Photography on London Underground - yes, it's allowed
 

Hi,

I've seen this link posted on a few blogs recently (though it's
existed for ages) that appears to say casual photography is banned on
London Underground:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/5225.aspx

"Any individual or film production company wanting to film or take
photographs on the Tube must seek prior permission from the London
Underground (LU) Film Office."

Of course, the Film Office only has jurisdiction over professionals
(and students etc) doing proper photo shoots, and also there's nothing
in the conditions of carriage banning passengers from using cameras.
So it's reasonable to think that, despite appearances, this statement
doesn't apply to passengers casually taking pictures.

Anyway, I've emailed the film office to confirm, posing as a confused
commuter, and they confirm it's allowed:

"If you are acting like a tourist and from what I can gather you are,
then you do not need to obtain a permit from us. It is only if you
are setting up a photograph or a scene to film and you are going to be
on the station longer than 5 to 10 minutes that you would need to
obtain a permit."

I've asked them to update the page (no response yet) and, if you've
got nowt else to do this afternoon, I suggest emailing
asking them to be clearer on their website
about what's what.

U

Photography on London Underground - yes, it's allowed
 

On Apr 17, 1:23*pm, Mr Thant
wrote:

Hi,

I've seen this link posted on a few blogs recently (though it's
existed for ages) that appears to say casual photography is banned on
London Underground:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/5225.aspx

"Any individual or film production company wanting to film or take
photographs on the Tube must seek prior permission from the London
Underground (LU) Film Office."

Of course, the Film Office only has jurisdiction over professionals
(and students etc) doing proper photo shoots, and also there's nothing
in the conditions of carriage banning passengers from using cameras.
So it's reasonable to think that, despite appearances, this statement
doesn't apply to passengers casually taking pictures.

Anyway, I've emailed the film office to confirm, posing as a confused
commuter, and they confirm it's allowed:

"If you are acting like a tourist and from what I can gather you are,
then you do not need to obtain a permit from us. *It is only if you
are setting up a photograph or a scene to film and you are going to be
on the station longer than 5 to 10 minutes that you would need to
obtain a permit."

I've asked them to update the page (no response yet) and, if you've
got nowt else to do this afternoon, I suggest emailing
asking them to be clearer on their website
about what's what.

U

We had a discussion on this last week. By my reckoning the crux of the
matter is the muddled use of terminology - on the LU Film Office
webpage (linked to above) they speak of "student or non-professional"
permits, the problem bit being "non-professional" which is not defined
anywhere. For as long as the meaning of that phrase is not explained
properly then the occasional hysteria can be expected.

Photography on London Underground - yes, it's allowed
 

See also

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ondon-bus.html

!

Kev

Photography on London Underground - yes, it's allowed
 

On Apr 17, 2:00*pm, Mizter T wrote:
I've seen this link posted on a few blogs recently (though it's
existed for ages) that appears to say casual photography is banned on
London Underground:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/5225.aspx

"Any individual or film production company wanting to film or take
photographs on the Tube must seek prior permission from the London
Underground (LU) Film Office."

Of course, the Film Office only has jurisdiction over professionals
(and students etc) doing proper photo shoots, and also there's nothing
in the conditions of carriage banning passengers from using cameras.
So it's reasonable to think that, despite appearances, this statement
doesn't apply to passengers casually taking pictures.

Anyway, I've emailed the film office to confirm, posing as a confused
commuter, and they confirm it's allowed:

"If you are acting like a tourist and from what I can gather you are,
then you do not need to obtain a permit from us. *It is only if you
are setting up a photograph or a scene to film and you are going to be
on the station longer than 5 to 10 minutes that you would need to
obtain a permit."

I've asked them to update the page (no response yet) and, if you've
got nowt else to do this afternoon, I suggest emailing
asking them to be clearer on their website
about what's what.

U

We had a discussion on this last week. By my reckoning the crux of the
matter is the muddled use of terminology - on the LU Film Office
webpage (linked to above) they speak of "student or non-professional"
permits, the problem bit being "non-professional" which is not defined
anywhere. For as long as the meaning of that phrase is not explained
properly then the occasional hysteria can be expected.


See:
http://www.johnband.org/blog/2008/02...-is-permitted/

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

Photography on London Underground - yes, it's allowed
 

On Apr 17, 3:23*pm, "Kev Lawrence"
wrote:
See also

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...an-deletes-tou...

!

Indeed, I've just read that in the Guardian - here's a link to their
article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/ap...tourist-photos

The incident appears to have happened at Walthamstow bus station. One
suspects that the police bods in question are likely to have been
PCSOs rather than proper police officers, though that's just
supposition. Whatever, the police really need to get their act in
order.

Photography on London Underground - yes, it's allowed
 

On Fri, 17 Apr 2009 08:20:16 -0700 (PDT), Mizter T
wrote:


On Apr 17, 3:23*pm, "Kev Lawrence"
wrote:
See also

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...an-deletes-tou...

!

Indeed, I've just read that in the Guardian - here's a link to their
article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/ap...tourist-photos

The incident appears to have happened at Walthamstow bus station. One
suspects that the police bods in question are likely to have been
PCSOs rather than proper police officers, though that's just
supposition. Whatever, the police really need to get their act in
order.

Seig Heil.

The days of "Gee, I think your policeman are wonderful" died a while
back.

Photography on London Underground - yes, it's allowed
 

In message
"Kev Lawrence" wrote:

See also

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ondon-bus.html

!

What's the betting they weren't policemen but PCSOs?

--
Graeme Wall

This address not read, substitute trains for rail
Transport Miscellany at www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

Photography on London Underground - yes, it's allowed
 

On 17 Apr, 16:20, Mizter T wrote:

The incident appears to have happened at Walthamstow bus station. One
suspects that the police bods in question are likely to have been
PCSOs rather than proper police officers, though that's just
supposition. Whatever, the police really need to get their act in
order.

It is a ridiculous situation, as surely if a crime *had* been
committed the images should *not* be deleted as they are evidence.

It sounds like poorly trained muppets on a power trip.

Neil

Photography on London Underground - yes, it's allowed
 

On Apr 17, 4:30*pm, Neil Williams wrote:

On 17 Apr, 16:20, Mizter T wrote:

The incident appears to have happened at Walthamstow bus station. One
suspects that the police bods in question are likely to have been
PCSOs rather than proper police officers, though that's just
supposition. Whatever, the police really need to get their act in
order.

It is a ridiculous situation, as surely if a crime *had* been
committed the images should *not* be deleted as they are evidence.

It sounds like poorly trained muppets on a power trip.


Which is, unfortunately, why my suspicion fell on them being PCSOs.
I'm not against the concept of PCSOs as such, but reports of their
(mis)behaviour doesn't always leave one feeling encouraged.

Photography on London Underground - yes, it's allowed
 

In message
of
Fri, 17 Apr 2009 07:38:59 in uk.transport.london,
writes
On Apr 17, 2:00*pm, Mizter T wrote:

[snip]

We had a discussion on this last week. By my reckoning the crux of the
matter is the muddled use of terminology - on the LU Film Office
webpage (linked to above) they speak of "student or non-professional"
permits, the problem bit being "non-professional" which is not defined
anywhere. For as long as the meaning of that phrase is not explained
properly then the occasional hysteria can be expected.


See:
http://www.johnband.org/blog/2008/02...don-undergroun
d-is-permitted/

John,
Many thanks for that. I have no current wish to take photos on the
underground and am mainly concerned by the muddle.

I believe the page on general photography (I failed in copying that long
URL. I really should learn to generate a tinyurl ;) takes too narrow a
view in stating "... you must NOT use flash or lights on any of our
platforms".
I believe the relevant text is in
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...age-march-2009
..pdf
where it says "4.5. For safety reasons, on our buses, in our bus
stations and on Underground stations and trains you must not: ... take
flash photographs and/or use a tripod or other camera support equipment
...."

I raised a question on such confusion with TfL before. I shall try and
follow up on it.

BTW, How did you find the long URL document and have you found any way
to navigate to it? Is it as authoritative as you might hope?
--
Walter Briscoe