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Tue, Nov. 27th, 2007, 10:36 pm
World: "Dark Days Are Looming..."

Seriously;

The world has gone wrong when a man is committed of sex offences for videoing a beach with children playing on it, whilst an award-winning photographer is held without trial for 19 months by US security forces, UPDATE in England, police ban a photographer from taking photos of the Christmas lights being switched on.

Whatever your fears are, either of pediophilia and/or of terrorism, both of these types of stories (which are happening ALL THE TIME now, by the way) make it a tad scary to be a photographer.

Soon enough; photographers might refuse to take on business involving children of any kind, and there may well be created a "safe list" of public sites and/or events which are safe to shoot without imprisonment / prosecution.

The idea that photographers should required to obtain licences, and that there should be strict identification procedures, before they are permitted to shoot at public events / in public spaces means that many of the millions of cameras sold today will become obsolete. Their owners will simply not have the necessary permission to use them!

Photography may become confined to private studios, with photographs stored on encrypted hard-drives, and only shared amongst secret circles of hie-hard fans. Thus forth, the general populace will lose all connection with this craft, and will slowly creep back into the dark ages.

 Leave a comment

Wed, Nov. 28th, 2007 12:13 am (UTC)
[info]dirtylaundry

i bet women photographers never have problems like this....
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Wed, Nov. 28th, 2007 01:45 am (UTC)
[info]two_truths

Perhaps not being accused of pediophilia - but - you are just as prone to being suspected of terrorism.
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Wed, Nov. 28th, 2007 12:40 am (UTC)
[info]spacelem

Judges usually aren't entirely block-headed, and there may well be some extra circumstances here that we don't know about, but on face value, yes this does seem pretty retarded.

As for the American thing... they should be forced to implement some sort of charge, like "suspicion of terrrrist [spelling intended] activities". At least that way they guys would know what they were in for. Pretty much everything the American gubbmint does these days is just designed to make sane people tear their hair out.

I doubt that photography is going to creep back into the dark ages though, as there are still plenty of non-children related photographs to be taken.

Also, I see this as photography being a casualty of our current obsession with nanny stating everything, and being so cautious we can't do anything rather than being a direct attack on photography.
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Wed, Nov. 28th, 2007 02:01 am (UTC)
[info]two_truths

I certainly do not think either is a direct attack against photography!

This is not the only case of a man committed of "sex offences" by the Scottish courts; see here for a story more humorous yet still quite frightening.


Photography (as with journalism) tends to be a hotspot of creative freedom. It is also something that is feared by many, often irrationally, especially by those seeking privacy or security. As such it is just one of many activities which have been targeted by vigilantes.

The number of places that it is not safe to take photographs is becoming a joke; e.g. the German Market on Prices Street has been a hotspot for conflict for a few years now, and photography has been banned in Waverley Station. Those are "private property", and as such the security guards have every right to do whatever they please. Yet; how long will it be until photography is banned outside of the Scottish Parliament? Or, on Princes Street itself?

At the very same time, the privacy of individuals is becoming ever increasingly slim, against security forces. I find that bit particularly ironic, because personally I fear governments more than I do any lone stranger on the street.

(E.g. Lone strangers have never been known to commit genocide.)

Personally, I think that people should stop mistrusting each other quite so much, and should be a little more vigilant about what their governments are up to.
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