From: Cotty
On 27/2/10, Subash, discombobulated, unleashed:
>Cotty, IIRC, this is the third or fourth time on the list you've said
>something like that, that it's no longer the same world or something to
>that effect. i would like you to expand on that, if you may. am just
>curious to know what exactly you mean by that. you may choose not to, of
>course :-))
Simply that the idea that someone may not be photographing just for
personal pleasure anymore - and in fact may be pursuing a line of
illegality - eg recce of a building entrance, or snapping up little
girls' skirts, means that the public are more aware of such activities,
and rightly or wrongly are more likely to highlight innocent activity to
the authorities.
Someone seemingly 'acting suspiciously' (define that - ha!) in a crowd
environment is more likely to attract attention in 2010 than only 20 or
30 years ago from people who are more aware and informed by the media.
20 or 30 years ago much fewer people were aware that there are people
about who photograph children in compromising situations (for example)
and even though the activity itself has probably been going on for ages,
the awareness has only increased relatively recently. Similarly the
photographing of bridges, buildings etc. I pass no judgement on it being
right or wrong, just that that is what I see has happened.
Tell you a story. I was filming in the centre of a city and we had
finished and I was putting my kit away in the back of the land rover. As
I drove away I noticed a strange woman looking at me and thought she was
just staring because I was pulling out perilously close to her car or
something. Next day I had a phone call from the police - was asked if I
could meet them in a car park that I would be passing close to that day.
Turns out that the woman had seen something she thought was a gun being
holstered and put away in the back of my land rover! The police had done
some digging based on my vehicle registration (license plate) and seeing
what I did for a living, assumed a mistake in the lady. They were doing
a 'soft stop' on me to check. I figured out what the lady had seen, I
have a microphone and holder with wind-gag that look like this:
<http://tinyurl.com/notagun>
and before it goes in the case the wind gag (the furry part) often needs
adjusting up tight (looks like a gun going into a holster). We all had a
good laugh about it - and the copper said he had thought it would be
something like this - had done the digging and decided a soft stop was
in order rather than a 'hard stop' which would have involved armed
police stopping me in an uncompromising manner - slightly scary.
However, common sense prevailed (as did my website, which they looked at
in assessing the situation) and we went away chuckling.
My point is that the system worked. The woman might have seen a gun
going into a holster, and on a different occasion it might have been a
gun and not a mic. The police did their job well and no harm done. If it
had been a hard stop instead, the outcome would be the same and aside
from me being scared out of my wits, would have been just as satisfied.
Seriously.
That story doesn't really relate to the other stuff above because we
have had a history of mainland terror in the last half of the last
century but all the same, I still think public awareness in the UK has
changed, and anyone out filming or photographing has to be more aware of
this and in tune with the consequences.
It's TYRANNY no matter how you try to pretty it up. You've done to
yourselves what the Germans, what the Soviets couldn't. GUILTY unless
you can prove you're innocent.
But innocent of what? They don't even have to tell you what crime you're
suspected of; you have to guess ... best not say or do anything that
might be suspect.
Big Brother IS watching.
I feel sorry for you. You've lost so much ... no not lost, you just gave
it away ... for nothing. At least Esau got a mess of pottage.
I'd have told 'em to sod off. If they've got evidence of a crime, get a
search warrant.
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