Hundreds rally in support of photo freedom

Several hundred photographers attended a protest rally in Sydney last Saturday, held to draw attention to the increasing number of bureaucratic restrictions being placed on photography in public places and tourist areas.

Organised by well-known landscape photographer Ken Duncan and the organisation Arts Freedom Australia, the rally was supported by photographers Leo Meier, Christian Fletcher and Adam Monk (from WA), Rex Dupain, Nick Rains, Gavin Blue, David Oliver, Dennis Harding, David Simmonds, Peter and Margaret Walton, Phil Gray as well as representatives from AIPP, ACMP, PICA and PMA.

The rally was addressed by Duncan who urged photographers (many wearing the AFA’s ‘I’m a photographer, not a criminal’ t-shirt) and other concerned citizens to resist the “undemocratic regulations which now restrict film-making and photography in many of our public places.” 

Duncan said AFA was formed because of an industry-wide concern about government policies that were turning Australia into a land of “forbidden horizons”. 

His concerns include the photographic restrictions at Uluru, the ‘photographic licences’ required in the national parks of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority Regulation 2006 and the “onerous” use of public open space regulations of Sydney’s Waverley Council as attacks on freedom of expression. 

Saturday’s rally included a “protest” group shot near the Opera House taken from a tower above Doyles restaurant at Circular Quay. Organisers also presented prizes for the best images taken on the day. 

Melbourne rally

Melbourne’s Creative Photo Workshops also staged a  support rally In Melbourne last Sunday to coincide with the main Arts Freedom Australia rally in Sydney.

“The demand from local photographers who were unable to make the journey to Sydney to hold their own event was enormous," said Glynn Lavender, co-owner of Creative Photo Workshops and board member of the Digital Imaging Marketing Association.

“Therefore we decided to propel this issue by running a simultaneous rally in Melbourne,” he said.

Lavender added: “Too often Melbourne photographers are accosted by local security and told they are not allowed to shoot in public spaces. Photographers are treated like second class citizens simply because they enjoy capturing a moment or recording a public event.”