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> I was stopped by a police officer, and knew my UK rights, and he was shocked that I refused to stop photographing the buildings (which I was doing legally.)

by schoen 9y ago

> I was stopped by a police officer, and knew my UK rights, and he was shocked that I refused to stop photographing the buildings (which I was doing legally.) I have the impression that the differences you mention are real. But I often hear that the U.K. is more compliant in this sense than the U.S., yet there are lots of cases of police in the U.S. improperly telling people to stop photographing or recording something (often either buildings, infrastructure, or the police themselves). The police here are also often shocked when people don't comply with these orders, and may threaten to arrest people for noncompliance, even though the law is also almost always on the photographers' side. So I'm not sure your example directly proves your point about differences between countries. But maybe police in the Netherlands, at least, wouldn't usually behave this way. :-)

owenversteeg 9y ago
Oh, I'm almost certain that the cases are far fewer in America. I lived in the US for most of my life and I've taken tens of thousands of photographs there, some of those in places which are actually legitimately vital to national security. I've never been stopped by an officer (for photography at least) as far as I can remember. Meanwhile in the UK I've been stopped by officers multiple times. I think the reason why you hear about it more in the US is because it's rarer and thus more shocking. If I was improperly stopped from taking pictures by a police officer in the US I'd raise a giant fuss and contact the department and Tweet about it and all that. Meanwhile it has happened to me multiple times in the UK and I haven't raised a fuss at all aside from a mildly heated argument with the officers in question. It's the same with other things too: I've been within meters of a politically motivated execution, and I did nothing. That was in Iran though, and any efforts I would have made would simply put me next in line. Meanwhile, if a politically motivated execution was happening in America I would raise hell and I expect many other people would too. People's reactions to something are completely different depending on where that thing happens. Funny enough, I have been stopped for photographing things in the Netherlands at least one time that I can remember. The officers were a lot friendlier however, made small talk, and reminded me that my photographs were perfectly legal.

by schoen 9y ago

owenversteeg 9y ago

Oh, I'm almost certain that the cases are far fewer in America. I lived in the US for most of my life and I've taken tens of thousands of photographs there, some of those in places which are actually legitimately vital to national security. I've never been stopped by an officer (for photography at least) as far as I can remember. Meanwhile in the UK I've been stopped by officers multiple times. I think the reason why you hear about it more in the US is because it's rarer and thus more shocking. If I was improperly stopped from taking pictures by a police officer in the US I'd raise a giant fuss and contact the department and Tweet about it and all that. Meanwhile it has happened to me multiple times in the UK and I haven't raised a fuss at all aside from a mildly heated argument with the officers in question. It's the same with other things too: I've been within meters of a politically motivated execution, and I did nothing. That was in Iran though, and any efforts I would have made would simply put me next in line. Meanwhile, if a politically motivated execution was happening in America I would raise hell and I expect many other people would too. People's reactions to something are completely different depending on where that thing happens. Funny enough, I have been stopped for photographing things in the Netherlands at least one time that I can remember. The officers were a lot friendlier however, made small talk, and reminded me that my photographs were perfectly legal.