Photo by d.anny

A Greek photographer has been arrested – yes, arrested – for taking photos of a little girl on the London subway. According to the British Journal of Photography, when Pericles Antoniou inadvertently took photos of a young girl in April and her mother complained, he says he did the courteous thing and showed the mother the photos and then erased them all. The girl’s father wasn’t satisfied though, and demanded that police arrest Antoniou. He was charged with “public harassment” and causing “alarm and distress.”

As Antoniou writes in a letter to the Greek ambassador to Britain:

It is inconceivable for one to think, in the country where Bill Brandt, Marτin Parr, Killip were born and their works are based on street photography, that I had to be humiliated and accused of taking photos (!!!) while being in the Metro – subway. It is noted that in the National Portrait Gallery there is a photo exhibition currently which is about photos taken of people in streets!!!

His court date has been scheduled for May 18.

Check out the Facebook group that was created for Antoniou’s cause here.