Oustside Photography

[Graemey]

Hello All,

I've been reading and studying about outside photography, at night but also say in towns etc. The thing is I've also ben eading about people getting asked by police 'what they are doing' and getting searched. Is there anything that you can prepare if questioned and are we OK to shoot outside normally? I live in England.

Thank you as always,

Best wishes
Graeme

[Swisstony10]

I live in the UK too, and I've never had a problem taking photos outside, either in the countryside, by the beach, on a hilltop, or in town (even smack in the middle of Bristol, on a traffic island, at rush-hour, with a tripod).

If you surf the net for long enough, you'll see all the horror stories about people being questioned by the police (and what could possibly be more terrible than being asked who you are?). I know that I fly in the face of popular opinion here, but I believe that there are two approaches to dealing with that kind of enquiry from the police, and that one is way more effective and less likely to end up in you having to write to the Guardian and tell them how horrible the police are in this country than the other.

Approach 1: Start off by telling the police officer that you have every right to take photographs in a public place, and that you're not obliged by law to tell them who you are or what you're doing. If they ask a second time, become belligerent and argumentative. Don't let them see your camera, or the pictures you've taken, under any circumstances.

Approach 2: Explain that you're just an amateur photographer, working on your portfolio, taking pictures for your own pleasure and benefit. Show them the pictures you've taken. If they ask for your name, tell them, and ask them if there's a problem with you taking pictures, like has somebody complained, or have you unintentionally broken a law.

Guess which one of those is most likely to end up in an unplanned trip to the local police station, and which one is more likely to end up with you carrying on walking around the town taking pictures.

In terms of preparation - I guess the most obvious thing is to know your name and address (that's me being funny). Knowing your rights is all very well, but I guess it depends what you want out of an afternoon of photography. Fair enough, if you get wrongfully arrested and released without charge you can always write a complaint letter to the Chief Constable and the local paper and maybe the national press, you could post on here about how disgusting it is but the end result is that for all the arguing, all that you ended up with was a lost afternoon when you could've been taking pictures but didn't because you were at the police station arguing, and a lost evening when you could've been processing and printing the pictures you took, and posting them on the DPS so we can all see how you're improving, but couldn't because you were busy writing letters of complaint about the lost afternoon..

If you do feel (justifiably) concerned about the rights of photographers and the way changes to the law affect us and our hobby/profession, get involved with the various organisations who are trying to do something about it in the reasoned and sensible way that our democracy allows. In the meantime, the only thing that'll be achieved by individual photographers being argumentative with police who are trying to do a difficult job at the front line, in my opinion, will be a bad reputation for photographers.

Russ.

[Jim Poor]

AMEN to that!

[Graemey]

Thank you Russ for your advice, I think the second option is the bet way to go it of diplomacy goes along way. By the way, none can ask to confiscate your camera can they?

I'll use your exact words if anyone asks, Thank you,

Best wishes
Graeme

[Swisstony10]

Well, they can always ASK...

I'm not sure what the actual legalities are, but I'm pretty sure they'd only be able to confiscate your camera if there was indisputable evidence that a crime had taken place, or if you were actually charged with an offence and the camera was a vital piece of evidence, which seems mostly unlikely.

Unless, of course, they were asking you for your name and address because you were standing over the lifeless body of a would-be mugger who'd tried to half-inch your prized camera and found you to be more willing to bludgeon him to a pulp with a Canon* DSLR than to let go of it.

(edit - *or a Nikon/Fuji/Sony/Minolta/Olympus/etc/etc - other DLSRs are available)

Russ.

[junglebear]

Well said Russ, if we want the police to use common sense and understanding in their job, we have to do the same when talking to them. They're not verbal punch-bags...

[Graemey]

Thank you all, that's cleared up.

I know opur boys in blue do a brilliant service for us, it's just that I wanted to know.

Best wishes
Gareme

[BEGM83]

Im wondering if Essex police and indeed the Met are getting sloppy. Ive never heard of anyone get stopped for taking photos nor have i ever been stopped for taking photos.

Ive also asked police officers if they've stopped people taking photos.

They laughed.

Maybe people who have been stopped have been the victims of over zealous jobsworths?