The War Against Photography is Growing Alongside the Use of Security Cameras
Bill Lytton · Jul 22, 2013
The western world was sent into a brief paranoid frenzy when whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked government information about the surveillance of the National Security Agency (NSA). I say brief, because it seems to have been forgotten by a large number of people; it seemed like it was just more news. The revelations, and more that followed, showed how the NSA record phone calls and data and more controversially; that they use information from emails and social networking sites.
A lot of critics have said that we live in a ‘Big Brother’ society; that we are being spied on and surveilled all the time. What’s being considered a breach of public privacy, both on and offline, is a suggested measure of security and counterterrorism. Some have branded this Orwellian. Others have said that Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is fiction and shouldn’t be used as an instruction manual. It does pose the question: are ‘security measures’ getting in the way of civil liberties?
For anyone who hasn’t read Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, I would recommend it – it’s an incredible book. Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopian novel where the world is divided into three main continents: Oceania, Eastasia and Eurasia. The story follows a character in Oceania (comprised of the US and the UK) where propaganda directs which continents to hate, how to work and how to live.
Every citizen is monitored by a ‘telescreen’; a TV-camera unit in every room and every part of the street. Every move is recorded and monitored by Big Brother. All media is controlled by the government and anybody who deviates from the ideal disappears.
Yesterday I saw a news report on Russia Today showing how Britain is the most surveilled country on earth; some calling it a Big Brother state. Reports show there is up to one security camera for every eleven people, and there are even more cameras in “high risk” zones.
The cameras are used, rather obviously, for crime prevention. Interestingly, the majority of cameras (2.7 million) are used by private businesses and individuals and there are no rules governing their use. There are over half a million cameras in the city of London and evidence is showing that cameras are being used more and more; it’s estimated that, as of 2014, $23.5 billion will be spent on cameras globally.
There a three ways you can look at this. Well, there are three ways I’m going to look at this so that I don’t freak myself out (or sound like a raging conspiracy theorist). I’ll be looking at the technological and photographic advancements involved, the legitimacy of their use and how it can affect photographers.
