I have been lurking on this list for a while so I might as well introduce
myself :)
As many of us I used to enjoy photography in childhood, I had some pretty
crappy off-brand Pentax screw mount cameras and lenses but I did enjoy it
immensely. I took a 10 year break from photography in my teens but for the
last 5 years I am back starting with many assorted C*non digicams and
slowly migrating to 35mm Pentax stuff with occasional dips into MF and LF.
I still own a decent 4x5 kit though I don't use it except when completely
out of my mind and willing to lug along the monster monorail.
I am currently using *istD with two of the venerable limiteds and assorted
other glass and am in the process of building myself a light yet sturdy
6x12.
Now on to the topic - I have never taken great interest in street
photography but on the occasional streaks I get I sometimes carry around
my digital voice recorder (most of the time even without the batteries).
If somebody comes up to harass me I take the voice recorder out, ask them
if they object to me recording our conversation and explain that they are
harassing me at the moment and that I would like to have a recording of
their conduct to support my pictures (none of which are of them) in court
if it ever comes to that. Usually they go away. If they don't I push the
button on the recorder and say that if they object to me recording our
conversation we have nothing to talk about and they should go about their
business and leave me alone. I usually drop something along the lines that
they are taking my time which I could use for taking pictures and that I
could even sue them for lost profit and that if they are so ignorant as to
come and accuse me of something they probably don't even know the extent
to which this could be taken in court. I am making a living here yada yada
yada... where should I send invoice for my services... bla bla bla...
I think there is absolutely no point in discussing any of the tough
concepts like freedom or anything of the sort. That is usually a dead end.
If they want this to be a paranoid society I just push the voice recorder
in their face and make it a reality.
Krisjanis
