Publication: Huck Magazine, October 2009.

A brief and selected review of 2009 – in no particular order.

Documenting political dissent, front page investigations, press freedom, Section 76, photographers rights, Section 44, the G20, a good day, a bad day, media interviews, winning an award, a face for radio, suing the Met (again), thinking about space, police surveillance, Huck Magazine, death threats, lunch, photographers organising, the Frontline Club, skateboarding, protest boys, looking back, Twitter, McCarthyite games & thinking about far off lands.

All said and done 2009 was a full on year. One wonders what 2010 has in store?

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 27.12.09. Part of a 300 strong protest of Palestinians and supporters – outside the Israeli Embassy on Sunday 27 December 2009 in London, England. Demonstrators congregated to protest against the Israeli economic blockade of the Gaza Strip and to mark the one year anniversary of the assault on Gaza by Israeli forces which killed hundreds of civilians including women and children. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2009.

“One year on, we need progress in Gaza” – The Observer.

“Gaza ceasefire in jeopardy as six Palestinians are shot” – The Guardian.

Link: Click here to view more pictures.

Clients: Pictures are available for rights managed editorial licensing.

Print above: Sam, Portrait of a Skateboarder, London, 2009.

Getting close to closing the office for the year and I just wanted to give you a sneak preview of a new project I have been working on. Portrait of a Skateboarder is the working title – what do folks think?

Link (PDF).

“Reporting terrorism: NUJ Ethics Council guidelines” – National Union of Journalists.

The National Union of Journalists Ethics Council has produced a set of guidelines for journalists covering “terrorism cases” – well worth taking a look at.

Let’s face it some need to read it more then others!

Link.

“Into the heart of the Niger Delta oil war” – Michael Peel, The Financial Times.

“A Swamp Full of Dollars by Michael Peel” – John Vidal, The Guardian.

“A Swamp Full of Dollars” – michaelpeel.co.uk

I’m currently reading Michael Peel’s book – ‘A Swamp Full of Dollars: Pipelines and Paramilitaries at Nigeria’s Oil Frontier’. Michael is the legal correspondent for the Financial Times and use to be its West Africa correspondent. I worked with him in October on an investigation into a secret Metropolitan Police picture database of protesters.

The book looks at the impact of the oil industry on Nigeria – corruption, violence, environmental disaster, chaos and big oil – from British colonialism to globalization.

What more could you want to read about over the Christmas break?

Link.

“A few photographs add up to a minor terror alert” – Paul Lewis, The Guardian.

“From snapshot to Special Branch: how my camera made me a terror suspect” – Paul Lewis, The Guardian.

“We’re photographers, not terrorists” – Marc Vallée, The Guardian.

Last week my friend and colleague Paul Lewis took a walk in the City of London and ended up getting stopped and searched under section 44 of the Terrorism Act.

I wrote a Comment is free about how society’s visual history is under threat.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 13.12.09. Joel Titus, youth leader of the English Defence League lunges at a photographer as around fifteen far right protesters attend a demonstration organised by a group called ‘Stop the Islamisation of Europe’ in Harrow on Sunday 13 December 2009 in north-west London, England. Hundreds of police officers surrounded the Harrow Civic Centre car park, Harrow Central Mosque and Harrow and Wealdstone Station to prevent clashes between members of the English Defence League and around 250 anti-fascist campaigners. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2009.

“Far right embraces fatwas” – Jason N Parkinson, The Guardian.

“Death threats for journalists covering far right demos” – National Union of Journalists.

On Sunday I covered a protest outside Harrow Central Mosque in north-west London. A group called ‘Stop the Islamisation of Europe’ had called a protest with support from members of the English Defence League (EDL). You can read a BBC News report here and Asim Siddiqui in The Guardian here.

Towards the end of the protest Joel Titus, leader of the EDL youth division, lunged towards me and hit my camera into my face and then ran away.

If you put this into the context of death threats of journalists who cover far right protests, this was not only a thuggish attack of an individual, in full view of police officers, but an attack on press freedom which underpins a free and democratic society.

Update 19.12.09: Joel Titus was arrested on the morning of Thursday 17 December 2009 by Harrow police. It’s my understanding after being questioned and shown CCTV footage of the assault Titus accepted what he had done was wrong and was cautioned for Battery under Section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.

The Met Press Bureau issued the following statement, “An 18-year-old man from Harrow has been arrested and cautioned following an allegation of common assault.”

The National Union of Journalists will be issuing statement on this next week.

Update 22.12.09: National Union of Journalists statement.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 13.12.09. Joel Titus, leader of the EDL Youth Division, strikes photojournalist Marc Vallée as he leaves a protest outside Harrow Mosque on Sunday 13 December 2009. (Photo by Jonathan Warren. (c) Jonathan Warren, 2009. Published here by kind permission of Jonathan Warren.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 13.12.09. A CCTV camera in front of Harrow Centre Mosque before a protest organized by the far right ‘Stop the Islamisation of Europe’ group is held on Sunday 13 December 2009 London, England. Hundreds of police officers surrounded Harrow Civic Centre, Harrow Central Mosque and Harrow and Wealdstone Station to prevent clashes between members of the English Defence League and anti-fascist campaigners. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2009.

Link: Click here to view more pictures. Click here to view the slideshow.

Clients: Pictures are available for rights managed editorial licensing. High resolution images are available on request.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 13.12.09. Members of the English Defence League (EDL) speak to the media on a demonstration organised by a group called ‘Stop the Islamisation of Europe’ in Harrow on Sunday 13 December 2009 in north-west London, England. Hundreds of police officers surrounded the Harrow Civic Centre car park, Harrow Central Mosque and Harrow and Wealdstone Station to prevent clashes between the EDL and around 250 anti-fascist campaigners. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2009.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 05.12.09. A young man joins tens of thousands of people marching in central London calling for world leaders to agree a deal to protect the environment on Saturday 5 December 2009 in London, England. The Copenhagen climate change summit takes place from 7-18 December 2009. Delegations from 192 countries will be in Copenhagen for two weeks of talks aimed at paving the way for a new global treaty on climate change. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2009.

Link: Click here to view more pictures. Click here to view the slideshow.

Clients: Pictures are available for rights managed editorial licensing. High resolution images are available on request.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 05.12.09. Actor Peter Capaldi – who plays Malcolm Tucker in ‘The Thick of It’ – joins tens of thousands of people marching in central London calling for world leaders to agree a deal to protect the environment on Saturday 5 December 2009 in London, England. The Copenhagen climate change summit takes place from 7-18 December 2009. Delegations from 192 countries will be in Copenhagen for two weeks of talks aimed at paving the way for a new global treaty on climate change. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2009.

Publication: Lead story of The Independent, 3 December 2009.

“Warning: Do not take this picture” – The Independent.

“In the eyes of the law” – BBC News.

“I’m Photographer Not a Terrorist!” – photographernotaterrorist.org

Over the last two days I have done interviews for The Independent and BBC News on the impact anti-terrorism laws on public photography. I was also asked to go on Channel 4 News and BBC Breakfast. But let’s face it I have a face for radio, so no surprise the TV interviews did not work out – but I was thinking about it!

But seriously, why is the act of making a picture deemed by the state to be so potentially threatening? Why is photography routinely criminalised? Anti-terrorism legislation talks about creating a hostile environment for ‘terrorists’ to operate but the reality is that it has created a hostile environment for public photography. This has had an incredibly detrimental effect on freedom of expression.

Its time for the controversial section 44 to go!