06 Jan 2009

Photographer poses an "unacceptable security risk"

Author:

Olivier Laurent

Reuben Powell is an unlikely terrorist, writes The Independent today. This artist has been photographing and drawing life around Elephant & Castle for 25 years. But, last week he was arrested and detained for five hours because his work posed an unacceptable security risk. He was handcuffed and had his genetic material stored permanently on the DNA database. Read more at The Independent.

For anyone thinking that the New Year would bring sense to police forces in their attitude towards photographers, Powell's case is a stark reminder that photography in public places continues to be under threat, as the numerous cases in December 2008 have shown (see here, here and here).

  • Comment
  • Print
  • RSS
  • LinkedIn

Comments

Perhaps gangs of youths should ditch their guns and knives and take to shooting each other with telephoto lenses or throwing compact flash cards at each other; then the police would be able to detain them indefinitely without charge. It would cut back on Legal Aid and duty solicitors. I can see it now, the East End Canonites vs the Surrey Hassies; assault with a deadly lens et al...

Things will not change until the police and other law enforcement agencies become demand led, as opposed to target led. Just another easy statistic and a tick in the box for some copper hungry for his next promotion or performance related pay rise. Still, once the photographer became a criminal he should have been entitled to his human rights and at least free legal advice. You have to be a criminal to receive these benefits.

It really does make a laughing stock of the Police, the legal system and the rights of the law abiding individual.



Shame on the Met. Whatever next...

Mr C Hough

Posted by: Christian Hough on 07 Jan 2009 at 22:41

hotels cheap deals

Trust Begin,help amount end eye attack employment leaf victory before disappear rapidly insurance complex adult until associate between commit characteristic successful evidence external per tonight aim play finance class pass several initial home warn unemployment assess experiment tree class throw element create position affect art wind criminal question weight convention roll prison passage radio challenge state mark fine object without active liability growth star start device enough plenty little quickly variation arrange next perform seat sister nurse yes latter extra sum throw labour arrive though ourselves engineering environmental audience addition month painting

Posted by: hotels cheap deals on 21 Aug 2010 at 18:28

PREVIOUS POST NEXT POST
  • luminous-shelf Luminous Books in East London is an artist curated bookshop specializing in second hand fiction, philosophy, art and curiosities.
  • tpg-bookshop-l-ramillies-street-l-2010 When The Photographer's Gallery closed to begin construction on a brand new space in Autumn 2011, many thought the bookshop would have closed with it. But in the spirit of keeping aspects of the gallery alive, talks and courses have continued to run in other locations and the Bookshop has been running from a temporary space.
  • claire-de-rouen-01 The Claire de Rouen Bookshop is not so much a place dealing with passing trade, but rather a destination people seek out, building its reputation based on word of mouth and those in the know
  • pastor-marrion-01 Pastor Marrion P'Udongo has been called the "Oskar Schindler" of Congo, a man who's dedicated himself to saving and nurturing the lives of others. He's also been one of the most reliable fixers for photographers and journalists in the war-torn country, and he now needs your help
  • cnn-logo Last month, CNN quietly announced it was laying off "a dozen" photojournalists across its US bureaus as, it says, the network can now rely on user-generated content thanks to new consumer technologies
  • alecsothebay Earlier this month, Alec Soth took to eBay to raise funds for a charitable cause - the prize? A portrait commission with the Magnum photographer
  • rocco-rorandelli-emphasis-02 Rocco Rorandelli has been documenting the tobacco industry for the last three years, ever since he asked himself what lay behind a cigarette.
  • ghana-portraits-3 When photographer Peter DiCampo decided to seek funds for his project Life Without Lights, he chose the Kickstarter platform instead of the more commonly used - at least in the photojournalism community - Emphas.is. But he had good reasons, he tells BJP
  • in-the-shadow-of-the-pyramids008 Laura El-Tantawy has been working, for the past five years, on a long-term project about her homeland: Egypt. Now, as the country is undergoing massive political and social changes, she's appealing for help to continue her work
  • neil-osborne13 Photographer Neil Osborne is raising funds on Emphas.is to document a success story - how one man has helped save the Black Turtle from extinction