Call to bar ‘dubious men with cameras’ from public events

JEDDAH — Despite events being packed with photographers and their cameras, there is always less media coverage for these events the next day in local newspapers or online magazines. This raises the questions: To which party do these photographers belong? This is a constant problem faced by professional media photographers who go through lots of hardships and suffering while covering official events. Some attributed the problem to the spread of photography enthusiasts while others said the majority of cameras belong to private accounts in social media sites. In the end, professional photographers have agreed on the need for a system to deter abusers from venues of public events. Photographer Faisal Baramim talked about his struggle while covering important events. "We go through great hardship in taking pictures because of the large number of people with cameras at these events. Many of us don't even know their identity," said Baramim. Mohammed Dhiyab believes that the problem is even worse in sports stadiums. "We all noticed the incredible number of photographers shooting athletes in the field. At times there could be more than 80 photographers at an event. We find out later that more than half these photographers do not belong to official newspapers or online news sites. The problem indicates flaws in the ID issuing mechanism to enter stadiums," he said. Ali Al-Qarni, a professional photographer, said any person who does not officially represent a media organization, is not entitled to access public events to harass accredited photographers. "The lack of supervision to stop such people made the problem worse. It's becoming a real issue haunting accredited photographers and the organizers of events," he said.