I Hate Fences

Bike Tourist

Bike Tourist

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The more people propogate, the smaller the world becomes, the fewer photo opportunities are available. I have to walk and drive farther every year to find interesting venues. The suspicious nature and police mentality of some marginally in charge of facilities is one aspect. I used to ask to take pictures and be granted permission 90% of the time. Now, someone in fear of his/her job just says no as a safe, even though inappropriate, response.
But the major culprit and number one on my list of major impediments to photography is the humble FENCE. I hate fences! Out in the country, open land is fenced faster than I can drive. Nice scenic venues are being fenced off at an alarming rate where I live for no other apparent reason than, "This is mine. Stay out."
Chain link fences are terrible. The openings don't allow the lenses of my DSLR to protrude through. A point and shoot's lens will generally work OK but I'm sure they are devising a means to frustrate that, too.
How are things in your part of the world?
 
I live in suburbia, and the amount of fenced off NO TRESPASSING and PRIVATE PROPERTY signs are so funny that sometimes I take pictures of those. It's like, who would ever want to trespass here? It's just an ugly yard. I love taking pictures of people's dogs in their yards, though, and fences, too bother the hell out of me.
 
The biggest problem, besides finding something that actually worth taking a picture of, with shooting landscapes around here. Is finding a safe place to pull off the road or park as the majority of the roads don't even have a dirt shoulder.
 
Many suburbs in Melbourne (Australia) are lined by high fences, stone or brick or timber. But pavements and street parking and places to pull off country roads abound. Watching American TV it is always refreshing to see the American convention of no front fence and sloping lawns. That is uncommon here. On the other hand there are many cities apparently with no sidewalks in many streets, forcing the use of the car.

My Color Skopar will sneak through a cyclone wire fence, but nothing else I have longer than 25 focal length. [edit. My 39mm filter Summicrons fit too - tried it this morning.]

As subjects I love fences.

In the middle of a ridiculous vengeful fencing dispute with my nextdoor neighbour, I hate them (fences.)
 
Mcary said:
The biggest problem, besides finding something that actually worth taking a picture of, with shooting landscapes around here. Is finding a safe place to pull off the road or park as the majority of the roads don't even have a dirt shoulder.
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That's the problem here in the wine country. What to do with the car?
 
valdas said:
In Finland, where I currently live there is a great Everyman's right concept:


http://www.ymparisto.fi/default.asp?contentid=390532&lan=EN
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I LOVE this idea! Sadly, we'll never get to enjoy something like this in the United States. There's some sort of psychology pervasive here that has led to massive distrust of our fellow citizens, politically and socially. No doubt this has led to the OP's sense that everything is being fenced off. I hate seeing it happen.
 
Using a rangefinder camera through a fence can be tricky -- the lens may fit but the RF window can be blocked. As for the everyman's right concept, sounds communist to me! 🙂 Actually, that's very refreshing, but pretty foreign to the typical American outlook. Here it really comes down to what the landowner will tolerate, which includes the landowner's tolerance for the risk of being sued by those who enter upon the property without permission and then happen to hurt themselves while there.
 
Richard G said:
Many suburbs in Melbourne (Australia) are lined by high fences, stone or brick or timber. But pavements and street parking and places to pull off country roads abound. Watching American TV it is always refreshing to see the American convention of no front fence and sloping lawns. That is uncommon here.
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I live in a small town down the coast from Sydney and its the same. There is one simple brick house on the main road without a fence, surrounded by a beautifully manicured lawn which is a real standout.
 
On another level, fences are not all bad. White picket fences have a long photographic history, at least since Paul Strand (see for example his White Fence, Port Kent 1916: http://www.aperture.org/shop/prints/the-white-fence-port-kent-1916). Friedlander uses them as an interface, a means to brake forms and lines and an adventure of seeing (e.g. fifth photo from top, http://www.andrewsmithgallery.com/exhibitions/leefriedlander/newmexico/leefriedlander.html). Fences and stuff are out there, you may use them to your benefit.

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Fences are bad, so are lawns. North America used to be an astonishingly diverse mosaic of prairies, forests, wetlands,etc until the Europeans came in and sectioned off the country according to the public land survey system, thus laying the regular grid over the landscape and allowing for the easy construction of fences and creation of rectangular fields. Ironically, yielding us the wealth, prosperity, and technology to be able to produce and afford things like cameras!
 
Jamie Pillers said:
I LOVE this idea! Sadly, we'll never get to enjoy something like this in the United States. There's some sort of psychology pervasive here that has led to massive distrust of our fellow citizens, politically and socially. No doubt this has led to the OP's sense that everything is being fenced off. I hate seeing it happen.
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This concept/right/freedom has medieval roots and is alive and well in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland (though it's a bit more restrictive in Iceland), as well as in Scotland. Wikipedia has an interesting article comparing the "freedom to roam" in different countries.
 
Tasmania is not too bad. Yes, some urban buildings are fenced but out of town it's generally a stock fence at the most. A lot of areas don't even have those.
A fence is no substitute for a good wall. We have some great convict-built ones down here, too.

Power lines are the thing that frustrate me the most. Many a good composition has gone wanting for the presence of one. In comparison, fences are a relatively minor annoyance.

Regards
Brett
 
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