Photography in the UK.
Entry posted by Hobgoblinpie
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Such a sad state of affairs these days for photographers, or, as I should say, anyone with a digital SLR.
On 24th November, I went to London on a college trip, with about 50 other students, and obviously, my DSLR. At about 12:30 we were given 45 minutes to wander around (and near, but not too far away) Trafalgar square. During these 45 minutes, I stayed with 3 other friends, and proceeded to do some street photography. A large part of Street photography is remaining unseen and inconspicuous, and being part of a group at a famous landmark seemed to work, or so I thought. About 20 minutes in, I took a photograph of a Policeman (he wasn't facing me when I took it, so I don't know why I got singled out). Moments later, he approached me and said that he wanted to go through the files on my camera under section 44 (Basically, an officer is allowed to search through your items without any reasonable level of suspicision). I was promptly told that (as he saw the picture of himself) I had to delete the file, which, under photographer's rights, is not legal. A police officer cannot make you delete any image which you have taken, so I proclaimed this fact to him and was told that I may receive a caution for having 'an attitude'. At this point, I gave up. Fighting an over-powered, mis-guided and idiotic system just isn't what I wanted to concern myself with. He let me go (he didn't get me to delete the file). I think that his view on the situation was wrong (not just because I'm the victim). If he had told me to stop photographing because I was on private property (Trafalgar square is privately owned), then I would have immediately stopped, as I know that if I am approached and told to stop photographing on private property, I am required to stop.
This seems to be happening every day in the UK. I've seen about 4 different stories just in December about Police officers stopping photographers under section 44, even after all Police have received a letter telling them to ease up on the policing. I stick to Landscape, Macro and photography like that, so it is not a huge concern for me, but I do think that section 44 is becoming a joke. It's also very annoying when doing things that are perfectly innocent.
And, just to get some e-revenge, here is the photo that almost got me a caution.
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