"When we rely on externals to validate who we are–whether these externals be other people’s affections, other people’s opinions (our “status”), material belongings, our outward appearance, our accomplishments (or at least, how those accomplishments make other people perceive us), or anything else that isn’t generated from within, we have created a reflected sense of self, which puts us in an extremely precarious position. Because as soon as any of those externals from which we derive self worth goes away, our self worth goes away, too.

This is why it is soooo important to develop a strong, internally-derived sense of who you are. Without it, you are like a quivering leaf, a potential victim of any breeze that comes along. But with it, you are like the tree itself, with deep, solid roots and a powerful trunk, capable of losing all of its leaves without losing its character or identity."

In the above video SurveillentCameraMan makes a couple of good points. He asks “well you’re not doing anything wrong are you?” and that doesn’t seem to matter to the woman. She says she’d had a “rotten day”, even though that would be caught, maybe tracked, by security cameras. Clearly, personalization of the camera makes it seem more leery.

The other point, made without tact, may resonate with street photographers, or anyone who photographs in public. The first man says: “did you know it’s illegal to come up and photograph people that don’t want to be photographed?”

In most places, it isn’t illegal to take pictures in public without permission. But that doesn’t mean people aren’t suspicious of it. There are hundreds of stories online about how public photography is being seen as a heinous act. There’s a collective fear that those with cameras could be paedophiles, perverts and terrorists – although you could be all those things sans camera.