Street Photography?


I enjoy youtube videos about street photography. I have my dad's old digital camera which is only 8mp but has a wide to telephoto analogue zoom lens. On Bank Holiday Sunday I went into Bourne to try some pictures of people. First picture I lined up a huge poster of tomatoes to fill the frame and waited for someone to walk by. An old lady with a little girl did. Then I walked towards Costa where a young guy with a tiny black dog was standing. I took a picture. But he didn't like that. He angrily asked what I thought I was doing. I said it's street photography, art, and if he wanted I'd delete his image. But he accused me of being a paedophile and insisted on seeing the other photos on the camera. The little girl was a trigger and he threatened to take the camera off me. I deleted the girl and managed to de-escalate to the point I could walk away. I was shaken and felt suddenly aware of small town ignorance. I got in my car but he'd followed me and was now on his phone, reading out my car number plate. Sunday evening was time to think about the challenge of pointing a camera at strangers. It's entirely legal in public spaces but not entirely safe. Next day was bank holiday Monday, a quiet time, apart from my slight anxiety about being confronted. The incident went round and around in my mind. I concluded I would have liked to have a black belt in ju jitsu and stood my ground, before flooring the guy with a deft move. Monday night soothed me with some Star Trek and herbal teas until just about bed time. 10.30pm DING DONG the doorbell rang. Flourescent jackets illuminated through the door glass. Two policemen. I let them in, they suggested coming in - so the neighbours weren't alarmed. We chatted about street photography, they assured me it wasn't illegal but could I show them my photos. I showed them my Instagram then they asked to see my camera. There was nothing to see. They suggested I try  Stamford as more suitable, and even asked if I felt it was an assault on me (they're always looking for a case!) They left and I stayed up till midnight calming myself with another herbal tea. I wonder if I can learn ju jitsu on YouTube!