Interview

Interview with professional photographer Justin Cliffe


As part of my research after carrying put a survey on the general public of their opinions on street photography, i chose to go in search of professional street photographers in the UK to find out their opinions and experiences. 

1.What challenges have you faced or do you face, as a modern day street photographer?

None really, I do not, generally, take ‘in-your-face’ street photographs and so rarely. If ever, find myself in a confrontational situation

2.Have you ever been stopped by any members of authority such as Police or Security guards while taking photographs in the streets? If so, why did they do so?

Not on the street, but I have been spoken to by Security Guards on ’private ground’ (railway station) however they were perfectly OK when I explained what I was doing.

3.Do you think the terrorist act has much of an impact on modern day street photographers?(UK)

Not really – although depends on where the photography is taking place. Obviously in more sensitive places, eg near the Houses of Parliament or official buildings then there is likely to be some impact in terms of police / security interest in photographers.

4.Do you think the attitudes of the modern day public have changed towards people taking photographs in public places over time?

Probably become a little more used to seeing people with cameras – or taking pictures with their phones, but otherwise no.

5.Do you think male street photographers in particular face more of a challenge when capturing images in public places? Or do you think gender does not make a difference?

I do think that people are more accepting of female photographers as they are, possibly, perceived as less of a threat – added to which men would be less likely to object to having their photograph taken by a woman than a man.

http://www.justincliffe.co.uk

http://www.streetphotographylondon.co.uk/  some of Justin Cliffe's Photographs are on this website/blog!

BBC Article, Innocent photographer or terrorist?

Full article here;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7351252.stm




"Misplaced fears about terror, privacy and child protection are preventing amateur photographers from enjoying their hobby, say campaigners."

Phil Smith thought ex-EastEnder Letitia Dean turning on the Christmas lights in Ipswich would make a good snap for his collection.

The 49-year-old started by firing off a few shots of the warm-up act on stage. But before the main attraction showed up, Mr Smith was challenged by a police officer who asked if he had a licence for the camera.

After explaining he didn't need one, he was taken down a side-street for a formal "stop and search", then asked to delete the photos and ordered not take any more. So he slunk home with his camera.

To be pulled out of a crowd is very daunting and I wasn't aware of my rights Phil Smith

"People were still taking photos with mobile phones and pocket cameras, so maybe it was because mine looked like a professional camera with a flash on top," he says.

"I wasn't very pleased because I was taken through the crowd and through the barriers at the front and people were probably thinking 'I wonder what he was doing.'

"To be pulled out of a crowd is very daunting and I wasn't aware of my rights.

"It's a sad state of affairs today if an amateur photographer can't stand in the street taking photographs."

" "There's a general alarm about terrorism and about paedophiles, two heady cocktails, and police and PCSOs [police community support officers] and wardens and authorities generally seem to be worried about this."

Photographers have every right to take photos in a public place, he says, and it's crazy for officials to challenge them when there are so many security cameras around and so many people now have cameras on phones. But it's usually inexperienced officers responsible. "

Counter terrorism act 2009 protest

2009 Counter Terrorism Act

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNwS7IVW8hU    

Mark Tomas

"Another law with which to criminalise people"

Survey Results

The Results from my short 4 question survey..

I only asked a handful of people to answer my survey however ensured none were photographers so therefore would not have had a biased opinion. 

I also tried to use an equal amount from both sexes.

Ill be honest, i was fairly surprised to see that not even one person thought this should be illegal. It goes to show that the public really don't tend to have a problem with photographers in the streets, its more so when the photographs are being taken of them. 

I was extremely surprised to see this result. Its shown that the opinions or thoughts i had fixed in my head about people disagreeing with capturing images of people on the streets were almost completely wrong. 

Something i find odd is people saying they would be suspicious if a photo were taken of them however they do not think it should be illegal. I suppose i was also surpassed at the percentage that said they wouldn't be suspicious as i honestly thought that it would be a lot lower. 

The results for this question are probably the most interesting out of them all. It would have been interesting to ask why males in particular are seen as the more suspicious gender when capturing images on the street. my own results show men have a more difficult time trying to capture images simply because of their gender. I would personally be lead to believe this is because of the media constantly linking terrorism with men and pedophilia with men.

Eric Kim

A brilliant post by the amazing street photographer Eric Kim, on the 5 most asked questions about street photography. 

I've chosen to research into this as I'm currently gathering knowledge and ideas on what questions would be suitable and relevant to ask street photographers. My plan is to create some interesting questions and email them out to particular street photographers I feel are of inspiration to me and whom are currently working in this industry themselves. I want to do this as it will help me gather information first hand from people who are currently out there in the industry working as street photographers. 

After carrying out my survey on people of the public to find what their opinions are on photography in public places I think it is only right that I now go in search of the photographer's perception and opinions on street photography, and the many modern day laws and restrictions which now come with it.


Heres Eric Kims post on questions surrounding street photography in general. I feel this blog post is really interesting and helpful to myself as an aspiring photographer. Its great to hear a professionals opinions! 




http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2010/10/12/the-5-most-common-questions-about-street-photography-and-the-answers/

"No. As long as a person is in a public area and not on private property, you are free to take their photo without having a model release form. However the tricky part is when it comes to selling images of people shot in public areas. If the photo you are selling clearly defines a person’s face, then you need a model release form."

"Don’t worry–all street photographers have felt that way in their lives at one point or another. Honestly the more you shoot, the less awkward it is going to be for you to shoot in public–especially of strangers. Have the mindset that you are not out there to be a creep, but that you are out there capturing the beauty of everyday life. And oh yeah if you’re wondering– I have only been approached twice by people in 4 years to not take their photo. That is a pretty damn low number, and I’m sure your experiences will be similar as well."

"Whoever is going into street photography for the money should perhaps look for another specialty. Most people who are passionate about street photography are not in it for the money, such as journalists around the world. Rather, it is about capturing the beauty in the mundane as well as feeling alive through the act of photography."

Amazing intro from Eric Kim there!! 

http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2010/10/12/the-5-most-common-questions-about-street-photography-and-the-answers/

Short Survey

Photography on the streets



I've chosen to create a short 4 question survey with questions regarding laws surrounding photography in public areas. This survey is designed to be answered by people of the public, as I wanted to find out their opinions of photographers capturing images in public areas. 


https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QG2YVBH

"Im a photographer not a terrorist"

"Im a photographer not a terrorist"




http://photographernotaterrorist.org


This is a really interesting link and website to check out! 


A champaign to help visual imagery, documentary photography in particular as it seems to be coming under threat by moderns views of society and laws.


" Photography is under attack. Across the country it that seems anyone with a camera is being targeted as a potential terrorist, whether amateur or professional, whether landscape, 

architectural or street photographer.

Not only is it corrosive of press freedom but creation of the collective visual history of our 

country is extinguished by antiterrorist legislation designed to protect the heritage it 

prevents us recording."

(A photo I took of a wall in Uni)

Terrorism act and link to photography

Metropolitan Police 

Photography advice

http://content.met.police.uk/Site/photographyadvice

"We encourage officers and the public to be vigilant against terrorism but recognise the importance not only of protecting the public from terrorism but also promoting the freedom of the public and the media to take and publish photographs.

Guidance around the issue has been made clear to officers and PCSOs through briefings and internal communications. The following advice is available to all officers and provides a summary of the Metropolitan Police Service’s guidance around photography in public places.

Freedom to photograph and film
Members of the public and the media do not need a permit to film or photograph in public places and police have no power to stop them filming or photographing incidents or police personnel.

Terrorism Act 2000
Photography and Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000
The power to stop and search someone under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 no longer exists.

Police officers continue to have the power to stop and search anyone who they reasonably suspect to be a terrorist under Section 43 of the Terrorism Act.

Photography and Section 43 of the Terrorism Act 2000
Officers have the power to stop and search a person who they reasonably suspect to be a terrorist. The purpose of the stop and search is to discover whether that person has in their possession anything which may constitute evidence that they are a terrorist.

Officers have the power to view digital images contained in mobile telephones or cameras carried by a person searched under S43 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to discover whether the images constitute evidence that the person is involved in terrorism. Officers also have the power to seize and retain any article found during the search which the officer reasonably suspects may constitute evidence that the person is a terrorist. This includes any mobile telephone or camera containing such evidence.

Officers do not have the power to delete digital images or destroy film at any point during a search. Deletion or destruction may only take place following seizure if there is a lawful power (such as a court order) that permits such deletion or destruction. "

Lancashire police arrest amateur photographer UK

   









https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiL_AdnFhb4

I can not quite believe this. This is yet another video showing even those of authority such as the police appear to be unsure on the rights and laws surrounding photography on the streets.

What this video has mainly got me thinking is do these photographers appear suspicious in taking photos because they are males? would a female look as suspicious to the police when taking images in public areas. I think this would be an interesting concept to research into. I personally think men will have more difficult time trying to capture images on the street as it is rare women are linked to terrorism or pedophilia, which are both factors that are linked to photography in this modern world in which we live in.

Stand Your Ground

       

London Street Photography Festival 2011

                       

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJH9F7Hcluo

An amazing experiment by the London Street photography festival.

This video just goes to show the difficulties between knowing what is public land and what is classed as private land these days. It also shows just how unsure and untrained people are, when it comes to being aware of the laws of photographing in the street! Rarely any of these security people were clued up on the laws surrounding taking photographs on public land. It also shows the negative approach so many people these day have towards photographing in the street, and the way in which they automatically think a photographer is up to no good when photographing in the street. 

Main concerns appear to be that photographers are taking photographs of security cameras to see where they're positioned when capturing images of buildings. Its crazy so see how powerfully terrorism has came to influence peoples views on photography.

Seamus Murphy, Channel 4

Channel 4 article on Seamus Murphy,
Documentary Photographer.

Afghan family during the Afghanistan war.


http://www.channel4.com/news/seamus-murphy-afghan-family-ba-deli-kabul-afghanistan-war


While watching Channel 4 news last week i was lucky enough to see them tell the story of, and show the images taken by the documentary photographer Seamus Murphy.
An amazing story of the photographer who followed a Afghan family documenting their everyday lives during the war in Afghanistan.

After seeing this on the news I went on to find the online article and images on channel 4's website.

"Afghanistan war: the sons of Stonecutter Street"

http://bcove.me/vco6jeps

I chose to print screen some of the images from the article with the writing by the photographer below as i think they are amazing photographs alone, but they begin to have so much more meaning when you're able to hear the moving story behind the images and what the photographers aims and intentions were when capturing them. 

An amazing take on documentary war photography in my opinion, as this shows the other more unknown side to war,  the story of a family during these difficult times in the country. Something which we wouldn't be exposed to through normal media such as the news. 

http://seamusmurphy.com/#/Stories/Syria/6

Documentary Photography, Carl De Keyzer

Carl De Keyzer

I chose to take out a few books from the library surrounding photographers who capture documentary photography, seeing as though this is what I am so greatly interested in. 

I wanted to explore the different styles and techniques of different documentary photographers. Heres a great photographer I found called Carl De Keyzer, I've chosen to just represent a few of the images I felt interested me most.

What I find most appealing about this photographers work and his images on a whole is the bright and bold style they're captured in; This reminds me slightly of the work by Martin Parr; another documentary photographer whom I find very inspiring. 

The majority of images I was interested in by this photographer seemed to images of crowds, religious themes and war. I think the subject of war and religion are two incredibly interesting things to document with photography as they are both often linked to one another and are both subjects which are currently in the media and watched on by all people around the world. They're two subjects which almost everyone has a strong opinion on. 

I feel documenting war especially is something which is such a great idea as most of us are only exposed to war through the media such as the news. War can therefore be represented in a certain way in order to force people into thinking particular things about war. I personally don't believe we are all exposed to the truth around war; documentary photography however, is something which can successfully do this. 

Has this photographer tried to present war and in a certain way? Or has he captured raw images of what is true.

Why Does Street Photography Make us Paranoid?

After taking an interest in documentary photography, especially street photography, I've began to realise many set backs and complications can come along with it. I've began to research the laws surrounding taking photographs in private and public areas, and of the public themselves. 



Why Does Street Photography Make us Paranoid?
Debate at Housmans Bookshop

Inspirational Visit

Ian macdonald.

Ian Macdonald visited college on Tuesday, 2nd April. I've chosen to present a few snaps of his work i managed to get yesterday as he is a well known documentary photographer in our region. Ive found that documentary photography is the photography i am interested in most, whether that be documenting landscapes and buildings such as these or documenting the people in busy public areas. 

 In terms of looking at this style of documentary photography from a careers point of view, i can see how in some aspects having this style of documentary photography as your signature genre could come with less complications. When not documenting people you avoid many of the laws and restrictions i researched in my first blog post. This still however, faces the problem of not knowing what areas are and are not private land. What can and can't you take images of legally? 

I found great inspiration in looking at the work produced by Ian Macdonald. It was interesting to see first hand actual black and white prints which have been hand produced by the photographer. This really made me consider more what type of camera i would like to mainly work with when i strive to achieve a career in photography. The look and feel of prints actually captured and developed by the photographer themselves made me feel like there was so much more value to the images.