Bill said:
Changing the behavior of ordinary people motived by fear is likely almost impossible.
This isn't happening because the police crave power and seek to oppress people. It's happening because people are scared. Whether you or I think they have a reason to be scared is irrelevant. That fact is that they are scared. That fear is the reason rent-a-cops chase down photographers in shopping malls and city streets. It's the reason parents see any photographer as a potential child molester. And, it's the fear that nourishes the legislation that empowers and motivates the real police to hassle photographers.
Couldn’t agree more with you Bill. Street photography is at the pointy end of people’s fear. The two evils of terrorism and paedophilia generate enormous fear, and politicians and bureaucrats were – and are – under pressure to be seen to be doing something about both.
That’s not as easy as it sounds. What’s easy is to hastily enact repressive laws that give the average citizen the impression that the authorities are doing something and taking it seriously. Photographers are vulnerable because both government and the mass media linked photography to both evils. See the If You Suspect It – Report It poster in Dave Wilkinson’s post earlier, and read the media reports that photographs were taken of potential victims including Madeline McCann so that paedophile gangs could select the next child they wanted. Or look at media reports about paedophilia which usually include references to photographs, hard drives and internet.
A fearful population is a compliant population – something Josef Goebbels worked out long ago. What does a terrorist or a paedophile look like? No-one knows, we certainly don’t want to contemplate that it might be someone who looks just like us, that’s a really scary thought, but there’s someone over there taking pictures near important buildings or children, and we know that both types of threat take pictures because the government and the media tell us. In the public mind, photographers are to be feared and suspected unless they appear obviously innocuous, someone they can identify with – such as a tourist, a mum and dad snapping with kids in tow, or someone who smiles at them.
Now more than ever, it’s probably advisable to be polite and respectful of people when taking photos in public, because like it or not, we are living in a climate of induced fear. And the more fearful our societies become, the more our freedoms will be eroded in the name of protecting us.
Being respectful, polite and firm, and ensuring you are familiar with the laws relating to photography in public places in your part of the world is probably your best defence against emotional responses and generalized fears.
In the UK and in Australia there have been movements to publicise the idea that photography is not a crime. I think another strong message needs to be sent: We Are All Photographers. Everyone. Every dad, every mum, every kid with a cell phone. See that photographer being harassed? That could be YOU or your kid later today, tomorrow or next month. These public awareness campaigns will help challenge, and hopefully change, perceptions that have already been shaped by government and mass media.
I get concerned when an Australian camera clubs organization considers the issue of special identity cards to members to deflect confrontations with private security guards and members of the public. Such a move would disadvantage non-members, but more importantly, would legitimize the perception that street photography is unlawful unless some sort of official identity paper or permit is carried.
Public photography protects freedom. It enables identification of abusers of power and civil rights. It also creates a valuable public record of how we live. The debate about public photography should not be defined by the small proportion who behave unlawfully or who pose a threat to safety.
