There’s been growing news and social media coverage over the past several months about a frightening trend occurring in the UK. People merely taking photographs in public are coming under pressure from police who suspect these photographers of using their images for antisocial and terrorist purposes. As a photographer, all the articles and anecdotes I’ve come across have concerned me considerably. The latest – a Guardian article about Bob Patemen, an amateur shutter bug in Lancashire – chilled me to an extent that’s left me wondering not if I might ever be the victim of such overt abuse of authority but when!
I highly recommend taking the time to check out writer Paul Lewis’s article Photographer films his own ‘anti-terror’ arrest. The piece is accompanied by video recordings by Mr Patemen of his encounters with the police who claimed the pictures he was taking constituted “antisocial behaviour”. It’s shocking. In the footage, Pateman appears to have been arrested for absolutely no reason at all. From what I can tell, he and his friend were only interested in trying out a new camera and shooting the “really nice atmosphere” of Christmas festivities in the town of Accrington.
Why must police waste their resources through the unjust treatment of photographers? Only last week, a shopkeeper in the town of Huddersfield (roughly 40 miles from Accrington) was murdered in his shop by four teenagers who got away with a small amount of cash, a few packs of cigarettes and some candy. Too bad there weren’t any police around … or any photographers to assist by photographing the incident as or right after it occurred.
For me, seeing that people are comfortable enough to whip out expensive photography gear in public means that an area is safe enough for everyone to go about their law abiding business. Rather than making innocent folks afraid to use their cameras in public settings, why isn’t law enforcement engaging avid photographers to help keep an eye out for things that are truly suspicious and out of the norm? If the police officers in Pateman’s video had simply struck up a friendly conversation with him, they might have discovered him to be a civic-minded local with good knowledge of his community. Should they ever have needed images of a particular crime scene or any other relevant shots, he may have proved to be a most receptive ally.
I make a few pence here and there as a professional photographer, but the vast majority of my photography falls under the category of amateur enthusiast. You can read why I love taking photos so much (especially here in London) in this Londonist Behind the Lens profile about me. It disturbs me to no end to think that an oppressive culture that singles out photographers (of all people!) has developed in this country. Never should anyone be made to feel as an enemy of the state for simply being keen to chronicle and celebrate life through the medium of photography.
