I didn’t enjoy photographing the English Defence League on Friday. If they had come into a pub where I was having a drink with a friend we would quickly have drunk up and gone elsewhere, and if I hadn’t have been there to take photographs I would probably have crossed to the other side of the road and walked by.
Fortunately they were on their best behaviour, and when the three of us who had walked down together decided we needed to get into the crowd of them and take some pictures if we weren’t exactly welcome we were tolerated, and after a few minutes (when we had been joined by many of the other photographers and journalists, some of whom had been hovering on the edge when we arrived) they really began to put on an act for us.
So we didn’t get any violence, and I was even able to have some reasonably sensible conversation with some of them, though there was a considerable amount of taunting particularly of a younger photographer who seemed a little nervous and a young Asian woman reporter. But all around us was a sea of obscenity and racist comments, all at the same time as they were assuring us they weren’t racists and posing with a black guy as their proof.
At first I wrote “see” and perhaps that would have been appropriate as the EDL seems very much more like some kind of twisted religion, a cult of St George, the English Flag, football, drunkenness and anti-foreignism. It isn’t exactly chauvinism and certainly not patriotism – for they dismiss virtually everything that shows Britain at its best. It’s a fear of people and cultures that are different from “us” and one that includes English people like me and the UAF and Muslims. Though of course Muslims do appear to have a special place in their demonology.
Is that a Burkha or a Balaclava?
Earlier in the day I’d been with the UAF (Unite Against Fascism) counter-demonstration, in another crowd of people taking pictures, but this was a very different crowd, racially mixed and with at least as many women as men. I felt much more at home, these were my people, a part of my vision of the future for England. Whatever I thought about the politics it was just a so much more positive experience.
Photographically my main problem throughout the day was the sun, but it also gave some of the pictures an added interest. I think I’m far too sensitive to flare in my pictures, and when I sat down to edit the work I shot late that evening probably eliminated some I should have kept in. Working with a wide angle – Nikon’s new 16-35 zoom – and shooting more or less straight into the sun makes flare virtually inevitable. It’s a fact of photography and really I should accept it, but I find it hard. And of course some agencies are likely to throw out pictures because of it. But I shouldn’t be working for the agencies, they should be working for me. When I have time I need to go back and think again about some of those I rejected.
A little bit of flare – the sun was more or less at the top of the flag at top centre
I was impressed by the 16-35mm. Focus seems noticeably faster than the old Sigma 12-24, and I didn’t miss the extremes at the wide end, while the extra at the longer end is very useful. I think this will become my favourite lens, and on a bright day like this f4 was more than fast enough – the widest aperture I used was f5.6 and that was accidental. Even in dull light, with perfectly usable results at ISO3200 I think f4 is usually fast enough, though perhaps I might one day get either the Sigma 24 or 28mm f1.8 lenses for low light work. One perhaps one day Sigma – PLEASE – will send my f2.8 24-70 back and it will work properly…
Since I don’t yet have the 24-70, I was working with the Nikon 18-200mm on the D300 body and it as usual did a pretty good job, though occasionally refusing to focus. I’ve had it checked twice without a great deal of improvement. Its something that happens very occasionally with all auto-focus lenses in my experience – some subjects just won’t work, but more with the 18-200mm than I think reasonable.
In one of the melees between press and police I lost the lens hood from the Nikon 18-200, though it was no great loss, being largely decorative – you can’t really design a hood to cover this range. But all the Nikon lens hoods I’ve owned seem to be too flimsy to stay in place with the bayonet system they use – and even tend to fall off when you put the camera inside your coat to shield it from the rain. I’ve caught this one or picked it up from the ground countless times, but this time didn’t notice it in the crowd. But its no great loss, though it provided some physical protection.
More pictures from the event on My London Diary.