Photography and the Police

Last weekend I was photographing Hannover 96 playing soccer against the famous team of Germany, FC Bayern München. 

I had to rent equipment for that from a company called Probis. On Monday I returned the items and brought my analog camera to stroll around and take some photos after. 

When I was about 3 minutes into my walk I saw a really cool gate to a backyard. It was made out of a big metal plate with a huge graffiti on it. The gate was half open which made for a cool contrast. Since someone was walking in I waited till the person was out of sight before pressing the shutter. 

After I took the photo I turned to start walking again. A couple of seconds later I was met by two police officers. They greeted me and asked what I was doing there. 

When I told them truthfully they started indicating that I was behaving suspicious with how I was walking and standing and waiting. Asked me whether I was in the graffiti scene myself, if I'm living in the neighborhood and if no, what I'm doing here. 

After I explained the situation with returning my gear at the nearby company they let off. 

I was literally braking no laws or rule. I let a car pass by before crossing the street. I waited for the person to be out of my photograph to not break the rules of the new DSVGO. 

Which this as a law itself is kind of ridiculous. Every person to take a photo needs the written permission of everyone in their photo, even in big public places (yes that counts for your vacation photos as well). 

Never have I seen a police officer on the Marienplatz in Munich, or any other big place, walk up to people telling them not only they are behaving suspicious but actually breaking the law. 

I'm not upset about what happened really, and I'm happy that police is trying to make sure everything is going the right way. Yet I'm asking myself what made me a suspect.

What do you guys think about situations like this and have you ever experienced something similar?