Last Saturday about 2000 of us had a ball. The demonstration organised by campaign group I'm a Photographer, not a Terrorist took place in Trafalgar Square, the epicentre of the dispute between professional photographers and increasingly restrictive policies applied by city councils and the police, had more the character of an arthouse happening.
Although the issues at stake are fundamental and important, namely press freedom and the right to take pictures in public spaces, the demo was above all fun. Recent high profile cases of police harassment and the use of anti-terror legislation to stop photographers from going about their perfectly legal business of taking pictures in public spaces have highlighted the need for protest. Luckily we live in a country where this is possible without repercussions, and I damn sure hope it stays that way. It did strike me as odd that the usually overzealous swath of 'heritage wardens' and community support officers were notably absent during the gathering... I wonder why?
Although the issues at stake are fundamental and important, namely press freedom and the right to take pictures in public spaces, the demo was above all fun. Recent high profile cases of police harassment and the use of anti-terror legislation to stop photographers from going about their perfectly legal business of taking pictures in public spaces have highlighted the need for protest. Luckily we live in a country where this is possible without repercussions, and I damn sure hope it stays that way. It did strike me as odd that the usually overzealous swath of 'heritage wardens' and community support officers were notably absent during the gathering... I wonder why?
hi everybody
ReplyDeletejust signed up and wanted to say hello while I read through the posts
hopefully this is just what im looking for looks like i have a lot to read.