Thursday 3 December 2009

Warning: Do not take this picture (Independent Newspaper Article)Police warned over misuse of terror laws to stop innocent photographers By Mark Hugh

A favourite topic on photography forums for some time now, here is the UK's Independent Newspapers slant on overly keen police stopping photographers

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/warning-do-not-take-this-picture-1833127.html


Police warned over misuse of terror laws to stop innocent photographers

By Mark Hughes and Jerome Taylor

Thursday, 3 December 2009


Police have been accused of misusing powers granted under anti-terror legislation after a series of incidents, ranging from the innocuous to the bizarre, in which photographers were questioned by officers for taking innocent pictures of tourist destinations, landmarks and even a fish and chip shop.

Police are allowed to stop and search anyone in a designated "Section 44 authorisation" zone without having to give a reason. But amateur and professional photographers have complained that they are frequently being stopped and treated as potential terrorists on a reconnaissance mission. Last night the Government's independent reviewer of anti-terrorism laws warned police forces to carefully examine how they use the controversial legislation.

Speaking to The Independent, Lord Carlile of Berriew said: "The police have to be very careful about stopping people who are taking what I would call leisure photographs, and indeed professional photographers. The fact that someone is taking photographs is not prima facie a good reason for stop and search and is very far from raising suspicion. It is a matter of concern and the police will know that they have to look at this very carefully," he added.

Lord Carlile's comments come just days after a BBC journalist was stopped and searched by two police community support officers as he took photographs of St Paul's Cathedral. Days earlier Andrew White, 33, was stopped and asked to give his name and address after taking photographs of Christmas lights on his way to work in Brighton.

And in July Alex Turner, an amateur photographer from Kent, was arrested after he took pictures of Mick's Plaice, a fish and chip shop in Chatham.

Most of those stopped are told they are being questioned under Section 44, a controversial power which allows senior officers to designate entire areas of their police force regions as stop-and-search zones. The areas are chosen based on their likelihood of being a terrorism target.

More than 100 exist in London alone, covering areas such as the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and other landmarks. Every train station in the UK is covered by a Section 44 order. In the first quarter of this financial year 96 per cent of all Section 44 searches were carried out by the Metropolitan Police and the British Transport Police. Every area of the UK which has a Section 44 in place is known to the Home Office. But, due to the fear that the information could be used by terrorists to plan attacks, most of the the exact locations covered by Section 44 authorisations are kept secret, meaning members of the public have no idea if they are in one or not.

Martin Parr, a photojournalist who was threatened with arrest after he took pictures of revellers in Liverpool city centre, said: "Unless we do something to stop this trend it will become virtually impossible to take photographs on a British street."

The British Journal of Photography says it has received a steadily increasing number of complaints this year. Olivier Laurent, the magazine's news editor, said: "The person will normally be taking a photograph of something perfectly mundane and a police officer will approach them and either claim that they can't take photos in that particular place or they will ask the photographer to explain what they are up to and record their details.

"Those who refuse to co-operate have been threatened with arrest for either breaching the peace or impeding the public highway. We find that a lot of the time police officers are not even aware of the rules governing photography in a public place."

Marc Vallee, a photojournalist who specialises in documenting protests, has become so exasperated at how often photographers are questioned or searched by officers that he has co-founded a campaign group to keep tabs on how public photography is being policed. The "I'm a photographer, not a terrorist" campaign group now has more than 4,000 supporters and has held a number of protests, including outside Scotland Yard, to highlight what they believe is the growing harassment of amateur and professional photographers by police and over-zealous council officials.

"Why is the act of taking a picture deemed by the state to be so potentially threatening? Photography is not a crime but it is being routinely criminalised," he said. "Anti-terrorism legislation talks about creating a hostile environment for terrorists to operate but the reality is that it is creating a hostile environment for public photography. That has an incredibly detrimental effect on freedom of speech."

Craig Mackey, who speaks for the Association of Chief Police Officers on stop-and-search legislation, said he does have sympathy for photographers, but said that part of the problem was that some officers were not aware how best to use the "complex" legislation. He said: "It goes back to the issue of briefing and training of staff and making sure they are clear around the legislation we are asking them to use. There is no power under Section 44 to stop people taking photographs and we are very clear about getting that message out to forces.

"In the past there has been a build-up around photographers and policing. That said, it is difficult to imagine a scenario where someone taking pictures of Christmas lights would be something we should be dealing with."





Wednesday 28 October 2009

Honey Salvadori

Met an interesting photographer today http://www.honeysalvadori.com

She shares most photographers view that stock photography is no longer the cash cow it once was, although she does still publish to http://www.alamy.com/

Auctioning art

How to transform from an artist selling postcards at the local craft market to one who sells art for thousands is the question on most artists minds.

Assuming that an artist has merit and such prerequisites the rest is surely branding and marketing. The more sought after an artist becomes the more value the art has. Price is after all what the purchaser is willing to pay.

To this end we are going to be using auction houses to sell some of our art. The disadvantages are obvious, no personal touch, crippling commission charges amongst the many. The more subtle advantages are that the name of the artist then starts to become 'tracked' through the various and so important art databases. Hopefully this adds to the snowball of publicity.

Friday 16 January 2009

Tasmin shoot

A new day and a new model, Tasmin had never modelled before and was very (very) nervous. I decided to shoot on location at her flat, partly because the location was so nice, a big open plan flat, very modern, no clutter, and partly because I felt she would be most at ease here.

Of course that meant hauling all the kit off to her place but hey I don't mind.

The shoot took a long time to settle down, she laughs a lot and was uncomfortable relaxing and 'letting go', but in the end we got there and produced some reasonable results. Predictably on reflection she decided that maybe it wasn't so bad and wants to do it again. This to me is a success, I know that the next shoot will be a big improvement and I'm really looking forward to it.

Friday 26 December 2008

Boxing Day Shoot - Burnham Beach

Some people like playing sport, some like swimming on Boxing Day, I like doing a shoot.

As I was down visiting my sister in Somerset I decided to take the chance of an early morning shoot on the beach. 9 miles of sand is a good reason and I know of a lovely old wooden shipwreck. Just the rotting hulk now but it's still a pretty good, if done to death location.

Everything went well, the light was pretty good, I just underestimated the chilly breeze. By the time the shoot finished I had pretty much lost all the feeling in my fingers and it had stopped being quite so much fun!

Sunday 23 November 2008

Friday was a shoot with Lisa and Natascha at Lowford Studio in Southampton (Burseldon). Despite the fact that I've known the studio for nearly 2 years, I used to know the previous owner, I've never had a chance to shoot there.

Lisa and Natascha are both law students at Solent University, although I actually know them through Lisa's husband Dragi. I've had a shoot with Lisa before and she's great. Dancing was always her passion so she's pretty used to performing. Natascha on the other hand is a complete beginner, although you wouldn't know it. Obvious talent I only hope that she continues to pose.

Wednesday 19 November 2008

Ramazzoti art colony

Ramazzoti art colony was the residency that Maja and I stayed at over the summer. I have finally got around to editing Wikipedia to reflect both the colony as well as East European colonies in general.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_colony

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Ramazzoti