Christmas Eve at noon is National Accountability Day in Canada, and, as the idea spreads through the Internet, a worldwide ShootBack Day The idea is to use your film or video cameras to make a record of the premises and people who routinely film and record you in public places.
We welcome any news and images of the UK based efforts, and will provide free webspace and digitising facilities for UK contributions, if required. Here are some of our photos taken in central London:
Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street - watching and recording millions of innocent shoppers, and a few criminals.
Who is Watching Whom along the Thames ? - British Transport Police, MI6, National Criminal Intelligence Service, Labour Party spin doctors, MI5 and Parliament.
INFO: http://wearcam.org/shootback.html
NATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY DAY (NAD)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
Q2. How can I give the gift of protection this Christmas
season?
A. On the entrances to their shops, their signs say ``for YOUR
protection you are being videotaped''. Isn't it heartwarming to see
that they are offering you so much love and compassion? In return, you
must offer them the same protection. By photographing them, you will
show them that you love them and care for them. Put them in your
family album, and cherish their smiles for centuries.
return to top
Q3. Who was the inventor or originator of NAD?
A. NAD is not the vision of a single individual, but, rather, it is
the work of an international coalition that includes artists,
scientists, engineers, and scholars.
return to top
Q4. When is NAD?
A. December 24, 1998
return to top
Q5. Why December 24th? Won't the stores be kind of crowded
with last
minute Christmas shoppers then?
A. That's exactly the point of selecting December 24th. The meaning of
Christmas has become one of consumerism. Like herds of animals we are
shepherded into the shops only to be distrusted by the shopkeepers who
watch over us from on high, with their omniscient surveillance
network. When the sheep are greatest in number, the shopkeepers will
have a more difficult time of keeping order. Moreover, it gets boring
waiting in the long lineups. Why not pass away the time standing in
line, by doing a little shooting. So take a camera along during your
Christmas shopping and do a little camera shooting.
Why was Christmas Eve chosen ? The shops will be rather busy.
A. that's exactly why. 12:00 noon dec.24th will be the busiest day,
and the best expression of corporate culture, and the best time to
shoot. It's a human element.. crowds of people herded like cattle,
overseen by the surveillance. Also the lineups will be long, so it was
felt that folks could entertain themselves while waiting in line by
shooting. When you get bored waiting in line, liven it up with some
camerafire. Shoot when you're bored. Shoot when you're frustrated.
Shoot when you're being shot!!!
return to top
Q6. Is NAD the same as ShootBack Day?
A. Yes, NAD is also known to many as National ShootBack Day or
National ShootingBack Day. (ShootBack is one word! There is no space
between Shoot and Back.)
return to top
Q7. Isn't 12:00 noon going to happen at different times
since the
different parts of the nation are in different time zones?
Furthermore, National Accountability Day is International. If that
itself isn't an oxymoron, then at least it adds to the confusion since
different coutries around the world are in much different time zones.
A. That's exactly the point of doing it at noon. As high noon sweeps
past various time zones, the shot heard around the world will be that
of clicking cameras. This shot will travel around the world, and the
shot heard around the world will be the shot seen around the world,
later on when the contest submissions come in. The shot seen around
the world will be seen in the nationless realm of cyberspace, hence
the term ``National'' is partly in jest, for it is certainly not
limited to any nation in particular.
return to top
Q8. How do I enter the contest?
A. Send your pictures to
International Photo Contest,
284 Bloor Street West, Suite 701,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada,
M5S 3B8
All submissions become property of NAD and will not be returned.
Winning entries along with a large number of the submissions will be
posted to the online gallery.
return to top
Q9. What format should the pictures be in?
A. Any developed format (print, film positive, film negative, etc.),
or any file format that can be read using GNU software under Gnu
Public License on a computer running the Linux operating system.
Alternatively, submissions may be placed on an FTP or HTTP server and
the address or URL may be submitted. Any submissions that require
commercial software or commercial operating systems to read will be
discarded without review. Acceptable media include slides, silver
halide prints, or other standard forms of photographic prints up to
8.5 by 11 inches, computer printouts, film negatives, plates (glass
plate negatives up to 8 by 10 inches), film negative strips, film
positive strips, diffractive prints, 3.5 inch floppy disks, ISO 9660
CD ROMs, IDE devices, or SCSI devices. Photographic media must have
been developed (e.g. no undeveloped films or forms that require
chemical treatment or processing by NAD staff will be accepted). If
submissions are made by URL, the image format must be universally
readable from any WWW browser.
return to top
Q10. I have heard that NAD is a protest? Is this true?
Will there be a
march?
A. If you prefer to think of NAD as a protest, it can certainly be
explained that way. Rather than protesting by carrying signs, or by
marching, citizens will protest by going on shooting sprees. Armed
with their own photographic or videographic cameras and recording
devices, ordinary citizens will dish out some accountability by taking
pictures of people who are representatives of organizations who are
taking pictures of them.
return to top
Q11. If NAD isn't a protest, than what is it?
A. Another equally valid interpretation is that NAD is an agreement
with the status quo rather than a protest against it. In this
interpretation cameras are good, so let's have more of them. Pictures
are good, so let's all take pictures. If a department store is such a
dangerous place that cameras are needed, then so be it. What's good
for the goose is good for the gangster. Everyone shoots everyone and
we're all happy. ``Only criminals are afraid of cameras'', so let's
give representatives of the Surveillance Superhighway a chance to
define themselves by seeing if they're afraid of cameras. When we ask
why we are under video surveillance, we are told by the Bigs that
``only criminals are afraid of cameras'', or we are asked ``why are
you so paranoid''. Now is the time to allow the Bigs to define
themselves.
return to top
Q12. How can I participate?
A. All you need to do is bring a camera --- any camera --- to a place
where video surveillance is used.
return to top
Q13. How will I know who I should shoot?
A. Taking pictures of the surveillance cameras will cause models to
appear very quickly for you to photograph. When you point your camera
at their cameras, the officials watching their television monitors
will very quickly dispatch the models for you to shoot. This is a
universal phenomenon that happens in nearly any large organization
where video surveillance is used. Models often carry two--way radios
and wear navy blue uniforms with special badges. Most will be eager to
pose close to your camera, especially the hand models. They will reach
out and place their hands over your camera lens so you can get a
closup hand shot.
return to top
Q14. What is the rationale behind NAD?
A. We are all accountable for our actions. The Bigs keep us under
surveillance, whether we're just walking down the street, shopping, or
sometimes even when we're changing clothes in their fitting rooms
(Phil Patton, Jan. '95, WiReD). That's why Thursday, December 24th is
National Accountability Day. This is the day to arm yourself with a
camera, or other photographic or videographic instrumentation, and
enter various department stores, and other establishments that match
the classic definition of totalitarian (e.g. establishments that wish
to know everything about everyone yet reveal nothing about
themselves).
return to top
Q15. What are some examples of totalitarian establishments?
A. Examples of totalitarian establishments are those in which we are
placed under extensive video surveillance, yet we are prohibited from
taking pictures ourselves. The goal of National Accountability Day is
to challenge this one-sided aspect of Totalitarian Surveillance.
return to top
Q16. What subject matter, other than pictures of the surveillance
cameras and representatives of the SS should I shoot?
A. Participants will also photograph or make videos of any illegal
activity they happen to encounter in these totalitarian
establishments. Evidence of illegal activity includes fire exits
chained shut, and other forms of entrapment, forcible confinement
doors, and the like, which are potential fire hazards.
return to top
Q17. Should I shoot alone, or be part of a firing squad.
A. Going salvo is better than going solo. It is preferable that groups
of citizens participate in unison, to prevent, or at least document
illegal theft or vandalism of photographic equipment by the Bigs.
return to top
Q18. Is there a deeper philisophical underpinning to NAD,
or is it just
a bunch of angry people going postal?
A. The camera is like Hamlet's Mirror, allowing the Bigs to define
themselves within a Reflectionist context. Reflectionism holds up a
mirror to society, and constructs this mirror in a symmetrical way, so
that it is defined on the same terms as that which it calls into
question.
return to top
Q19. Is there any slogan or aphorism I might use to publicize
NAD?
A.
Shoot Authority First
Question Authority Later.
(Shoot first, ask questions later)