Copyright: 2010 Simon Taylor, LRPS
This Saturday (23rd January 2010) there was a mass gathering of photographers of all types at Trafalgar Square in London in defence of street photography as part of the “I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist” campaign. I wanted to be there to show my support, but unfortunately I couldn’t make it.
In essence, “PHNAT” is about the right to take photographs in public places in the UK and the alleged abuse and misuse of terrorism laws by some police officers when confronting photographers going about their business (or hobby).
An article was posted on Stuff.co.nz yesterday which took the opposite stance; the old “if you are not doing anything wrong, what’s the problem?” and I tweeted to say I thought this person was somewhat missing the point. However, I do feel they had a point, to some extent, inasmuch as it really should not matter if the police approach you to ask you why you are taking photos of a location considered to be a security risk.
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