Perth Voice Interactive

Outlawing voyeuristic “creepshots” could kill public photography, Perth Centre for Photography lecturer Juha Tolonen warns.

There’s been a recent backlash against sites posting pictures of women’s backsides taken without their knowledge, and Dr Tolonen worries legitimate photographers could get caught up in any attempts by authorities to crack down on the practice.

He says they’re already feeling pressure when taking photos in public places, even though the law is on their side.

“You [currently] have no recognised right to privacy in a public place. The only laws that were instituted were in the early 2000s to prevent things like upskirting, or photos in public toilets where you have an expectation of privacy.

Visual record

“[But] there is no possible way you can legislate exclusively against creepshots.

“One thing that might possibly happen is we’ll go down the way France has gone, in that you cannot take pictures in public [unless] you ask permission from every single person.

“Photography will be horribly affected, in that you’ll start to lose a visual record of history.”

Dr Tolonen largely photographs buildings and has been under increasing scrutiny since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York.

“If you photograph buildings, you get labelled a terrorist. If you photograph children, you get labelled a paedophile. I don’t know why there has to be this reaction.”

Earlier this year a 41-year-old Kalamunda photographer was prosecuted for disorderly conduct and being offensive in a public place after taking photos of women at Cosmos Kebabs and the Leederville Hotel.

A woman’s boyfriend took the photographer’s iPhone and handed it to police, who found four pictures of women in short shorts. The photographer, who said they weren’t for sexual gratification, was ordered to pay $325 costs and had no conviction recorded.

Dr Tolonen’s lecture Streetshots and Creepshots: The Public and the Pubic is at Perth Centre for Photography July 24 at 7pm, info and registration at info@pcp.org.au.

by DAVID BELL