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"Police admit they may have been 'overzealous' " now that cracks me up...
Keep at them over this, a full apology and nothing else.
I find it interesting that the law says "Stereotyping" is not a reason to stop and search. After all what is looking at anyone with a camera as a "terrorist and child mollester" if its not stereotyping?
It cracks me up, the old you cant take photos of this building or that for this or that reason. When you can go onto Google maps, get satalite images of the area. Do another search or two and get just about any images of any place in the country.
We need to stand up and make a mockery of this type of behavior towards our hobby.
Good luck and keep up the good fight.
Tommy
Quote: "
I find it interesting that the law says "Stereotyping" is not a reason to stop and search. After all what is looking at anyone with a camera as a "terrorist and child mollester" if its not stereotyping?
...
We need to stand up and make a mockery of this type of behavior towards our hobby.
Good luck and keep up the good fight.
Spot on!
I would also disagree with the Police assertion that they were 'overzealous' which in my dictionary says - excessively over enthusiastic.
Sorry but in my book they were simply 'WRONG' overzealous doesn't come into it at all. If the Police officer did what they did, it was out of ignorance of the law, and if I was in the wrong over something and pleaded ignorance to the police.. I am sure it would fall on deaf ears.
It sound to me that the Police Officer was out of her depth.
I know the police have a difficult job but they don't help themselves alot of the time. I used to go to football matches in the 70's & 80's (dropped out because of the expense). It was very noticable that at a football match the; police treated everyone like scum, but if you approached them away from a football ground you got a very different reception.
The situation in not helped with the re-hashing of the Princess Diana case; where photographers got a very bad image.
I know the people involved in that were paparazi, who seem to have their own moral code. But to most people they are just photographers.
By the way the comment about father Christmas & Panto characters being at the event. Maybe the writer thinks AP might be read by youngsters who still believe.
I hope you get your full apology.
Good Luck
Most pro photographers (especially paps) know the law to the letter and many stick to it(however questionable the morals of what they are doing). Indeed, it is often the photographers quoting the law at overzealous security guards when they overstep the mark.
I sense quite a bit of ignorance (even on here) about what constitutes a pap and what they do. The boundaries are not clear cut.
I am not a pap (most of my work is news / sports rather than celebrity stuff) but I am also not averse to sitting in a bush or the back or a van with a 600mm lens if a tabloid wants to pay me to do so.
The recent upload to my gallery is of Keira Knightly filming a scene for an upcoming film of hers. I was there at the request of a couple of the tabloids and I don't regard what I was doing there that day as papping, although some might. The extent of my 'underhandedness' was to knock on the door of a house overlooking the set and ask to use their back bedroom window for 20 mins or so. The car chases etc.. are sensationalised crap - sure they happen but are comparatively rare.
Quote: Most pro photographers (especially paps) know the law to the letter and many stick to it(however questionable the morals of what they are doing). Indeed, it is often the photographers quoting the law at overzealous security guards when they overstep the mark.
I sense quite a bit of ignorance (even on here) about what constitutes a pap and what they do. The boundaries are not clear cut.
I am not a pap (most of my work is news / sports rather than celebrity stuff) but I am also not averse to sitting in a bush or the back or a van with a 600mm lens if a tabloid wants to pay me to do so.
The recent upload to my gallery is of Keira Knightly filming a scene for an upcoming film of hers. I was there at the request of a couple of the tabloids and I don't regard what I was doing there that day as papping, although some might. The extent of my 'underhandedness' was to knock on the door of a house overlooking the set and ask to use their back bedroom window for 20 mins or so. The car chases etc.. are sensationalised crap - sure they happen but are comparatively rare.
Sam, I'm not sure how you can't describe yourself as a pap.... in terms of getting the photograph of Keira Knightly, you may class it as underhandness/use of initiative - but if you have to ask to use someone's back bedroom to get a photograph of somone on a "closed set" i.e. one were press aren't invited in the usual work of the crew.... then I'm afraid that the moral decision you took to get the picture that way, is as unjustified as the paps chasing people in cars etc... in my mind, paps are motivated by money and lack of morals in terms of sticking to what is acceptable to all parties, i.e. if a film set is closed, then you are in the wrong to try and take pictures of it for money...
Quote: but I am also not averse to sitting in a bush or the back or a van with a 600mm lens if a tabloid wants to pay me to do so.
So if a tabloid offered you £100k to get a picture of a princess with her boyfriend then a car chase/absailing outside a bedroom window/etc are acceptable?
IMO no picture or amount of money is worth putting your own, or someone elses safety at risk - be is abseiling out of a window or a car chase or whatever......
The sort of 'pap' that springs to most peoples minds is actually incredibly rare, and even other photographers whose work can sometimes err towards being a bit pap-ish frown upon them and their methods.
John - let me ask you a question, do you ever buy newspapers or magazines - and I'm not just talking about the tabloids and magazines of the likes of 'heat', I mean ANY newspapers / mags??
If the answer is yes then YOU are DIRECTLY paying the wages of the paparazzi and thus you are really not in a position of offer an opinion of what they do.
Thats the trouble with a spot of papping - it is actually quite a lot of fun!!! As long as things don't get out of hand it's a really, really fun way to make a bit of cash!!
Sports and features are what I like doing best of all but when you consider that if I shoot a football match and get pics used in (say) 2 national papers I'll probably take home £3-400 whilst spending a morning papping some actress on a film set can yield a return several times that you can see why a lot of people do nothing but pap work and why I have no objection to doing it now and then!
Most folk on here would gladly vote to ban all paps, yet they will be the first to complain when they are prevented from taking pictures that involve the public, this government will gladly listen to calls for the banning of photography, it just needs a few more turkeys to shout for an early Christmas.
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