Surveillance and enforcement
Parking enforcement in The Hague has been transformed into a high-tech operation. A few years ago parking enforcement was done on foot. Today scan cars traverse the city, automatically identifying license plates for which no parking fees have been paid. The images investigate the impact modern technology has on us, on our society and on how we live and work. Is this what our near future will look like?
Parking enforcement may seem like an ordinary and rather simple activity. But behind what people parking their cars normally see, something extraordinary can be discovered.
Exhibition
In the parking garage used as the base for parking enforcement operations in The Hague the photo project ‘Surveillance and Enforcement’ is on show. This permanent exhibition is not accessible to the general public, but you can take a look by clicking on the button below.
Artist statement
Man and Machine
Some photographs in the series were made with an infrared camera, the same technology which is installed in the scan cars. This camera was used to portray some of the enforcement officers and to photograph the scan cars emitting infrared flash to detect license plates of parked cars. The infrared photographs show the infrared light which is normally invisible to the human eye.
Parking ticket appeals
In the photo project ‘Surveillance and Enforcement’ the viewpoint of the individual motorist is lacking. This is why the human aspect of digital parking enforcement is investigated in a complementary photo project ‘Parking ticket appeals’.
The Parking Department of The Hague receives more than 30,000 appeals against parking tickets every year. In almost 50% of the cases the parking ticket is cancelled, in the other cases the appeal is rejected. The photo project tells the stories behind appeals. Some are formal, some are strange and unbelievable and some are emotional. How would you decide?
About the photographer
The photographer Maurice Timmermans worked as a project manager for the City of The Hague and was responsible for the introduction of the scan cars and the computer systems needed for digital parking enforcement. This gave him a behind-the-scenes view on the operation and the people who run it. During the years he worked for the Parking Department he witnessed the change into a technical, ICT-driven operation.
Maurice is a photographer with an interest in documentary work and portraiture. He studied photography at the Open College of the Arts (OCA). The OCA is an open art academy, part of the ‘University for the Creative Arts’ with five campuses in England. ‘Surveillance and Enforcement’ is his graduation project.
Join the discussion
What do you think of the photo project ‘Surveillance and Enforcement’? How do you feel about the use of modern technology in our everyday lives? Feel free to share your thoughts and join the discussion.
LensCulture: the use of an infrared camera has given the pictures a cold bluish color palette which transforms the place into a futuristic environment and the people to non-human creatures (like robots)