[Video] Photographer Vs. Security: The Ultimate Showdown

How would you react if security officers told you that you were breaking the law by photographing a building from public property? One British photographer was faced with just that question, and here is how he reacted.

Our protagonist, a photographer using the alias ‘Hamst’ to write about his experiences on a blog called Visit Scunthorpe had said that he had enough of being hassled over snapping innocent photos at events such as local sporting events. Hamst goes on to say:

“A couple of years ago I was challenged whilst taking photos at a local under 14’s football match in which my son was taking part. I’d taken photos at numerous matches over the years and posted them to the football teams web page on Facebook, something which had caused no bother and the players loved tagging themselves and using them as profile pictures, both my sons team and the opposition. However, after this challenge and thinking I had gone some way to reassure the parent that there was no malice intended I thought I should look deeper into the law and photography within the UK than I previously had.”

Armed with his newly-acquired knowledge, Hamst had gone months without incident, until late last year when he was wandering around his town snapping photographs. Almost immediately after arriving at this location to take photos, security guards at this Golden Wonder plant (a UK manufacturer of snacks) were approaching Hamst and trying to get him to leave. The guards cited non-existent laws and attempted to bully and intimidate him into leaving. After viewing the video, how would you have reacted? Did the photographer act appropriately, or was he overstepping his bounds and looking for trouble? What are your thoughts on how the security officers handled this?

Via r/photography