Photographer = Terrorist
Thread started by
hatehills at 10.25.08 - 11:03 am
Twice now I've been detained and questioned by cops for shooting pictures. Once by LAX, and once by a metro station in Long Beach. And I mean seriously pumped for information. When you ask the cops "Am I doing something wrong?", they won't give you a straight answer.
People are way too fucking paranoid.
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Heh.
A security guard once asked me to leave and stop taking pictures of the US Bank Building in Downtown.
imachynna10.25.08 - 11:08 am
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you need all kinds of permits in new york to shoot still photography in the post 9/11 world. im talking about like touristy snapshots too, not some jackass shooting stock images for corbis or getty.
ruinedbyidiots10.25.08 - 11:09 am
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It used to be that 'cruising' was the top most harrassment law.
But 'suspicion of terrorism' is worlds more vague and universal.
Slowly, but surely, rights given over in the name of feeling safe.
Fuck feeling safe.
Fuck feeling safe...the ride?
Eric Hair10.25.08 - 11:27 am
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I guess that's another reason I've shied away from sporting those big-ass, SLR's y'all seem to be using.
Look around, check to see if anyone's giving a shit, then take the shot.
bentstrider10.25.08 - 12:05 pm
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^^ Terrorist ^^
(behavior)
skano10.25.08 - 12:07 pm
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i forget the specifics, but shooting any federal building is a no no... and somehow, some business fall under that umbrella! that and they'll do anything if they feel, even slightly, like those photos can be used against them!
i've been chased down a few times myself!!
if your on any publicly acessible walkway(etc.) however, there isn't much they can against you. cops can't detain you. they can't make you surrender or expose your film!!
be educated! but first and foremost, try to be cool with them...
fadmcrank10.25.08 - 12:19 pm
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(cont...)
spark up a chat. they might stop giving a shit or you at least have sometime to get away with it!
fadmcrank10.25.08 - 12:22 pm
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im wondering if i should tell the story where i was held at gunpoint by about 20 military personnel + police becuase iw as taking pictures in the desert....
nah.
Candy Cane10.25.08 - 1:22 pm
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ONE TIME, 'THEY' WERE INSISTING THAT I 'HAND OVER' THE FILM, SEEMS TO ME THAT 'THEY HAD NO IDEA ABOUT 'DIGITAL' SHIT.
eddieboyinla10.25.08 - 1:34 pm
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Need more input.
FBI10.25.08 - 1:37 pm
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Other area's I've had difficulty getting pictures of were National Historic areas, particularly, the house that MLK Jr grew up in.
It was located in a fairly, nice old area in downtown Atlanta.
Lots of people on the tour, but this was back in Nov, '06 when all I was limited to were those wind-up, disposables.
bentstrider10.25.08 - 1:41 pm
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I was stopped by CHP for taking photos/video when we were planning the freeway ride. HahAhaAhh.
And another time I was stopped for taking photos for a planned freeway ride at the 105.
If you want to blow up a freeway, don't ride a bike or take photos when you're canvasing.
boogalooSHRIMP10.25.08 - 1:45 pm
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Thanks for the link Rollers. I've found something similar, and should've saved it, but didn't.
imachynna10.25.08 - 10:22 pm
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Mere hours after I posted this I went to buy a Bday card for my Pop and got harangued by a rentacop for shooting pictures in the mall. This time I lost it.
I'm tired of being told where I can & can't take pictures. Ugh.
hatehills10.25.08 - 10:31 pm
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WTF? In the mall!?!?!
Wow. I would've lost it too!!!
imachynna10.25.08 - 10:54 pm
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@onelessfixie
Are you Swedish? I see you have the Swedish flag on your MySpace..
imachynna10.26.08 - 12:13 am
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Sure am. 1/4 that is. my grandfather came from there.
onelessfixie10.26.08 - 12:18 am
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I'm infatuated with Sweden. Hope to go there sometime.
imachynna10.26.08 - 12:40 am
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ME TOO! It seems so awesomely awesome there. I'm infatuated with all of Europe, actually. I hope to move there permanently one day.
onelessfixie10.26.08 - 12:52 am
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I take pictures in the subway all the time and yes they harass me. I tell them they can pry my camera from my cold dead hands.
I give these guys a lot of shit. I tell them the people, like me, paid for the subway and if we can't take pictures in it, then we might as well seig heil and start goose stepping. They freak out because they don't know what I am saying.
I also tell them that by preventing tourists from taking pictures, they are hurting our economy. They usually shut up after that.
skd10.26.08 - 2:22 am
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For the most part you can legally photograph anything you can see in or from a public place. Courts generally to uphold that right, but it can take a while.
It might be helpful to print and carry this: http://www.krages.com/ThePhotographersRight.pdf
when you're taking pictures.
bitingduck10.26.08 - 2:27 am
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What kind of questions do the police ask? Do you respond to the questions?
sexy10.26.08 - 5:21 am
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They want to know if you're a professional. What you're taking pictures of. Why you're taking pictures. Where are you from. What you're doing in the area. But when you ask point blank "Am I doing something wrong?", they won't give you a straight answer. One of the times I even said, "If I'm breaking the law, tell me and I'll stop taking pictures.", but they prefer to obfuscate and annoy with their thinly-veiled little inquisition.
The first time I was pretty cooperative, but I've been getting progressively surlier every time it's happened.
hatehills10.26.08 - 11:13 am
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A mall is a private business, you have few rights in private areas. However all the can do is ask you to stop, if you don't they can ask you to leave, if you don't you're than trespassing. I've only been stopped once in a bar and once in some fancy area downtown.
franz10.26.08 - 4:23 pm
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You have the right to photograph whatever your eyes see.
It's a free speech issue.
They don't have a right to make you stop taking pictures anymore than they can ask you to stop looking or stop talking.
If you are in a private space like a mall, they can ask you to leave and as Franz said if you don't leave you are tresspassing but you can keep on taking pictures.
If you are on a public street or a sidewalk nobody has the right to stop you. Of course many rentacops don't know that and they'll try to stop you taking pictures of "their" building. I tell them; "This is America. It's my first amendment right to take pictures of anything I want. If you believe I'm doing something illegal, call the cops but I'm not stopping taking pictures".
Of course if you have a tripod, generator, lights etc it becomes a public safety issue and you may need a permit. Always if you have a generator.
In New York you need a permit if you are more than 30 min on the same spot with a tripod.
Read the pdf links posted above.
Just because you are allowed to take a picture of pretty much anything it doesn't mean you are allowed to publish it. Especially when you are publishing in a commercial context. That's when you may need a release form.
Having said all that, I have friends who were followed home by HOMELAND SECURITY after taking pictures of harbors or bridges.
marino10.26.08 - 5:08 pm
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shooting "on" private property can only be done with permission of owner.
shooting anywhere "on" public property is permitted with the exception of areas determined to be high security, i.e. bridges, airports, nuke sites, etc.
remember, you can shoot pretty much anyone or anything in public. restrictions only come up in how those images are used (published, sold).
indigis10.26.08 - 6:35 pm
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I guess the answer is to simply be more assertive. No jack-booted lackey is going to stop me from plying my less-than-considerable talents wherever I damn well please.
Which one of you bitches wants to dance??
hatehills10.26.08 - 11:01 pm
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One exception is a bathroom.
People in bathrooms can sue you if you take and publish their picture.
Even if it is a public restroom.
But yeah just as Marino says, any place that is considered public you are allowed to take a picture.
I love
this clip of Michael Moore getting hassled by the Secret Service while conducting an interview across the street of the Saudi Embassy.
trickmilla10.27.08 - 12:14 pm
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