Ors > > > > > > ********************** > > Olly Olly Oxen Free > > ********************** > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > --__--__-- > > Message: 2 > Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 21:04:02 +0000 > Subject: Re: [pinhole-discussion] public shooting > From: ragowaring <ragowar...@btinternet.com> > To: <pinhole-discussion@p at ???????> > Reply-To: pinhole-discussion@p at ??????? > > Lisa, > > With this intensity and focus, a whole world and vision will rise gently > from where you are. > > Eric Satie lived and composed most of his work in the same room for 30 > years! > > You are obviously a very sensitive person who respects other peoples > privacy. In some societies, taking a photograph of someone is to take a > little of their soul. > > You must weave this into your work and work with this in mind. Something of > great value will arise from it. I am sure that you have a great deal to > say. > > Keep us updated with how you get on. "Look beneath the ant". > > Alexis > > on 25/1/02 7:40 pm, Lisa Reddig at l...@julianrichards.com wrote: > > > Anyone who's ever been on a demonstration, picket line etc. will know that the police will increasingly film and photograph people just for being there! I was on an anti war demo recently in London and a team of beefy officers descended on people gathered in Hyde Park openly stepping up to people an filming them, the lens placed immediately before one's face. The general view was that it was an attempt to provoke hostility and therefore increase the risk of trouble = unsympathetic headlines the next day. Fortunately, no one rose to the bait but people coming together for a peaceful protest shouldn't be persecuted in this way.
About ten years ago, working as a nurse, our hospital went on strike and police arrived at the scene (where there had been no trouble of any kind) and, as in the above example, walked up to people and took still photos, holding the camera a few inches away from each person's face. Along with a few other union members, I contacted a solicitor and enquired about our rights in such a situation. The short answer was we had none (under Brit law, of course). The police were free to photograph who they liked publicly, even if it meant breaching the peace (to use the jargon) Presumably those photos, and indeed any taken by the police during protests and so forth, are used to build profiles of individual people rather than for any supposed security reasons. All the more reasons why artists should address this issue of surveillance, as Merry Alpern, Philip Di Corcia and others have done. In my view it isn't simply a conceptual issue but one of civil rights and personally, I'm all for politically engaged artists, including pinholers! Regards, Mark
