Everything was fine, for the most part. I was 20 minutes or so into photographing Mayor John Torys visit to Amesbury Park in North York on Canada Day when someone grabs my arm and orders me to stop.
I didnt see this person coming, nor did he immediately identify himself. I found out later he is the mayors assistant. He told me I could not photograph the mayor eating. He was apologetic.
But when I wanted to know what grounds he had for his demand especially given all the others photographing the mayor (mostly with their cell phones) all he repeated was, Youre right.
I reported the incident to the mayors office by email and got a call back from Sophia Arvanitis. She apologized and explained that the mayors assistant was simply enforcing their rule that photographers are prohibited from taking shots of the mayor eating.
Apparently, there’s an understanding, a “convention” to be exact, among photographers who follow the mayor. She said the mayors office would be sure to notify photographers of the prohibition at all future events so theres no confusion.
The implications of that, of course, are that the mayor’s rule could be seen as an attempt at censorship. What will happen if a photographer refuses? Will the mayors staff bully them until they stop? We were in a public place, after all. What reasonable expectation of privacy does someone like Tory have in a public situation?
This rule conjured the ridiculous image of the mayor being hounded by a photographer more eager than myself, trying to get a shot of him eating as he runs for cover. The mayor’s office may be indirectly helping create the very situation they are seeking to avoid.
Except for a handful of articles I found online on how eating can be messy and seen as an ugly activity and so politicians should avoid being photographed doing it, the idea seems totally old-fashioned in the age of social media.
Media document everything politicians do these days. Theres no shortage of shots of Obama, Trudeau, any big name politician really, photographed in a number of situations.
Depending on who you ask, youll get very different responses about the proper circumstances to photograph politicians. All the major news publications publish photos that, from time to time, compromise the polished image politicians try to cultivate. But what constitutes being compromised is highly subjective.
I might, for example, view Tory eating as a human activity and actually endearing, while someone else might see it as disgusting. The mayors assistant sought to ensure I photographed only the truth Tory wanted. Whos the authority in the end? Is there something inherently barbaric (or even phallic) about being photographed putting food in your mouth which might make it difficult to win votes?
Tory, perhaps like the classic Hollywood star, does not want to appear mortal. He is loath to remind others, if only through a simple photograph, that he requires sustenance. We are supposed to be content seeing him as a kind, affable leader, but never one so humble to break bread with us.
The irony of this is that eating brings people together, building trust and relationships in the process. Why would any democratic mayor shun that picture? In fact, I thought the mayor ate rather gracefully.
