As a street photographer (street photography and techniques in future posts, please check some of the work out at www.iconphotomedia.com) I have always been a keen supporter of http://photographernotaterrorist.org/ a collective of photographers determined to defend photography, press freedom and the creation of visual history in the United Kingdom.
I received my own rather embarrassing section 44 back in November last year near Westminster, London. It was embarrassing as a new assistant, Adam, had just met me for the first time to discuss a shoot he was due to assist me with the very next day. After coffee and a chat about the state of professional photography and his future prospects, I decided it would be a really good idea to have a recce of where I would shoot the magazine portrait and talk him through what I had planned. I literally only dropped two frames before we were challenged by two 'plastic' police, they were actually quite charming and friendly yet quite insistent on having to do a section 44 even though I explained what I was doing and showed the two (slightly over as I hadn't even got my exposure close yet) frames.
I couldn't help myself shooting this cheeky frame as officer LX 7256 filled the details out. As of 8th July section 44 was suspended in the house of commons and photographers across the UK can now get on with their jobs without constantly being harassed by Police officers and Security Guards most of which are never nearly as friendly as the officer pictured here.
