Surely you remember the previous story about Romford Police who continually made up laws to try and stop Jules Mattsson, 15, from photographing cadets and Police at the Armed Forces Parade. I’m glad to report that Jules has allowed me to publish his portrait. I think it’s extremely important to put a face to the story. Here is the youngster Police harassed; why? Purely because he was taking pictures.
Police Bully 15 Year Old Photographer With Fake Laws
No doubt you’ve all seen and heard the audio recordings of 15 year old photographer Jules Mattsson being harassed by the Police. What was the young photographer doing? He was photographing Police Cadets (probably older than him) at the Armed Forces Day Parade; a day during which we are supposed to support the brave men and women of the armed forces. As a photojournalist in the making, Jules decided to photograph the event. The Police decided that this was illegal and continued to make up laws to stop the young photographer working and as a result publicising the event. Please have a listen to the the recording which Jules had the foresight to make during his ordeal:
Tonight I was invited to speak at the NUJ London Photographers’ Branch. During my talk, as I looked through the crowd, I saw a young face. Someone who didn’t belong as he was far too young; I’d even go as far as saying almost child like – it was Jules Mattson. I was already upset by what I had heard but to see who Jules is, absolutely made me disgusted in the behaviour of the Police officers involved in bullying him. They should all be ashamed and I for one hope they will be disciplined for their cowardice. I have several friends in various Police forces around the country and I absolutely respect the job that is done; any officer who has come in contact with me will vouch for this. However, this bullying of a 16 year old boy is absolutely disgraceful.
I took a photograph of Jules today; he asked me not to publish it as he does not want the Police to target him. What a sad state of affairs; I do hope the officers in question read this.
Anyone who knows me or has been to one of my talks or workshops will know just how much I value having a backup workflow and how crucial it is. I did a blog post a short while ago called STORAGE FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS.
I urge you to spend a little time researching this as it’s much better to be aware and have a system in place than to try and recover from a data loss disaster which at best can be extremely costly and at worst impossible. Also, don’t forget to backup all you family photos and videos – they are irreplaceable.
“The project, called YouTube Play and conceived as a biennial event, is intended to discover innovative work from unexpected sources. It is open even to entrants who don’t consider themselves artists, and actively encourages the participation of people with little or no experience in video. “People who may not have access to the art world will have a chance to have their work recognized,” said Nancy Spector, deputy director and chief curator of the Guggenheim Foundation. “We’re looking for things we haven’t seen before.”
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