Re: No more photography in Europe?

[John Coyle]

On this topic, I had an interesting experience a week or so ago.  Every 
Saturday, a market is held in a pedestrian mall about ten minutes from where 
I live, and Jan and I often go there for a browse and a coffee.  The market 
is very popular, and has expanded to fill a couple of narrow alleys 
alongside the mall.
At the end of one alley, I turned around and saw what I thought would make 
an interesting contre-jour shot, looking back down towards the main market, 
so I switched on my *ist-D and framed the shot.  As I did so, the nearest 
seller to me, a young woman, jumped up and started yelling something at me, 
waving her arms and walking towards me.  So I waited until she was out of 
shot, and took the picture.  Next moment, she said "Don't take pictures, 
that's my personal stuff", implying that she had some sort of right not to 
have a photograph taken of the items she had for sale in a public market in 
a public place.
My response was that, in Australia, there is no restriction on photography 
in a public place, that the photograph was for my own use, and that, in any 
case, neither she nor her goods were 'in frame'.  She clearly did not 
understand that I had not in fact photographed either her or her goods, and 
continued to harass me, threatening at one stage to 'call security'.  In the 
end I told her that I was not going to continue the discussion.  She still 
hung around: then she asked me, in a fairly aggressive way, why I was still 
waiting in the spot from where I had taken the shot.  I told her that I did 
not have to explain myself to her, but that I would tell her that I was 
waiting for my wife (which was quite true).

It will be a sad day when one cannot go about one's business without being 
questioned by paranoid people, or by security guards or police, when doing 
something as innocent as following a hobby such as photography.

Incidentally, recalling one PDML-er's experience being questioned when 
photographing the Brooklyn Bridge, has there ever been an incidence of an 
artist being questioned while creating a painting of a public building?  If 
not, next time it happens to a photographer, we should sue under 
anti-discrimination laws!

John Coyle
Brisbane, Australia
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob W" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2004 10:14 AM
Subject: Re: No more photography in Europe?


Hi,
> I suspect the media may feel bitter because they have had their
wings
> clipped, but really, don't you think people should have the right
to
> freedom from harassment?
I do indeed, but I don't agree that this is the way to do it.

And what would be the way to do it?
they could make (or enforce) a law against harassment, instead of a
law against photography.
--
Cheers,
Bob