I plan my 'Daily Gallery' posts in advance, based (normally) of the dates of birth of the artists, photographers etc. featured. Bit of a coincidence then that after featuring Berenice Abbott today I should also come across this story on Henry Porter's blog (via Crooked Timber):

"Photographer Alex Turner has been arrested by Kent police for being "too tall" in an action which... suggests that some police forces are now really behaving as if we lived in police state, a phrase that I have been reluctant to use.

In his blog, Turner gives a full account of being stopped by two men in Chatham High Street, after he took a picture of a fish bar called Mick's Plaice, which stands between
Specsavers and a shop called Mr Flower and advertises jacket potatoes and an all day breakfast in a colour scheme of bold blue and white."

The whole thing is worth a read and very alarming. After then photographing two uniformed officers Turner was arrested, handcuffed and searched and detained for more than 30 minutes much of this in full view of the public in the street. He was also pressed to agree with the police actions by reference to Section 44 of the Prevention of Terrorism act.

I'm not qualified to judge whether or not Alex Turner's talent is on a par with Berenice Abbott's but that hardly matters - he was just an artist doing his work and he wound up in a police van. If that doesn't scare you then I don't know what would. Think of the wonderful body of work we'd have been denied if the police in 1930's New York took a similar view....