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Photo by: Jan Truter So I sat this morning thinking about a good topic to start the first real page off with and while browsing I came upon a post on facebook about a service delivery protest in Standerton this morning.Not feeling very inspired I took the camera and headed to town, since I had some stuff to do any case. I thought I might as well go and check out this protest while I'm there.Upon my arrival in town everything seemed quit and peaceful not at all what I expected, after walking around a bit and asking some people where the protesters are I was told they were expected to arrive a bit later.The mood was generaly a bit tense since nobody realy knew what to expect from the protesters and in the past things did get out of hand once or twice, some shops even gave their staff the day off and closed up business.  Photo by: Jan Truter While waiting I continued shooting random strangers and chatting to some of the locals, eventually I noticed a small gathering of people in front of the municipal offices and I headed in that direction feeling a bit apprehensive.Upon arriving, there were some protesters and a whole bunch of A.N.C veterans in uniform milling around,so I took out my camera and started shooting the scene. I wasn't even two minutes in before some guy in a cammo uniform stuck his hand in front of the lens and demanded that I stop photographing them.I asked him why he doesn't want me taking photos since it is a public place and it was in the publics interest to take photos and document the happenings, but instead of answering he just kept on saying"No pictures, no pictures"Since I realised there was no way of convincing Mr. No pictures I lowered the camera and pretended to turn around and leave.I took a few steps to the left and noticed he had turned around and was heading the other way so I started shooting again.
Photo by Jan TruterIn my mind I was thinking O.K. the police are around there are lots of other people and the law is on my side what is the worst that can happen?The next minute I saw something in my viewfinder that almost made me lose my composure and run, a guy in cammo's coming at me with a "sjambok" Frozen in place I just pressed the shutter and kept shooting. 
Photo by: Jan TruterLuckily for me before he could reach me he was stopped by some of his colleges and led away, I was then approached by a fat bellied older man also in uniform, he apologised and said that he was the "Commander" in charge and that I can continue taking pictures and he was sorry for his peoples bad behaviour.I hung around for a few more minutes and took a couple of shots but my heart wasn't in it anymore since it was sitting in my throat. 
Photo by: Jan TruterThe moral of this story is go out there and take pictures of everything but be careful, our country is full of interesting and colour-full people but some are more tolerant than others, weigh up the pros and cons and decide for yourself if the shot is worth your life, after all we are doing it for the love of photography and we are not getting paid to risk our lives. 
Photo by : Jan Truter
Until next time Happy shooting and be safe out there!
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