Fear of photography

[Ron Marshall]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jun/05/news.terrorism

[John Voss]

Hmmmm....and I thought fear of photography had to do with using my killer Nikkor 210 lens. Whew!......

[Walter Calahan]

All these rent-a-cops and 'law enforcers' haven't a clue.

Any terrorist who really want to take a picture of something can simply use their cell phone, and nobody would know.

The only other people I would worry about are those using Nikkor 210 mm lenses.

My Nikkor 240 mm is no threat. Ha ha ha ha.

[Mark Woods]

I have a stealth Nikkor 180 mm W.... Should I be looking over my shoulder????

[Daniel_Buck]

I thought all terrorists used large wooden cameras! :D

[cyrus]

Given that real terrorists, and even wannabe terrorists, don't seem to photograph anything, why is it such pervasive conventional wisdom that terrorists photograph their targets?

Because it's a movie-plot threat.

Yup -- and the movie-plot metaphor matches our "security theater (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_theater)"


Security theater consists of security countermeasures intended to provide the feeling of improved security while doing little or nothing to actually improve security.[

These sorts of fake or trumped-up "threats" that result in "moral panics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_panic)" are pretty common in history.

After all, all you need is one terrorist photographer (one violent marijuana smoker, one white woman enticed into prostitution in an Asian country, one criminal biker) before they all get tarred with a wide brush.

[Deane Johnson]

I call it mass hysteria on the part of law enforcement.

Anyone with half a brain would realize that a terrorist attempting to take planning photos would be using the simplest, most unobtrusive equipment he could. As pointed out above, probably a cell phone, or at most a simple small point and shoot. He would not be using a tripod, the favorite target of the hysterical security people.

In any instance, they'd shoot fast and vacate, not carefully plan and lay out their shots like a real photographer would.

[BradS]

The terrorist have won. They have accomplished their goal...we are all afraid..that is, we are terrorized by them and are willing to give up our freedoms, our culture.

[cyrus]

they'd shoot fast and vacate, not carefully plan and lay out their shots like a real photographer would.


Ah, but what if they were terrorist who were POSING as "real" photographers?

See, according to a pamphlet issued Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Law Enforcement (front (http://www.infowars.com/images2/ps/txps_terror_pamphlet_front.jpg), back (http://www.infowars.com/images2/ps/txps_terror_pamphlet_back.jpg)) some of the characteristics of terrorists are that they:

- "may appear to fit in and not draw attention to themselves"

- "Will appear normal in appearance and behavior while portraying themselves as a tourist, student or business person"

- "Trained to avoid confrontations with law enforcement and therefore can be expected to portray a 'nice guy' image."

If the nice guys who avoid confrontation with the police and appear normal are actually dastardly terrorists, then obviously the guy with an LF camera is secretly a terrorist too.

[Daniel_Buck]

The terrorist have won. They have accomplished their goal...we are all afraid..that is, we are terrorized by them and are willing to give up our freedoms, our culture.
Who's afraid? Nobody I know is afraid, it's a joke to most everyone I know. Yet, enforcement of the silly 'anti-terrorist' stuff keeps going on. It's an anoyance is what it is. But I don't let it get to me.

[domenico Foschi]

Shoot in the nude, as not to allow any suspicion of having a bomb strapped on you.

[Mark Woods]

It's all about controlling the population. Look at WWII and how the fascists came to power. Very similar tactics. And it's all about the money. There's big bucks in the military industrial complex. If no one's afraid, how will the taxpayer see the justification for a bigger military. The guys took the planes over with $3 box cutters not with stealth bombers. Same is true with the drug war/prison symbiotic relationship. It's sad. Our rights and liberties are eroding in front of our eyes.

[John Kasaian]

Well, we should fear photographers!
I mean like Dude, they turn people and bridges and big buildings and mountains and stuff into itty bitty pieces of flat paper that would be easy to shred in one of those shredders Costco sells.
What if some no-goodnik shredded Coney Island or the Alamo?
O the humanity!
It sure sounds like a dangerous thing to me :rolleyes:

[domenico Foschi]

I mean,..it's like, uh, that flick of that photographer who is a serial killer....that was owesome!

[Ron Marshall]

I mean,..it's like, uh, that flick of that photographer who is a serial killer....that was owesome!

Is that the film "Peeping Tom"?

[cyrus]

I mean,..it's like, uh, that flick of that photographer who is a serial killer....that was owesome!

I distantly remember a movie with the french title of Engrossment -- involved a photographer. 1970s.

[Dirk Rösler]

"Sir, you stated yourself that your lenses are extremely sharp..."

[domenico Foschi]

On a more positive note, I have never had more fun lately taking pictures.
I resumed my Canon ftb and my 55 f 1.2 and I am shooting the crowd.
WHat a pleasure to be able to catch the late evening light on people faces.
What a thrill to shoot close to people faces in a flash(without flash).
I have to admit that Meyerowitz HP ad has inspired me.
What is there to fear, really?
The worst I can get is a punch in the face, so what?
Somebody is going to shoot me?
Could be...
There is really little you can do when you have Beauty in front of you and you are compelled to own it.

[cyrus]

There is really little you can do when you have Beauty in front of you and you are compelled to own it.

Darned Italians and their appreciation of beauty...

[David Karp]

. . . I resumed my Canon ftb . . . .a

Nice camera. I still have mine too, plus my Dad's old F-1 of the same vintage! My favorite lens for them is the 85mm f/1.8.

[Neal Shields]

I thought it was Jimmy Stewart from "Rear Window"???

And is that an Exata??

[claudiocambon]

The Guardian article has links to sites that outline your rights in various countries. I recommend downloading and even carrying it. Nothing confuses a rent-a-cop quite like the precise mastery of legal concepts and terminology!

[Turner Reich]

There was a piece on CNN about two guys arrested in Egypt for photographing a protest crowd. One guy used the Internet to get help him get out but the second guy is still in an Egyptian prison.

Next time go out in a police uniform to photograph.