Sorry, long post but I’m really shaken up and just need to share.

There is a travelling fun fair in town at the moment. I had to drop my eldest son off at a scout camp night and my wife had said I could have an hour with my camera after and before putting the youngest to bed.

Fairs are great places for street and candid photography. There is so much colour a life and they are a great part of our culture. And yes there are often a lot of children around so it’s best to be respectful and sensitive.

I was taking some pictures of a large pink inflatable ball hanging from the awning of a stall when the next thing I know, I’m surrounded by four women challenging me and accusing me of taking pictures of their kids.

Now, believe it or not, there is no law against doing that. I personally think that recording our social and cultural heritage is an important thing, including children, but I understand not everyone agrees so I always take a deferential approach in response to this. My immediate reaction was to apologise, to explain I didn’t intend to photograph their child, that I was sorry if it had happened (it wasn’t my intention) and that I would make sure that I didn’t take any picture in which their child would be in the frame.

But that was not enough for them. They wanted me to delete all my pictures and when I refused, it pretty quickly turned very (and I really do mean very) nasty indeed. I tried very hard to diffuse the situation by being apologetic, assuring them that there were no pictures of their children on my camera, but within a few minutes I had a gang of about six women, all pressed full up against me screaming that I was a pedo, a pervert, that I was going to take the pictures home and have a w**k over them. They threatened to call the police and I invited them to (since I know I’ve done nothing wrong).

It was incredibly upsetting. I am entirely sensitive to their concerns and fears but I am also not about to start kowtowing to vicious and unreasonable demands especially when their motivation is pure hate and vile bigotry. I feel pretty shaken up. It lasted about five or six minutes and included them shoving me. It ended because I walked away; I backed down in the face of hate and aggression and hostility (and a little fear – the bokes were starting to take an interest and while I could probably handle one on one, I’m too out of shape to be more aggressive). It’s not in my nature to back down. I would rather everyone just called down and left it go, but that was never going to happen.

To have such horrible things thrown at you in such a brutal and public way, to be presumed to be something so utterly repugnant and so counter to who you really are; it’s truly horrible.

.

😯

There are some odd people in this world.

Ouch!
Remember that you did nothing wrong, and were calm enough to walk away when things looked ugly.
It’s the world we live in, “paedos” are the bete noire at the moment, and people are always looking for the “other” to vilify.
At least they didn’t know you were a cyclist as well! 🙂

Chin up pal

APF

Tbf…..you probably should’nt have worn the gimp suit this time.

included them shoving me

Common assault. Next time straight on the blower and call the cops. It’s not acceptable.

Welcome to a world where people believe what is in the Daily Mail to be true. I find it very sad that people seem unable to understand that shit happens but is actually quite unusual. The reason news is news is because it is unusual.

What is the population of the UK? 65M -ish and 50,000 on the sex offenders register, and of those how many are paedophiles ? Add to that every study shows if it is going to happen it is almost always within the family or a family friend. The likelyhood of a random bloke is minuscule!

I suspect that most people on here above the age of 30-40 can remember just disappearing and doing there own thing. walking or riding to school etc. Yet we keep on being told that the world is a dangerous place and kids can’t possibly be allowed to go to school by themselves. So yes the roads are more dangerous because people insist on driving stupid size cars on them!

Dress like this next time and they’ll recognise you from their 60″ telly

Thirty years ago I used to take my camera to the park and photograph the lads playing cricket just to get practice taking action shots. There is no way I would consider doing that today no matter if its legal or not. Funnily enough I’ve just walked through our local fair. It’s heaving with young girls dressed in hardly anything (despite the rain). I’d never dream of wandering around there with a camera either.

I am really sorry for what happened to you, but I would suggest that, although it’s easy for me to say, you really should have called the police yourself.

20 years ago, my father had gone through a period of unemployment and so took work as an insurance rep, which meant driving around the Manitoba countryside visiting people with whom he had made appointments. On one occasion, he arrived 30 minutes early for his appointment, and so waited outside in his car. A man from a neighbouring house came out and accused him of being a pervert trying to spy on his daughter, opened my dad’s car door, dragged him out, and beat him up. The police were called, and after explaining to the man what my dad was actually doing there, made him apologise and recompense my dad for his now-destroyed clothes, and the black eye. I was actually furious with my dad for having accepted that, and sorely wanted him to press charges. Anyway, when I say I feel sorry for you, I really do mean it.

Best wishes.

I’d have probably taken pics somewhere else other than a fair. Might have been more acceptable had you had children with you.

Yes it sounds like they overreacted, and they were probably sun readers, and it’s crap newspapers like that which perpetuate a climate of fear around paedophiles which the less educated completely buy into.

But I’d have definitely chosen somewhere without children around.

Horrible situation and well avoided. I’d have been tempted to call the police too, explain what you are being accused of, and see if that diffuses it. Does walking off actually appear worse (equally, standing and waiting for the men to arrive and enact ‘justice’ would take balls)

Trying not to victim blame here, but what could you do differently. I’ve seen your work which is excellent (IMHO) but most is ‘portraits in daily situations’ if that’s a genre rather than reportage. Is taking a camera into a funfair and randomly snapping – even if you weren’t taking pics of the kids themselves – opening you up to this? Could you overtly approach people just to avoid the allegation that you’re doing it secretly? I used to be welfare officer at a cricket club, and part of the anti-child abuse policy was to have a highly visible anti-child abuse policy.

I also wonder if worth reporting just to ensure that there’s a counter should one of the mums do so. And/or get the story to the local papers ‘Local photographer attacked at funfair’ – maybe make them think about questioning their prejudices too.

Scroobius Pip hit the nail on the head:

“Thou shalt not think any male over the age of 30 that plays with a child that is not their own is a paedophile.
Some people are just nice”

(Thou shalt always kill)

Couldn’t you have offered to show them the images on the camera screen ? Or had it all gone a bit Mad Max ?

Horrible situation and well avoided.

Jonv thanks for making those points and making them sensitively. I don’t want to have to think twice in order to avoid ‘victim blaming’ (which is potentially what we run the risk of here), but yet, to your points.

The problem is, if we’re going to say it’s wrong, even if not illegal, to photograph anything where children are present, then what are we saying about the nature of our open and free society? There are kids everywhere, so are we to avoid ever taking pictures?

Most of my stuff is formally agreed and taken with full knowledge and consent. I prefer that style, but my project ‘Bicycle Thieves’ is very much about candid moments in life. Those moments are important. They are what make us human.

Load of people crowding you distracting you, have you got anything left in your pockets?

Sorry but frankly you should have showed them your pictures at the first opportunity (why didn’t you?) and if that wasn’t enough deleted them when they asked. Really it’s just a couple of hobby shots of a funfair. Sounds like it could have been very easily calmed down.

As soon as you start talking about composition and lighting of your shots they probably would have walked away bored.

People’s opinions and reactions to situations are hard to predict. Who knows whether any of the women who confronted you had had previous experiences with strangers taking pics of their kids at fairgrounds ? They may well be posting online somewhere with a thread titled the same as yours, about the same encounter.

Some people are @%$£s

The problem is, if we’re going to say it’s wrong, even if not illegal, to photograph anything where children are present, then what are we saying about the nature of our open and free society?

It speaks volumes, and I’m with you on that.

But at the same time, it is what it is. I wouldn’t leave my phone on the table in a pub while I went to the bar, even though I should be able to.

I’m a strong advocate of ‘taking a stand’ and have said that several times before – be it dog poo, inconsiderate parking, aggressive behaviour on a bus…. or this. Where bad things happen, as a society we need to stand up to it. But that doesn’t mean I advocate creating situations just so you can take a stand.

Does that make sense – not sure it’s well explained, but I know what I mean.

I feel for you Greg, I honestly do. Not been in that kind of situation, but last year I had a note left on the windscreen of the car I was driving for the day saying accusing me of being a paedophile and “disgusting”. Shook me right up, I couldn’t be further from that description!

https://twitter.com/VitaminCCS/status/791349759831400448

Try to find a way to take your mind off it for a few hours or you will drive yourself crazy overnight.

You could have a flick through those pics and have a tommy t… I’m not very good at the light humour pressure cooker thing 🙁

You could have a flick through those pics and have a tommy t… I’m not very good at the light humour pressure cooker thing

OK that made me laugh!

I had a note left on the windscreen of the car I was driving for the day saying accusing me of being a paedophile and “disgusting”.

Holy crap what was the basis for that? Was it photography related?

Best advice I had for this, or other request to delete pictures situation…do quick format, on my Canon it just deletes the file index, remove card, and don’t use it again. Go home, use image/file recovery software to recover images.

In 30 years time would you rather have society remember the image of the fun fair, or the sense of assumed knee-jerk outrage at the notion that somebody might want to capture that? You did nothing wrong.

Here’s another well-known pervert’s filth 😉

Tough evening.

I remember when my kids where swimming at major events and having to register the camera, also when helping out the coaches having various crb and sex offender checks done and a do / don’t briefing. TBH I fou d it all quite uncomfortable so I stopped taking my camera and only did 1 coaching session. In many respects I admire those that put themselves in the front line in that way.

To be accused of such a thing even when yiu know you have done nothing must be very distressing.

Should’ve told them that their kids were too fat and ugly to want to
Photograph, just like their mums.

Even paedos have standards. 😀

Was it photography related?

No, the car I was driving had a ‘No to Named Persons‘ sticker in the back window. Having a different view on how children should be protected in society does not made me a paedophile, obviously, except for the hard of thinking/political fantasists.

Ironically, I was responsible for getting a neighbour of mine some years ago charged with holding thousands of child abuse photos after reporting his general antisocial behaviour to the police.

(There also happened to be a fur coat there too, belonging to the model I was working with for the day, explaining the random non sequitur on the note)

Later that day…

[video]https://youtu.be/-GpzFgoPDn0[/video]

The world has a large swathe of morons upon it, try not to let it get you down.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/vigilante-mob-attacks-home-of-paediatrician-710864.html

Load of people crowding you distracting you, have you got anything left in your pockets?

This is the first thing I thought. Classic gypo / traveller distraction robbery, especially at a funfair (which they all run).

I find our modern concern over taking pictures of children rather strange.

I mean, assuming you are just taking pictures of normal, public behavior, then the children are NOT being harmed themselves. If those pictures are used by some pervert in an inappropriate manner, then yes that person should be called to account. But it is not the pictures themselves that are the issue.

It’s also ridiculous, again assuming we are talking about pictures of children in normal everyday / public situations, because you can go online and find probably well over 1000 million pics of children taken by their parents or friends, and stored in publicly accessible locations online.

From the opposite side, the sensible thing to have done would have been to strike up a conversation with you and gauge what you were up to, if they had any concerns. That sounds like people who have watched too much Jeremy Kyle and can’t differentiate between TV and the real world.

It’s also ridiculous, again assuming we are talking about pictures of children in normal everyday / public situations, because you can go online and find probably well over 1000 million pics of children taken by their parents or friends, and stored in publicly accessible locations online.

Indeed. You even get video if you Sky + adverts.

Unfortunately this is the world today. In hindsight you maybe should’ve said, your shite ugly little rats have ruined my shots you pig faced set of bints.

Or words to that effect.
& then called the Police.

Single bloke turns up at a fun fair with a camera takes pictures of kids. Not going to win you a medal is it.

Whilst it is a sad reflection on society the over reaction you experienced. What sort of interaction at a traveling fun fair did you think you might get under the circumstances above.

Single bloke turns up at a fun fair with a camera takes pictures of kids. Not going to win you a medal is it.

Same as your not getting one for reading…

I was up in the Sunshine Cost in Queensland and went for a walk along the beach, plan was to get to the end and take some sunset shots
[url=https://flic.kr/p/NFyhWa]Last one for the ride[/url] by Mike Smith, on Flickr
I only had my phone last time so took the DSLR with me. Snapped a few but felt very out of place very quickly being a single bloke on a beach with a camera. It’s a tough time these days and another one of the few ruining things for the many.

In the eyes of those that confronted him he was a single man at a fun fair with a camera . I know his wife allowed him time after dropping the child off …..as per his post. The certain individuals at the fun fair didn’t and that is a point the statement is making. Cost or coast 🙂

Er you said he was taking pics of kids, which he wasn’t. Whoever you are it’s got to the stage where everyone is judged by other peoples low standards. The face they got physical makes it worse and certainly worth reporting to the police.