Street Photographers test freedom to shoot in London

I have now. Very interesting. The results were positive, I guess, but one has to ask the question: Why were the photographers even stopped in the first place? It appears that the police--in London, at least--are finally getting it but the private security people...not so much.
 
This is qute recent though. Two years ago, a Greek photographer was jailed in London because he took a picture on the London Underground. The story is <here> but it is in greek. Google translator might be able to translate it.
 
I think setting up a massive tripod and 4x5 camera outside a high profile building is asking for it... Although to be honest this would not be the way I would be gathering information if I were a terrorist.
 
This just reaffirms my thoughts on contemporary paranoia. Do these people seriously think that their precious buildings are not already on Street View for the world to see? Or that perhaps one would conduct malicious investigations with a less conspicous camera? What, Al-Qaeda with a 5x4? The two guys in the grey suits are particularly annoying. Nice to see the police handle it all so amicably, though.
This hasn't happened to me here in Denmark. I did have to talk myself out of getting a fine in NYC once, but I had deliberately crossed an 'authorized personnel only' barrier on a subway station, so I guess I was lucky. Sweet trespassing.
 
It's really not about paranoia or fear, but about projecting private power into public space. The difference between the public and private forces are quite striking in this...
 
This was a great link - enjoyed the 'confrontations'.
If I was employing these security guys I would be wanting to know why they were wasting their time on the obvious photographers - what weren't they seeing?
jesse
 
Most of the time these "rent a cops" are just low paid workers with NO idea of the law, at best, or a testosterone driven low brow at worst. I forgot to count, how many times did they say "They told me to tell you. .. ..." Darn those pubic spaces! Any way the company can buy them too? Then they will feel safe, . .. ....
 
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Last week I stood in front of a big international hotel in Frankfurt when a guy came along and tried to stop me from taking photos. I told him to get the supervisor. When he went away I took my photo and moved on. :) So this BS can also be found here already.

Sometimes it's problematic to make a distinction between private and public ground. I suppose that most security staff does not know exactly where the property really ends. When there is a fence around then it's easy. But most of the time there isn't a fence.
 
In the United States it is legal take a photo of anything you can see from a public space. Public spaces include the street and sidewalk, subway stations, etc. If your bedroom window is open and I can see you (and/or friends) cavorting in the nude, I can legally take the photograph as long as I am on public space. Now, what I do with any photograph after it has been taken is another story. Stay strong.
 
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