Policing the Public Gaze – Campaign Against Photo Bans

logo Policing the Public Gaze: The Assault on Citizen Photography, by Pauline Hadaway, director of Belfast Exposed gallery, reveals the growing restriction of citizen photography – by community safety wardens, private security guards, and self-appointed ‘jobsworths’.

This ranges from children being told that they can only take photos of particular parts of the body, to sports clubs told they should remove all photos of kids from their websites.

Hadaway argues that it is important that people are able to take spontaneous photographs of public life, whether of children or any other contemporary touchy subjects: ‘We need to stop this self-censorship.’

Download a print or screen version of the report.

See reviews in Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, and British Photography Journal


Campaign Activities…

  • We have challenged the regulation of photography of children. See: Why do schools really stop parents taking photographs of their children?, Guardian, 23 June