I swear, the world has gone completely insane.
After watching Comic Relief (donate) I decided to wander down to my local 7-Eleven to grab an ice-cream. I took my camera with me.
I stop out the front of said 7-Eleven, pull my camera out of my bag and start preparing to take a photo of the signage (what can I say, I like their colours). A man in a truck drives slowly by and then eventually stops about 4 meters away, just staring at me. I decide that I am annoyed by this so I stop what I am doing and stare back at him.
Approximately 15 seconds pass; which is a long time when you’re just staring at a total stranger, before I break the silence by saying (much in the style of a snotty-nosed 8 year old kid) “What are you looking at?”
“Well, I don’t know!” he responds before swiftly driving away. Not letting myself be phased by this, I continue to adjust the settings on my camera and then begin taking photos.
I take 8 shots. I am standing right underneath the sign; pointing my camera up into the sky, when another car pulls up next to me. It’s a police officer.
He: What are you doing?
Me: Uhh, taking photos.
He: What of?
Me: The sign?
He: Why? Are you a student?
Me: Umm, no I just like taking photos.
He: Are you going to sell them or something?
Me: No, but I might put them on my web site?
He: What sort of camera is that?
I show him the camera. It’s still displaying the last photo I took (below). He seems satisfied that I am not going to cause any trouble, shakes my hand (WTF?) and drives away. His parting comment: “Just be careful, there are a lot of freaks around”.
Exactly.
Australia. Alert and excessively alarmed!
Terrorists don’t shake hands.
It’s a fact.
[...] Given the 7 Eleven incident I had a couple of months back, I have been following the Geelong Camera Club issue with some interest. I thought a bit of media attention might bring a more relaxed attitude towards photography in public spaces. [...]