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Photographic Abuse: Loopholes in the Law
Street photographers who make their living, or pursue their hobby, in search of the perfect spontaneous image out in the wild have enough problems with the law and with the belief in a private sphere for those who could become the subject of their work. That the law is not clear, in many aspects and not just photography, has been accepted for many years, with constant promises from politicians – especially on the hustings – that matters will be addressed, and the law reformed to make it better, precise, workable. Yet, no matter the promises, no matter the varied and various attempts to reform, there are loopholes which the less…
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A Most Respectable Lifestyle
I suspect it depends a great deal on a person’s interpretation of Respectable, and whether it can be accepted for many different ways of life, or just from those in certain professions, and the former landed gentry but, as a child, it was a lifestyle which appealed to me. The fault is undoubtedly that of my grandmother – mother’s side – who talked of the old ways of the professional tramp, and the morals and standards some of them lived up to. How they traversed the country, seeking odd jobs and short-term employment in return for sustenance and a quarter to rest in, before moving on to new areas; unbound,…
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A Man of Dishonour, Rewarded
I can well imagine that the thought has passed through many minds over the last few days, but the title is already taken, and by someone far more deserving of public attention and a lasting memory. Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten Windsor may well be a former Prince, as well as having been granted many other honorific titles, but he is now in a position of disgrace, albeit one which will hardly dent his ego, or his pocketbook. The man who used to be called Prince, Duke, Earl and Baron, as well as being a Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy, will be able to continue his former life with…
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Prior Preparation and Planning
It’s not as if the United Kingdom was not ready for a change; it had been written in the stars and in the minds of countless citizens for months, if not years, prior to the elections which brought the Labour Party back into power with a landslide election result. It had been heralded by the massive failings of a succession of Conservative-led governments, and by the inability of one Prime Minister after another to read the room, to see what was needed, to react to the reality of the times, and to stop putting themselves and their party before the needs of both the country and its people. Austerity and…
