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.