I’ve been taking photos as long as I can remember, and in my case, that's a very long time. I’ve been lucky enough to travel to far-flung places around the world, and even in countries where you might imagine secrecy was very high on the agenda, I never used to have a problem taking snapshots of life unfolding on city streets and around town. But lately, even in my home town of Bath in the UK, I’ve been increasingly made to feel like a criminal whenever I dare to take my camera out of its carrying bag. One particular recent incident came as a wonderfully refreshing change, but first, I’ll share three of my more regular recent encounters.
I was standing on a street corner, minding my own business and admiring the beautifully picturesque appearance of a historic building that had been transformed into a restaurant. It was so eye-catching that I lifted my camera to my eye and started to take a few photos from various angles, aiming to do full justice to the makeover. Less than a minute later, the owner came charging out and told me to stop taking photos of his restaurant. I thought for a moment about arguing the toss, saying that I was perfectly within my rights to take photos of a building in and from a public place, but wasn’t in the mood for an argument. Plenty more fish in the sea, or restaurants in town.
