject...

Strange reading this back ... I hadnt even met my daughter when I posted this ...

 

[Rense Haveman]

Oddly, I am very open... My missis is always telling me off for talking to strangers ...
But when shooting street I step back and try to blend in with my surroundings and despite having a camera to my face almost pretend im not using it ... Or at least not shooting my subject...

Strange reading this back ... I hadnt even met my daughter when I posted this ...

And? Do you think differently now?

 

[Hamish Gill]

Not at all really ... Reading back I still feel just the same ...
Just these days I have my own little bautiful bundle of innocence to capture
He she is, learning to walk

 

[Rense Haveman]

Great...

 

[Paul Lange]

That's probably one of my favourites of Connie that you have posted Hamish. Someone posted a link to some guidelines for photographers, security agencies and police a while ago. It made it clear what is legal and what is not including the remit and powers of the police. I've been wondering if I should print a few copies out and keep them on me to hand out if I get stopped just incase. Seems like a way of avoiding a confrontation and still being able to get on with things.

 

[Hamish Gill]

The best camera is the camera in your hand ... In this case the iPhone! Great for capturing those magical moments!
She has only been crawling a week or so an she can stand up by her self now ... Nuts!

 

[Pete Askew]

That's so she can reach all those interesting knobs and dials on your Hi-Fi Hamish!!

 

[Darren Bradley]

Yeah, I get stopped on a fairly regular basis. Although at least in this country, technically there are very few places where photography is forbidden - especially if you're standing on a publicly accessible spot - even if it's private property. DHS has written directive memos about not harassing photographers, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen...