Originally posted by Wheatfield Especially since it's a proven fact that more terrorists carry guns than cameras.
How do you know that? Have you searched large numbers of terrorists? How do you know that each terrorist doesn't have a little P&S in their pocket along wiith a disposable cellphone and a packet of detonators? Why, I could see that al-Qaeda might issue matched cams to cell members as a symbol of unity. Team A has the white CoolPix's, Team B has the blue CyberShots, etc. Remember, cameras are the new guns, and if lesbian manhunters can carry pink .45 ACPs, then Earth First! bombers are probably equipped with green Optio's.
Then there's the view that a terrorist is one who induces terror in a populace, and that some western governments intentionally overplay threats and spread panic and stage attacks for political purposes, and thus that government officials are the worst terrorists. Al-Qaeda is retail; state terror is wholesale. But then this would become a political discussion, and we don't want that, not here.
But back to the problem at hand: How can an honest photographer avoid being mistaken for part of an Al-Qaeda surveillance team? By presenting the right appearance! Dark people should bleach their skin and hair. Hairy people should get a trim. Bald people should wear caps. Present a persona: Wear a dark suit and use a large camera on a tripod. Be or become Oriental and cluster with a group of Orientals with cameras. Dress practically and sling a press pass and three or more big cams with big lenses around your neck. Dress as a sports fan emblazoned with banners and flags of the local jurisdiction. Wear skimpy clothes (or none) so nobody notices your camera. Take a leashed poodle when you shoot -- terrorists don't walk poodles in public. Et cetera.
It's too bad everybody has personal music players and tiny headphones now, too bad that the era of carrying a boombox on your shoulder has passed. Cameras can be hidden in boomboxes, aimed nonchalantly with nobody the wiser. It's too bad that camcorders have shrunk, that shoulder-mounted videocams are no longer seen in public -- no terrorist would carry one of those monstrosities. But cyclists can wear helmet-cams. How do you know that last spandex spider wasn't casing the next terror target? Who can you trust?