“Photographer and investigative journalist Marc Vallée on protests, breaking stories and police poundings” – ideastap.com
The nice folks at Ideas Tap interviewed me last week about my work and here it is. You have to sign up to view it or you could click here.
STOP & SEARCH ONE: Philip Caller being stopped & searched under Section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) at 7.50am on Sunday 7 February 2010 in London, England. Photo by Philip Caller. (c) Philip Caller, 2010. Published here by kind permission of Philip Caller.
“Photographer stopped and searched three times during Israeli goods protest” – journalism.co.uk
“Journalists angry at ‘stop and search’ harassment” – National Union of Journalists.
On Sunday I got a phone call from London Photographers’ Branch member Philip Caller. Philip told me he had just been stopped & searched 3 times in 45 minutes by the police on a job covering a protest in west London. Philip had been stopped and searched under Section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) and here are the pictures.
Yesterday the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) issued a statement on this. This is what Roy Mincoff the NUJ legal officer had to say:
“This is an example of straightforward harassment which is totally unacceptable in a country which presumes to lecture other regimes on freedom of expression. While we receive assurances from senior police officers and politicians that reporters and photographers will not face interference when carrying out their legitimate work, it is clear that the instructions to junior ranks are still not getting through to all officers.
STOP & SEARCH TWO: Philip Caller being stopped & searched under Section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) at 8.15am on Sunday 7 February 2010 in London, England. Photo by Philip Caller. (c) Philip Caller, 2010. Published here by kind permission of Philip Caller.
STOP & SEARCH THREE: Philip Caller being stopped & searched under Section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) at 8.35am on Sunday 7 February 2010 in London, England. Photo by Philip Caller. (c) Philip Caller, 2010. Published here by kind permission of Philip Caller.
I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist! – photographernotaterrorist.org
“Press Clippings: I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist!” – marcvallee.co.uk
Grant Smith and yours truly being interviewed on BBC News 24 in Trafalgar Square on Saturday 23 January 2010 before 3,000 photographers congregated for the “I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist!” Mass Photo Gathering event.
Pictures: “Mass Photography Demonstration Against Police Stop & Search Powers” – gettyimages.com
Here are a few of the better press clippings I have found of the 3,000 strong I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist! event in Trafalgar Square yesterday. It is a shame that the BBC News 24 broadcast is not up online as I have been told it was pretty good. Feel free to let me know of anything I have missed that is worth taking a look at. It was great to see so many photographers in one place – until next time!
“Photographers protest against police stop and search” – The Guardian.
“Photographers protest over UK terror search laws” – BBC News.
“Snappers Protest Over Police Search Powers” – Sky News.
“Photographers protest UK terror law” – CNN.
“Photographers protest in Trafalgar Square” – ITN News.
“Photographers protest against police use of anti-terror laws” – Daily Telegraph
A few of the 3,000 strong I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist! photographers go for some light refreshments after the event. Picture published here by kind permission of the Unknown Snapper.
“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!
“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.
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!
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 02.04.09. A City of London police inspector orders the media to leave the area as police ‘kettle” protesters outside the Bank of England on Thursday 2 April 2009 in London, England. The police officer ordered members of the media to leave the area for 30 minutes under the threat of arrest by citing Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986. The protesters had congregated to mark the death of a man who had died on an anti-G20 protest the day before. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2009.
“Adapting to Protest – Nurturing the British Model of Policing” – inspectorates.homeoffice.gov.uk
“HMIC press release” – inspectorates.homeoffice.gov.uk
“‘Aggressive’ policing of protests condemned in post-G20 inquiry” – Paul Lewis, The Guardian.
“Journalists on the G20 front line” – Marc Vallée, The Guardian.
My friend and colleague Paul Lewis writes in The Guardian today, “Senior police officers could lose the consent of the British public unless they abandon misguided approaches to public protests that are considered “unfair, aggressive and inconsistent”, an inquiry has found.”
Paul goes on to say, “Denis O’Connor, the chief inspector of constabulary, used a landmark report into public order policing to criticise heavy-handed tactics, which he said threatened to alienate the public and infringe the right to protest.”
Many will welcome the report. But – and its a big but – what impact will this report have on frontline journalists who report and document political dissent in Britain? As the report almost fails to mention photographers and journalists covering protests, I think we will have to wait and see.
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 18.05.09. Commander Bob Broadhurst at the NUJ Photographers Conference held at the Institute of Education on Monday 18 May 2009 in London, England. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2009.
SOUTHPORT, UNITED KINGDOM – 20.11.09. NUJ General secretary Jeremy Dear in a lighter moment before the start of the National Union of Journalists Annual Delegate Meeting in Southport, England on Friday 20 November 2009. NUJ members from across the county have come together to tackle the major issues effecting media workers in Britain today. (Photo by Marc Vallee/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2009.
“I’m Photographer Not a Terrorist!” pops up at NUJ ADM!
SOUTHPORT, UNITED KINGDOM – 20.11.09. NUJ President secretary James Doherty in a lighter moment before the start of the National Union of Journalists Annual Delegate Meeting in Southport, England on Friday 20 November 2008. NUJ members from across the county have come together to tackle the major issues effecting media workers in Britain today. (Photo by Marc Vallee/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2009.
