So I’ll be needing a press card then…

Working in the Highlands, which is a huge area with a small population, you don't really need a press card. Most of the police know all the photographers and so long as you behave yourself, which we all do, there's never any problem.

Today I was covering a fire at a furniture store in Grantown, after receiving the usual media alert from the police press office. There was only one other photographer there and we were both playing by the rules, only going where the police allowed us to go and not getting in the way at all. As far as I'm aware, neither of us did anything wrong and there was no reason for any police officer to object to us being there.

Then up walked Inspector Attitude and confronted me. He was immediately combative. This is how the conversation went:

Him: Are you press?
Me: I am, yes.
Him: Show me your credentials.
Me: I'm freelance. I don't have credentials.
Him: You don't have any ID at all?
Me: I've got ID, I just don't have press credentials because I'm freelance.
Him: (Taking hold of me and pushing me.) Don't give me any of your nonsense.
Me: Excuse me?

At which point someone started talking to him on his radio and he left me alone. Later on he came over to where both myself and the other photographer were standing, and asked us to move even further back, but he was polite that time.

I've known for as long as I've been in this business that British press cards are effectively worthless because anyone can get one, whether they're press or not, so I've never bothered getting one. Plus I've only ever been asked for a press card once before, and that time was also by a policeman with an aggressive attitude who was trying to be obstructive.

Two times is two times too many though. Probably best if I just get the silly card and show it to any policeman daft enough to think it means something. If it lets me get on with my job without wasting time on stupid arguments then I guess it will be worth it. I just hope I don't have to pay some astronomical "membership fee" to whichever 'gatekeeper' I end up getting it from.

Anyway, even with the hassles, I got all the pics I wanted. (I should point out that the policeman in the first pic isn't the one who confronted me. This guy was friendly and polite, as the police nearly always are.)