I think this whole thread shows that the world is a different place it was just 10 or 15 years ago.
For my part, when I'm not working (and if I'm carrying a stills camera) I would not go into a shopping mall with the intention of taking photographs - unless (let's say) I was maybe doing project or something, and then I would have contacted the mall owners beforehand and arranged with them and their security. You could argue that it's a public space and that surely anyone going in there with a camera should be able to snap (say) their kid on a carousel and so on. I would tend to lean towards that argument as well, but again - the world is a different place now. Some people are nervous, and they have their reasons. Single males carrying cameras with long lenses pointing at children will raise concerns anywhere, especially in malls. What you must remember is that shopping malls - although some say are 'public spaces' - are in fact privately owned and operated and guess what - the owners make the rules. If they say no photography of any kind, you're out of luck. Expect curt treatment from burly security guards and over-zealous policemen. Even if you are just snapping your kid on a carousel with a point-n-shoot. The world is a different place now. Life is all about choices. I very rarely go into a shopping mall when I'm not working, that's my choice because I don't like to be herded and controlled - although oddly enough when I am working, I am herded and controlled ad nauseum. Well, it's a living... In a sense, we are responsible for creating this atmosphere of anxiety - because we have voted into power people who have carried our mandate to make our world a safer place to live in. That includes the usual extremes like power-hungry policemen with no social skills. What's the alternative? How about browsing the internet and stumbling across a peadophile's homepage of little girl shots - and surprise surprise, there's several shots of your daughter with her skirt blowing up on a carousel. How would that make you feel? For any parent, sickening. Of course there's a balance to be struck, but you'll always get extremes to aid that balance: policemen who think they are Christ almighty and photographers who think they have a right to photograph anything anywhere anytime. Both are wrong. Saturday morning, cold and bright outside, coffee sinking in, just a few thoughts. -- Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ---------- http://www.cottysnaps.com _____________________________ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
