Photographers Rights Rallies Held In Sydney and Melbourne

ARTS FREEDOM AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 29th RALLY A GREAT SUCCESS

On a beautiful late winter’s morning more than 700 photographers, their families, friends and supporters gathered at Sydney’s Campbell Cove as part of the first ever protest against the increasing regulation of photography across Australia.

The rally was organised by Arts Freedom Australia (AFA), a group set up by leading photographer Ken Duncan in 2004. The goal of AFA is to wind back and ultimately have repealed the many local, state and Federal government regulations which penalise or restrict both amateur and professional photographers alike in the pursuit of their craft in public open spaces.

The rally heard speeches from Ken Duncan, now the President of Arts Freedom Australia, as well as from other prominent Australian photographers. Addressing the crowd – many of whom were wearing black T-shirts bearing the words “I’m a Photographer, Not a Criminal” – Mr Duncan said that Arts Freedom Australia had an important message to get across.

“And the message is this: we want our basic civil liberties – the right to take photographs without being harassed, hassled and regarded as law breakers – we want those simple rights to be accepted, recognised and respected,” he said.

Another speaker, veteran commercial photographer Peter Walton, spoke to the crowd whilst dressed in a convict uniform and cap. To the cheers of all present, Mr Walton tore up his Parks Victoria photographic licence after relating how a bureaucrat within that organisation could not explain why such a document was needed or why he should pay for it.

Messages of support for the rally from Liz Dombrovskis, the wife of the late Tasmanian maestro Peter Dombrovskis, and from Debbie Jarver, the wife of the late Peter Jarver, were also read out.

The rally received prime-time television coverage that evening on Sydney channels Two (ABC), Nine and Ten. The Ten news coverage ran for almost two minutes and clearly visible in the on-air footage were hundreds of cameras, plenty of beaming faces and placards with pointed messages such as “Artists Have Rights”, “Artists Are The Environment’s Best Friend”, “Capture The Moment, Not The Photographer”, “Don’t Censor Our Sensors” and “Photographers Not Predators”.

A support rally in Melbourne on the same morning also drew several hundred photographers. Protest organiser Glynn Lavender, the co-owner of Creative Photo Workshops and a board member of the Digital Imaging Marketing Association, said that “Melbourne photographers are [often] 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.”

After the Sydney rally, Mr Duncan said that the August 29th protest was only the beginning of a campaign to advance the civil rights of both amateur and professional photographers.

That campaign would involve meetings with politicians and public servants in order to explain the negative impact that various policies have upon photographers’ rights across the country. At other times direct action may still be called for.

 “We invite everybody who is concerned about artistic freedoms to join with us in making them a reality once again in this country”, Mr Duncan said.