Photography on the Underground

I COME from the generation of railway enthusiasts who, in the late 1980s or early 90s, could turn up at a British Rail depot unannounced at a weekend. Exploring sidings and capturing images on small instamatic cameras – at worst we were tolerated but at best we were encouraged, even invited inside engine sheds. Inheriting the enthusiasm of our predecessors, we were able to enjoy our hobby relatively unhindered.

The lead up to Privatisation in April 1994 witnessed a cultural change, however, with health and safety having an almost immediate impact. Concerns of risk and liability understandably resulted in depots becoming out of bounds almost overnight. However the big game changer was the terrorist bomb attacks in London on July 7, 2005.

The appalling events that day saw security tightened up across the country, which included the treatment of railway enthusiasts and photographers in general by the authorities. In the years that followed, incidents of photographers being treated with suspicion and even outright hostility were reported with increasing regularity.

One notable example was the experience of transport enthusiasts Klaus Matzka and his son Loris, when they visited London from Vienna in 2009. Having been told that they were not allowed to take photos of anything related to transport by two police