“Surveillance Camera Man” is an anonymous fellow who wanders the streets and malls of Seattle with a handheld camcorder, walking up to people and recording them — in particular, recording their reactions to being recorded. He answers their questions with bland, deadpan statements (“It’s OK, I’m just recording video”), and sometimes mentions that there are lots of other (non-human-carried) cameras recording his subjects. <\/p>\n
The videos are an interesting provocation. The underlying point — that the business, homes, and governments who put CCTVs in the places where we live our lives are intruding upon our privacy — is one I agree with. However, I think that Surveillance Camera Man’s point is blurred by the fact that he sometimes invades his subjects’ personal space, making it unclear whether the discomfort they exhibit comes from having a person standing right by them, or whether it’s the camera they object to. There’s also some childish taunting of easy targets (I’m no fan of the Church of Scientology, but surely the reason that the lady who keeps trying to throw him out is upset is that he’s holding a camera and making fun of Scientology<\/em>, and not the camera alone).<\/p>\n