Cadogan Estates Limited CCTV notice, Duke of York Square, King's Road, Chelsea. Image © Phillip Wolmuth.

Ground Control: A discussion with writer and journalist Anna Minton

25th January, 6pm at Headland House.

Street photography, which has a long and fruitful history of recording life in our shared public spaces, is under attack. The privatisation of public spaces – in London, Canary Wharf and parts of the King’s Road are good examples, but there are many more – is making it increasingly difficult for photographers to document how the world around us looks and feels in the 21st century.

Anna Minton’s book Ground Control reveals how, in recent years, “the market place has taken control from the local electorate. Now, untested urban planning has transformed not only our cities, but the very nature of public space. From Liverpool to Manchester, London to Newcastle, more and more streets are owned by private companies with the sole aim of making money”.

What can we do to re-assert the rights of the public in general, and photographers in particular (both amateur and professional), in our shared urban spaces?

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Annual General Meeting

Our meeting on the 25th January will mark a year since the start of the London Photographers’ Branch. It has been a packed year, the highlights of which you can read in the Chair’s Annual Report. We invite you all to come along and take part in the Annual General Meeting which will precede the normal monthly branch meeting with a speaker on the privatisation of public space.

6pm sharp – NUJ Headland House – drinks and nibbles provided.

We will elect a new committee, delegates to the NUJ Delegate Meeting in Southport and two branch auditors. Any member is entitled to stand for committee, however to hold a post as branch officer you have to be a full member.

Positions for 2011

(A) A chair
(B) A vice-chair
(C) A secretary to keep the records and convene meetings.
(D) Membership Secretary assists members with union membership and recruitment.
(E) A treasurer to be responsible for the funds in the care of the branch and for keeping accounts. No treasurer shall be aged under 18.
(F) A welfare officer to care for the interests of sick members and their spouses and liaise with the NUJ Extra.
(G) An equality officer to promote equality issues and provide a focus for questions and complaints arising from the code of conduct.
(H) A union learning representative focuses on branch training and education.
(I) Web Editor co-ordinates content for the branch Website, Twitter and Facebook
(J) Legal Rep assists and supports members pursuing legal issues.
(K) Non Portfolio members assist and contribute, but with no specific role.

The committee would encourage members to think about how they can contribute to the branch, we are very happy to have job-shares for committee positions, absolutely no experience necessary, we are all learning on the job! Feel free to contact committee members for details.

Candidates standing as branch officers will be allowed to address the Branch meeting prior to the election for a maximum of five minutes and questions can be asked of any candidate.

We will also briefly discuss amendments to the Delegate Meeting motions, which will decide the union policy over the next year/18 months. This is a very important meeting, I urge all members to do their best to attend.

Thanks again to all the out-going committee for their hard work and commitment to the work of the branch.

Jess Hurd, LPB Branch Chair

Equality for Freelancers: Sexual Orientation

The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 make it unlawful to discriminate on grounds of sexual orientation in the workplace. Defining the workplace, as freelancers, can mean doing a shift, working with a permanent contract or selling a single image or some copy.

Chair’s Annual Report

The year began with the fantastic Mass Gathering, where thousand of photographers descended on Trafalgar Square to demonstrate their opposition to the targeting of photographers under s44 of the anti terrorism powers. Branch members have been key to the success of the I’m a Photographer Not a Terrorist campaign.

Essential Photoshop for Photojournalists

This one-day course, organised by the London Photographers’ Branch, will demonstrate how to use Photoshop, Bridge and Adobe Camera RAW (the three linked programmes that make up Adobe Photoshop) Registration closes today.

“We can do anything under the terrorism act”

The NUJ has hit out at police claims they ‘can do anything under the Terrorism Act’, following the success of photographer Jess Hurd in a complaint to the Independent Police Complaint Commission (IPCC).

Branch member wins £30,000 compensation for G20 assault

Branch member David Hoffman, represented by Chez Cotton, head of the Police Misconduct Department at leading civil rights law firm Bindmans LLP, has received £30,000 damages from the Metropolitan Police.

Young Members

Over the past few months hundreds of younger NUJ members have been at the forefront of campaigns for better pay, fought against attacks on pensions and joined actions for media freedom and rights at work.

We want the TUC to hear the voice of our younger members.

The NUJ will be sending a 4-person delegation to the TUC Young Members Conference in London in April 2011. Does your branch or chapel have an active younger member who wants to be part of our delegation?

Members must be under 27 on 1 April 2011 and be available to attend the conference in London between 1-3 April 2011. Costs will be met by the union centrally.

If any of your members are interested please send a nomination stating in no more than 100 words the reasons for the nomination to [email protected] by 2 February 2011. The union’s National Executive will select delegates at its meeting on 4 February.

Michelle Stanistreet
Deputy General Secretary

Minutes

Branch members who are registered on the site can view the draft minutes of meetings online:

• Draft December Branch Committee Minutes
• Draft December Branch Minutes

The NUJ has hit out at police claims they ‘can do anything under the Terrorism Act’, following the success of photographer Jess Hurd in a complaint to the Independent Police Complaint Commission (IPCC).

Ms Hurd, one of the founders of the ‘I am a photographer, not a terrorist’campaign and Chair of the NUJ London Photographers’ Branch , was stopped by police officers under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 whilst filming the wedding reception of a traveller couple in the City of London, as part of an on-going documentary project.

Despite confirming she was a member of the press and showing a valid Press Card she was subjected to a stop and search under the controversial legislation.

Section 44 does not require an officer to have ‘reasonable suspicion’ in order to carry out a search and has now been found by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to breach Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the grounds that the powers were too broadly drawn and there were inadequate safeguards against abuse.

Following an outcry over the use of the law against professional and amateur photographers the Government has amended the police’s powers pending the outcome of a review of counter-terrorism powers, including the use of terrorism legislation in relation to photography.

The IPCC acknowledged that in relation to the suspension of the use of Section 44 “it is cases such as this that have helped in bringing about such changes”.

NUJ Deputy General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet said:

“It is an abuse of power that the police acted in this way and we congratulate Jess for challenging them and helping to bring pressure to bear to get these powers scrapped”.

Ms Hurd’s solicitor Chez Cotton said:

“It is critical that the police are not allowed to use very serious counter-terrorism measures as a general stop and search provision as has happened in my client’s case and has happened in many other cases involving NUJ members and amateur photographers alike. The use, or threatened use, of terrorism powers against journalists has had a chilling effect on their ability to report freely and without fear of arrest.  The current review of key counter terrorism and security measures must be used to ensure any powers given to the police cannot be misused in an arbitrary and discriminatory way, otherwise such powers will not enjoy the support or confidence of the public.”
NUJ Legal Officer Roy Mincoff said:

“We welcome the IPCC’s findings in Jess Hurd’s favour. These events should never have taken place in the first instance. The role of journalists, including photographers, as the public watchdog, must be respected. It is one of the essential elements of a democratic society that journalists are entitled to inform the public, which itself is entitled to be informed. In addition the police should not store information on journalists who are doing their job and have committed no crime.”

NUJ General Secretary, Jeremy Dear, said:

“NUJ member Jess Hurd was detained for more than 45 minutes by police during a wedding in London’s Docklands, her camera was forcibly removed and she was told the police can do anything under the Terrorism Act. The NUJ believes legislation should not be abused and no journalist should be singled out by the police. The police service has no legal powers or moral responsibility to prevent or restrict photographer’s work. The NUJ will continue to take action in support of our members when they are targeted by police, we welcome the judgment from the IPCC especially the acknowledgement that the use of stop and search powers are not seen as fair or effective.”

The complaint made by Ms Hurd:

Police officers, who were aware that a wedding reception was taking place at the hotel in London Docklands, and had seen Ms Hurd filming guests as they were leaving, approached her to see ‘what she was doing’.

Although Ms Hurd could see no legitimate reason for their interest, she wished to co-operate and resolve matters swiftly, and explained to the officers that she had been professionally engaged to cover the wedding and was an accredited photojournalist.

She offered her Press Card so that her credentials could be checked by the police, there being in force nationally agreed Guidelines between the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and media organisations (see resources at the end of the press release).  Each accredited NUJ member has a unique PIN number and photographic ID, and the police have access to a 24 hour ‘hotline’ that they can call to verify the personal details and identity of a legitimate member of the press. The Guidelines set out that the police will recognise the holder of a valid Press Card, issued by the UK Press Card Authority Limited, as ‘a bona fide news gatherer’.

The Guidelines are comprehensive and should be known and followed by all police officers.

A second officer, aware of Ms Hurd’s status as a journalist and that her footage had been obtained through legitimate journalistic activity, said he wished to view the film.  He said she was being stopped under ‘Section 44 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act’.

Ms Hurd protested that she was clearly a journalist and as the footage was professional they could not interfere.  Ms Hurd was then told that she could have been ‘doing hostile reconnaissance’, although this was entirely at odds with the circumstances confirmed by Ms Hurd and supported by the evidence of the reality of the situation.

Ms Hurd’s camera was forcibly taken from her by the officer, despite her protests that there were safeguards in place to ensure a free press. The officer’s response was: “We can do anything under the terrorism act”.

A third officer took the camera and watched footage with a further officer who was still in the police car, some distance from Ms Hurd.  She was fearful that her entire days work could be wiped and was by now feeling intimidated, as she was in a dark car park being questioned in an intimidating way by police officers.

Ms Hurd was informed that she could not use any footage of the police car or police officers and that if she did there would be ‘severe penalties’, although these were not specified.

The officer concluded the matter confirming to Ms Hurd that if she did want to use the footage then she would have to go through the Metropolitan Police press office, as it was ‘his copyright’, and, although the officers were not undercover at that point, they might be at some point in the future.

In relation to Ms Hurd’s complaint, the IPCC accepted that:

“Arguably with the assistance of hindsight the officers could have handled this incident differently, from a public confidence and satisfaction perspective.”

Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on 10 December.

The well known and highly respected National Union of Journalist member David Hoffman, who is represented by Chez Cotton, head of the Police Misconduct Department at leading civil rights law firm Bindmans LLP, has received £30,000 damages today from the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis.

Mr Hoffman was working in a professional capacity covering the G20 protests.  Despite being out of the way and not interfering with any police operation, an inspector in full riot gear ran towards Mr Hoffman and hit him in the face with a shield, fracturing Mr Hoffman’s teeth. As well as paying compensation and the cost of the extensive dental work that has been required, the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has also apologised to Mr Hoffman for the treatment he received and has confirmed the force’s recognition that journalists have a right to report freely.

Mr Hoffman’s solicitor Chez Cotton says:

“Journalists such as my client are critical in disseminating information into the wider public domain. Reporters and photojournalists play a significant role recording political unrest, political events, which includes recording protest and, if it arises, police wrong doing. That my client was assaulted by a police officer when carrying out this essential function, and brutally so, is shocking. Fortunately with photographic and film evidence of the incident and detailed testimony, Mr Hoffman has succeeded in holding the police to account. It is absolutely right that the Metropolitan Police Force has paid significant damages, given an apology and confirmed recognition and respect for a free press.”

The apology from the Metropolitan Police states:

“On 1 April 2009 well-respected social issues photographer David Hoffman was recording the G20 protests in the City of London. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) recognise that Mr Hoffman was entitled to report on that day but was caused injury by an MPS officer during the event, preventing him from doing so. The MPS confirms its recognition that freedom of the press is a cornerstone of democracy and that journalists have a right to report freely. The MPS apologise to Mr Hoffman for the treatment he received and have paid compensation.”

NUJ Legal Officer Roy Mincoff said:
“David Hoffman suffered very painful injuries as a result of this entirely unnecessary gratuitous and violent assault on him while properly and professionally going about his work. The role of journalists, including photographers, as the public watchdog, must be respected. It is one of the essential elements of a democratic society that journalists are entitled to inform the public, which itself is entitled to be informed. The NUJ has fought for this to be recognised, and is pleased that the Police has now accepted responsibility and properly compensated Mr Hoffman.”

Jeremy Dear, NUJ General Secretary said:

“No journalist should be singled out by the police and the police service has no legal powers or moral responsibility to prevent or restrict photographer’s work. Journalists have a duty to record and report on public protests as well as the behaviour of the police.  David’s case is a shocking example of police brutality and totally unacceptable. We believe that attacks on working journalists are attacks on democracy and on society’s ability to make informed decisions. The NUJ will continue to take action in support of our members when they are targeted by police.”

Background to the case

Mr Hoffman, a well respected social issues journalist and member of the National Union of Journalists, attended in a professional capacity to report on the G20 protests on 1 April 2009 in the City of London. Throughout the event Mr Hoffman was carrying professional equipment and had his Press Card clearly visible around his neck and was obviously a journalist.

Mr Hoffman took photographs at various sites throughout the day.  At around 4 p.m. police in the Bank area stopped Mr Hoffman and others from moving forward and tried to push everyone back.  However, due to the size of the crowd behind Mr Hoffman there was nowhere to move back to.

After about ten minutes the police intensified their action and started to push Mr Hoffman and the others in the crowd using their shields and batons aggressively, even though there was still nowhere to move back to. Mr Hoffman was standing beside a line of police officers and was for no reason pushed hard by an officer, to one side.

Mr Hoffman saw a space and was anxious to avoid any further trouble.  He moved to one side so that he was further away from the police. Whilst doing this, Mr Hoffman was suddenly hit for no reason with considerable weight in the back by a policeman using his shield. This threw him violently into the back of a man in front of him.

Mr Hoffman moved even further away form the police and was  partly shielded by some builders’ boards.  He remained in this position, out of the way, and watched the events around him with his camera raised, ready to report. He was doing absolutely nothing wrong and was photographing without interfering in any police operation.

A few seconds later a heavily built inspector in full riot gear suddenly left the group of police officers he was with, ran directly towards Mr Hoffman, and deliberately hit him hard in the face with a shield. The shield made contact with great force, causing Mr Hoffman considerable pain and causing one of his cameras to fly round where it was knocked, causing damage to the equipment. Mr Hoffman was shocked and in pain from the shield hitting him and was thrown backwards.

It was subsequently confirmed that Mr Hoffman’s teeth had been fractured.  Mr Hoffman instructed Chez Cotton of Bindmans LLP to act on his behalf and the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. Proceedings were issued and the claim was settled shortly after the Particulars of Claim were served. The terms of settlement were agreed by Consent between the parties. The Central London County Court sealed the agreement at the beginning of December and the Commissioner of Police has today paid the damages in full.

14th December 6pm at Headland House.

Our last meeting of the year will be a short one to deal with branch business, before adjourning to the pub for some festive drinks and mince pies. We will also be running a slideshow of members best images and videos of the year. Send no more than 3 JPEGs at least 2000px on the longest side or 3 video clips, no longer than 15 seconds each 720×576 16:9 to [email protected].

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Any motions to the branch should be sent to the branch secretary prior to the meeting.

Parliamentary Seminar: Who’s Afraid of Photographers?

Jason Parkinson reports from the NUJ Parliamentary Seminar: Who’s Afraid of Photographers? with Don Foster MP, Prof. Chris Frost, Anna Mazzolla, Jess Hurd, Chez Cotton, David Hoffman and John Toner.

Photoshop Tutor Needed

The London Photographers’ Branch is looking for a tutor to deliver a one-day Photoshop course in January 2011.  The course outline was drawn up following a survey of branch members earlier this year.  Anyone interested in teaching it should email [email protected], including details of relevant experience, by 13 December.

Casual Vacanies on NUJ Councils

(Members Only) The NUJ has announced the next round of casual vacancies for the Ethics Council and Industrial and Executive Councils. Anyone wishing to make nominations for the following positions below should contact the branch secretary. Nominations must be in by the close of business (COB) on Monday 10 January 2011.

Minutes of Last Meeting

Branch members who are registered on the site can view the draft minutes of the last meeting online.

NUJ members can also contact NUJ legal officer Roy Mincoff during office hours on 020 7843 3721. Outside of office hours or in an emergency you can call the 24hr NUJ legal helpline on 0800 5877530.

Tuesday 30th November, 6pm at Headland House.

The November Branch meeting will look at international issues for journalists. With advice for photographers working in foreign countries from our panel:

• Jim Boumelha (IFJ President) will present a motion in solidarity with Palestinian journalists and give a talk about the benefits of International Federation of Journalists membership to camera people working abroad.
• Guy Smallman (Branch committee member) will offer advice on working in dangerous environments based on his experiences in Lebanon and Afghanistan. He will illustrate his talk with some of his photos.
• Isabelle Merminod (Branch committee member) will show some world exclusive images from a women’s prison in the Philippines following on from last months motion passed by the branch.
• Fil Kaler (Branch member) will show his short film about journalists working in occupied Palestine.

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Any motions to the branch should be sent to the branch secretary prior to the meeting.

Protecting journalistic material

It is a fundamental journalistic principle not to hand over material, to the state or elsewhere. It is not the role of journalists to collect material for the Police. As Tim Gopsill & Greg Neale wrote in, Journalists – 100 Years of the NUJ “On a practical and important level, if angry crowds get the idea that journalists are going to hand over pictures to the police they are likely to turn on them.”

Panel discussion on the Future of Street Photography

At our last branch meeting we heard from an expert panel about the future of taking photographs on the street. Lawyers Chez Cotton and Anna Mazzola from Bindmans and Hickman & Rose respectively, talked about their experiences dealing with actions against the police. Photographers Andrew Testa and Grant Smith showed some of their work and how they had been hindered by police and security guards when working. Finally NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear talked about the unions history and activity defending photographer’s rights.

Equality & Fraternity

At the September Branch meeting the branch elected its equality officer. Most of our members don’t have a permanent workplace, but work for various employers and in many differing environments, from the streets to the carpeted boardrooms, making portraits of CEOs.

Photographers’ organise to defend rates

The last branch meeting agreed to setup a working group of branch members to liase with other bodies and officials within the union to “establish or re-establish NUJ agreements with national newspapers and news organisations for picture/video rates and commissions.”

Minutes & Reports

Branch members who are registered on the site can login and view the draft minutes of meetings and reports from officers about the upcoming delegate meeting and recruitment leaflet.

Download MP3

The group will co-ordinate the branch’s action to defend established NUJ rates and hopefully secure new ones for members.

All branch members are welcome to join the working group and can do so by signing up to the mailing list.

Free London Workshop: ’Make Impact’
Improve your marketing and promotional skills

Book quickly as places are limited and it’s first come, first served. Saturday November 20th
We are offering our members a unique opportunity to attend a free workshop aimed at helping you gain the key marketing and promotional skills and tools needed to gain new work and secure long-term contracts in our highly competitive creative industries (see attachment for workshop programme).

It’s Flexible
We know that freelance work means that it’s not always possible to take time off to attend a whole day of training, so we’re offering you the flexibility of attending the morning or afternoon sessions or the entire day if you wish.

Don’t Miss Out
This is a rare opportunity to gain the skills development you need free from industry professionals who know what it’s like in practice. We are working hard with few resources to help support your career so we hope you will make the most of this opportunity.

For Info And Booking
Please see workshop programme and booking form attached.

We Ask Your Consideration
Short-term notice of work and sickness aside, please do not book a place if you are not sure you can attend. We try to help as many members as possible and if you don’t turn up because ‘It’s sunny’ or ‘The football is on’ etc, another member who needs this training will miss out and we will waste valuable resources.

An FEU Training Initiative
The workshop, along with many other training courses and learning opportunities, is brought to you by the National Union of Journalists, BECTU, Equity and the Musicians’ Union working together under the banner of the Federation of Entertainment Unions. To register on our website, go to feutraining.org

Workshop Programme (PDF)
Booking Form (Doc)

Tuesday 26th October, 6pm at Headland House.

At this month’s branch meeting we will have an expert panel talking about whether the ConDem government will defend photographer rights over the next five years. Speakers will talk about the subject from their area of expertise before the discussion is opened to the floor.

• Chez Cotton – Head of Action Against the Police at Bindmans Solicitors & a co-ordinator of the Police Action Lawyers Group.
• Jeremy Dear – General Secretary, National Union of Journalists.
• Grant Smith – Award-winning architectural photographer and one of the organisers of the ‘I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist‘ campaign group.
• Anna Mazzola – Solictor at Hickman & Rose specialising in public law (judicial review); human rights; actions against the police and other detaining authorities; and information and data protection law.
• Andrew Testa – Award-winning protest and conflict photographer.

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Any motions to the branch should be sent to the branch secretary prior to the meeting.

Police officers cannot be above the law

When the police act outside the law and attack human rights and media freedoms by physically attacking media workers then the police should be held to account for such actions. It seems that Sir Paul Stephenson has other ideas.

Outrage at Police plan to issue their own press card

Leicestershire Police revealed they will be issuing their own press card/badges for the English Defence League (EDL) on Saturday 9 October.

Photographers unite to defend Press Freedom

Congratulations to the photographers who stood their ground against Tate Britain’s new contract, which effectively banned ‘bad’ coverage of the gallery. Photographers are fed up of being pushed around, all we ask for is the ability to do our jobs without negative interference from press officers, police officers or security guards.

Reporting from the Deepwater Disaster

At last the branch meeting video journalist and branch committee member Jason Parkinson spoke about his trip to the Gulf of Mexico to document the environmental disaster following the leak from the Deepwater Horizon oil well.

Who’s afraid of Photographers?

That will be the question under discussion at a seminar organised by the NUJ at the House of Commons on Thursday, 28 October. Places will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis, and anyone interested should contact John Toner.

Minutes

Branch members who are registered on the site can login and view the draft minutes of meetings:

• Draft September Branch Meeting Minutes
• Draft October Branch Committee Minutes