Photographer Factors His Lens At the Rising US Surveillance Digital camera Community

As debate intensifies over surveillance cameras, a photojournalist in Philadelphia has got down to doc the omnipresent units monitoring us.

“In any major urban area, we are under near-constant surveillance,” says unbiased photographer Matthew Hatcher. “Once you start looking, you will see a camera on nearly every street corner, in parks, stores, and private homes… and more when you’re in major metropolitan areas.”

The common U.S. metropolis had 11 surveillance cameras per 1,000 individuals, in accordance with research printed by Comparitech. The most-watched metropolis, Atlanta, had greater than 124 cameras per 1,000 individuals.

Proponents say surveillance cameras and license plate readers improve safety, generate worthwhile proof, allow faster emergency response, cut back prices, and help compliance with laws.

Critics fear about police-state powers, erosion of privateness, over-reliance on expertise, and potential for error, hacking, and misuse.

Debate about surveillance ways, security, and privateness is producing intense protection, as proven by reporting from NBC, NPR, and the ACLU.

Who Is Matthew Hatcher?

Photos by Hatcher seem worldwide by way of information assignments from Bloomberg, AFP, Getty Images, Reuters, Huffington Post, and extra.

In 2020, Detroit cops fired rubber bullets at photojournalists Hatcher, Nicole Hester, and Seth Herald, who have been masking protests after the demise of George Floyd. The state’s case towards an officer was dismissed in 2024. A decide dominated that witnesses weren’t obtainable and the photographers had moved out of Michigan, according to U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

Reuters “Pictures of the Day” gallery on December 11, 2024, led with Hatcher’s photograph of homicide suspect Luigi Mangione arriving at a courthouse for an extradition listening to. Hatcher instructed PetaPixel that Mangione was in his digicam view for seven seconds.

Recent images assignments have included protection of immigration enforcement, the Pennsylvania major election, and the World Cup. Hatcher’s picture of a soccer fan from Ecuador was featured in Reuters’ Best World Cup photos from Day 4.

After graduating from faculty in 2013, Hatcher labored for newspapers in Indiana and Ohio, incomes recognition from The Associated Press and the Ohio News Photographers’ Association. He relocated to Philadelphia in January 2024.

Focus on Surveillance Cameras

In 2025, as Hatcher lined protests in Washington, DC, New Orleans, and Philadelphia, he started occupied with police use of facial recognition and knowledge monitoring.

At 12 months’s finish, Hatcher observed in a brief stroll to his gymnasium that he was noticed by safety cameras.

“I became aware in that moment that we, as American citizens, are not being monitored just at protests or by the police,” remembers Hatcher.

Hatcher has created a self-published booklet (zine) documenting surveillance cameras and the areas they monitor: “We’ve Been Watching You.” Readers can request a duplicate here.

Hatcher’s takeaways:

• Surveillance expertise can assist remedy crime, find lacking individuals, and improve security but additionally create temptation for abuse
• Misuses embody tech-driven mistaken identifications and authorities exploiting license plate reader techniques to stalk romantic companions and ex-partners
• Irony: when Hatcher was rising up, he heard U.S. criticism of totalitarian regimes utilizing mass surveillance
• Singling out President Trump is slim pondering: “What surprises me is that many people seem to think this is an issue simply within the current administration, when it has been building and growing under both Republican and Democratic administrations.”

What’s Next?

Hatcher intends to provide a three-part collection of zines. His subsequent subject, after mass surveillance, is militarization of police within the United States and overseas.