::Rant in E- Minor::

OK... here's a picture... kids playing cricket... its what they do... kids play... no more no less... I was called up and warned (and politely asked to leave) of the 'illegality' of me taking pictures by a gentle old man who said that he was keeping 'watch' over the neighborhood... he asked my why I was taking pictures of kids bending down... and when I offered to explain to him what and why and who I was and that I was actually more interested in the fact that they were playing cricket he would have non of it... the same goes for my attempts to explain to him about my rights as a photographer... This is a rant: not at him (although I was getting a bit angry... at the end of the day, its not the first time I have been asked 'to move along' -or nearly arrested for that matter-... I think he was just concerned and that is fair is his right) but I am saddened by the fact that Britain and the World has lost its innocence... I know my rights and for anyone able to justify any kind of artistic or journalistic practice the issue of consent is relatively straight forward (at least for the moment)... for those who can't it is more difficult and my advice is know your rights... you can download them here if you live in Britain, although it doesn't cover everything, so go and check this link out as well ... and if you can't find what you are looking for, call the information comissioners officer helpline and they should be able to answer any of the queries that you might have... I know consent/street-photography is a hot potato and I am by no means the first to address it... (see the Magnum blog: Simon Wheatley's post, Martin Parr's post and the blog editors post as well as Martin Fuch's personal rant)... The issue is I think more complex than that. It is about the loss of societies innocence. Perhaps I am naive and society lost its innocence a long time ago but still the issue of consent and liability is a serious one. I was talking yesterday to a youth worker friend of mine who said that there are less and less trips organized by youth groups because of liabilities and every time consent forms for this or that have to be handed out... the tipping point is where this lack of innocence starts to get in the way of people trying to help or do something that they believe serves 'the common' good. If the youth service stops taking children on trips because of legal issues then who is really missing out?