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I had slept for about 50km in the back seat of Stelian's car on Sunday when he pulled into a petrol station. After my initial "no, Mummy, I don't want to go to school today" reaction I managed to drag myself out of the car and set course for the automatic doors of the shop. When I fell asleep my DSLR was hanging around my neck, which probably means I slept on it, and unsurprisingly it was still hanging there as I was entering the shop.
The shop doors open and a voice behind me stops me saying "You can't take pictures here". I turn to him with the coarse car seat texture still imprinted in my face and mumble "I'm not taking any pictures". I then notice the huge DSLR camera hanging around my neck. The guy comes back with a surprising "yes, but you can't take pictures here" at which point I yell "I'M NOT TAKING ANY PICTURES", just in case his ears malfunctioned the first time, and turn away.
The event itself was unimportant but it did remind me I was in one of the most photo-phobic countries in Europe, perhaps even in the World. You probably did not know this but:
- you're not allowed to take pictures anywhere in Romanian airports. Everywhere else the only no-photo areas in airports are passport and luggage control areas.
- you're not allowed to take pictures at Gara de Nord in Bucharest. Other train stations would probably apply the same policy were it easier to enforce.
- you're not allowed to take pictures in shopping malls or hypermarkets.
- you're not allowed to take pictures inside the Bucharest subway.
Basically, anywhere there's a big guy in a uniform who didn't manage to graduate the 4th grade you're not allowed to take pictures.
I'm not bothered only by the infringement of my legal rights when I'm told not to take pictures in places which are clearly public. I'm very bothered (although "amazed" might be a better word to describe the feeling) by the fact that owners of shopping centers apparently decided to forbid photography in order to "safeguard commercial secrets". These are private entrepreneurs who should seek to promote their commerce by any means possible.
There are many places (in Romanian) on the Internet discussing legal implications in more detail. Just to name a few:
fotografierea interzisa on AvocatNet
baze legale pentru fotografiatul interzis on Bad or Good
Image credits go to: the depth of the Internet
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