Scooter Shooter

I’ve been taking “street” photographs from a mobility scooter recently using my little Ricoh GR compact.

It’s a funny thing, but what they say about people not noticing you if you are disabled and in a scooter or a wheelchair is quite frequently true and it makes for great candids!

The way I look at it, if I become invisible to others or people are embarrassed to engage with me because I’m in a mobility scooter, that gives me a clear map out from the moral maze of whether it’s right to photograph them without their knowledge.

I decided to see just how close I had to get before I was noticed in my scooter the other day, gradually I got closer and closer…

…I had the words “if it’s not good enough, you aren’t close enough” echoing in my head as I encroached further into people’s personal space. I forget which street photographer is supposed to have said that but it’s taken on a new irony for me since I’ve become disabled…

…The answer was about a metre away with the camera held up in front of someone’s face! Even then, I wasn’t asked what I was doing – they probably thought I had been let out on day release from somewhere 😉

It’s an interesting phenomenon and one that I intend to take advantage of as an experiment to see what interesting images and situations might arise. So do come back for further updates on my adventures as a Scooter Shooter.

I’m going to make a series out of the photographs I take from my scooter. As the title says, this post is Scooter Shooter 01

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Hope to see you again soon. Be happy.

Miles 🙂

**UPDATE** If you enjoyed this post, take a look at my new site Scooter Shooter where I regularly post photos that I’ve taken from my scooter. The project is an experiment in disability awareness and attitudes as much as anything else. There are some fun images too – www.scootershooter.co.uk

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I use a mobility scooter because I have a type of motor neurone disease. If you are able to and would like to, you can donate to the motor neurone disease association using the PayPal donate button below. Please don’t feel pressured though, I’m happy enough that you visit the site and enjoy my photography.

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words and pictures © all rights reserved Miles Pilling