“Your 10 questions for would-be MPs” – Henry Porter, The Guardian.

“Ten reasons to feel uneasy” – Anthony Barnett, opendemocracy.net

Last night I was at the launch of Keith Ewing’s new book Bonfire of the Liberties – “a provocative book which confronts the corrosion of civil liberties under successive New Labour governments since 1997.”

I was one of the speakers at this packed out event held at NUJ headquarters along side Jeremy Dear, NUJ general secretary; Henry Porter, novelist and political columnist for The Observer; Dave Smith, from the Blacklist Support Group; Cerie Bullivant, who was on a control order for two years and Pennie Quinton, who took Section 44 to Strasbourg.

Dave Smith’s contribution on blacklisting in the UK construction industry and the attacks on trade unionists was very powerful.

We have to keep an eye on databases of multinationals as much as the states. It is important to defend our Article 11 rights as trade unionists to meet without being put under surveillance and harassed, by either the state or private companies.

The investigations on police surveillance of protesters and journalists as well as the covert state targeting of environmental activists that I worked on with Paul Lewis at The Guardian are mentioned in Ewing’s book which was a nice surprise.

“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.

“The Demotix Revolution” – jwarren.co.uk

“The impact of citizen journalism on photography” – frontlineclub.com

Excellent Blog post by my good friend and colleague Jonathan Warren on the ‘citizen-journalism website and photo agency’ Demotix. As Jonathan writes, “I got an interesting email the other day asking if Demotix is good for distributing work – the short answer: No.”

To read Jonathan’s longer answer click here.

In the video above from the end of last year you can see Turi Munthe, CEO of Demotix, and I lock horns at The Frontline Club over the impact of ‘citizen journalism’ on photography.

London Photographers Branch website in production. Photo by Jonathan Warren. (c) Jonathan Warren, 2010. Published here by kind permission of Jonathan Warren.

“London Photographers’ Branch” – londonphotographers.org

“London photographers develop new organisation” – National Union of Journalists.

“NUJ shooters launch London Photographers’ Branch” – British Journal of Photography.

The inaugural meeting of the first ever London Photographers’ Branch (LPB) of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) last week was an historic moment. It was great to see the room packed out with photographers from across London and yours truly was elected secretary.

The branch aims to reach out to as many photographers as possible to address the issues we face today. The collapse of the commission market, the fall in picture rates & library percentages, job cuts, questions of ethics, safety and press freedom.

The branch will be tackling all these over the next year but most importantly this is a branch run by photographers, for photographers – it will be member led. Every individual member, staff, freelance and contract will have an equal say.

This is our opportunity to shape the kind of union branch we need and tailor it to photographers’ needs across the sector.

The next meeting will be on Tuesday 23 February 2010 at 6pm in Headland House.

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.

Link.

Media Release: “Mass Photo Gathering in Defence of Street Photography” – photographernotaterrorist.org

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

Looking forward to seeing you all later today!

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 16.02.09. Photographers stage a mass photo taking event outside New Scotland Yard on Monday 16 February 2009 in London, England. The event, called by the National Union of Journalists, marked the enforcement date of section 76 of the Counter Terrorism Act 2008 which could prevent the media and public from taking pictures of the police . (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2009.

“Photographers unite to tackle avalanche” – National Union of Journalists.

Today I transferred my NUJ membership over to the new London Photographers’ Branch (LPB) and I’m looking forward to the inaugural meeting in just under two weeks time. If you are an NUJ member – full, temporary or student – and a photographer or lens based journalists “who lives in London or who carries out the majority of their work for clients based in London” then this is the NUJ Branch for you.

Below is a media release from the NUJ HQ about the new branch and how to join.

NUJ Media Release: Photographers unite to tackle avalanche

You don’t have to go to the Alps to experience an avalanche, photographers in every sector of the media have experienced an avalanche of jobs cuts, picture rate cuts, pay freezes and unprecedented workloads.

Media companies blame the recession and an inability to find a way to monetise content online – but they have been whittling away jobs, picture rates and conditions for years.

Photographers in London are coming together to form a new NUJ branch for freelance, staff and agency photographers to unite and defend photographers’ rights and terms and conditions.

The London Photographers’ Branch will hold its inaugural meeting on Tuesday, January 26th, at 6pm in the union’s head office, Headland House.

Membership of the Branch is open to any NUJ photographer who lives in London or who carries out the majority of their work for clients based in London.

To transfer your membership to the new Branch, you should contact the NUJ Membership Department at paulg@nuj.org.uk before January 26th.

NUJ President Pete Murray said: “This new branch is a really exciting development bringing together those who have for many years campaigned hard for the rights of photographers. The launch of the branch will boost the effectiveness of such work and give it the profile it deserves in the industry and in the union”.

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.