Taking photographs in the streets of my hometown of Perth today and I was approached and questioned by the police. A concerned member of the public had called them saying they had seen a guy taking photographs.  The policeman was polite, took my details and then called the station to check me out.  I thought it best not to be difficult and asked what steps I could take to avoid being questioned again and his response was to recommend that I call into the police station to let them know in future,they would check me out and then handle any calls appropriately. It was kind of embarrassing to be sat next to a policemen in a bright yellow bib for fifteen minutes as people looked on expecting me to be cuffed.  We shared a laugh together before he walked over to a guy at a nearby bus stop who was clearly the one who called.  I took great satsifaction in continuing to take photographs after the police left.

I’m guessing it won’t be the last time I’m questioned and it feels good to have lost my PJ virginity.

There is a plus though and that is if restrictions like this continue to grow then the world will need to rely on photojournalists to provide the images that no-one else can get.

I’ll go to sleep tonight wishing I had a Star Trek transporter and I could send the guy at the bus stop to North Korea. He’d fit in well there.