British Journal of Photography online

It is nice to see such a well done website by a magazine publisher, with good content. As paper magazines make the difficult transition to electronic transmission format, there are inevitable conflicts in presentation and subject matter caused by the economic and technical upsets to traditional print. You can find BJP Online here.

Even more upsetting is the apparent severe loss of freedom being experienced by photographers in the UK. Private and public resources are being spent to prevent photographers, amateur and professional, from shooting images in public places. It seems surreal that in London, of all places, it is effectively illegal to take snapshots of Tower Bridge, while dozens of video cameras planted on the sides of buildings, and on posts and parapets, watch those below. One could say the predictions of Patrick McGoohan's The Prisoner, have become reality in England. Or has BBC simply broadcast MI6 too many times, and frightened an entire country with artistic fiction?  We do admire British television here, but prefer Doc Martin, and Top Gear.

To attempt to address that problem, a group of photographers are protesting, and here is a story about it in the recent issue of the BJP.