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MTA’s Contradictory Photo Guidelines

Published November 7, 2009 Los Angeles County Sheriffs , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 91 Comments
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Last Saturday on Halloween I was detained at the Hollywood/Western Metro stop by LA County sheriffs for taking photos of the newly installed turnstiles that were still under construction and decorated with pretty yellow caution tape. During my detainment (which will be address publicly soon), I was told by one of the sheriffs that taking photos was against MTA’s policy. Well, of course I knew this was not true and stated that to the officer, which didn’t curb his aggressiveness towards me or prevent him from threatening to put my name on the FBI’s “hit list.” But that’s not the point; the officer’s behavior doesn’t matter (for now at least) because the focus of this post is the MTA’s contradictory photography guidelines.

After my exciting detainment, I went home and read over the MTA’s photography guidelines, and sure enough, just like I mentioned during my not-so friendly encounter with the sheriff, photography is allowed on the Los Angeles County MTA system. That is — only in public space.

However, as I read through their guidelines I became rather perplexed because the MTA guidelines also state “no photography inside moving trains for privacy and safety reasons.”

What the hell does that mean…“no photography inside moving trains for privacy reasons”?

Whose privacy are they trying to protect? How is there any more privacy on a public train system while it’s moving than when it’s not moving? How can an expectation of privacy even exist inside a public transit car? Does this also mean, according to MTA policies, that a Metro rider can only have an expectation of privacy while riding in one of their moving cars but not anywhere else on Metro property, which is pretty much all public space? Does an expectation of privacy even exist anywhere on Metro property? It’s all public space!

In my personal and non-legal opinion, I would have to say that this specific policy is bogus and designed to protect MTA personnel from any sort of liability. There can’t be an expectation of privacy anywhere on the MTA because the entire system is public. And we should all be able to take photos anywhere on the system, including inside moving train cars. How else will we be able to catch MTA drivers texting on the job?

Best of Times for Photojournalists

Published November 6, 2009 Photographers' Rights 1 Comment
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Over at the journalists’ resource PoynterOnline, Al Tompkins recently did a post on the shift underway in photography toward video and the DSLR as the must-have gear.

Tompkins does a mini-interview with photographer Ami Vitale, who says this is a great time to be a photojournalist. (Clearly she hasn’t heard that journalism is imploding.) She explains:

We have more tools available than ever before and we also have an audience bigger than anytime in the history of mankind. It’s powerful, and I’d like to harness these tools and use them to communicate and create understanding in a complex world where messages are so easily misunderstood. I see this as a wonderful time to exploit all these tools for the power of good!

But as a commenter points out, the price of upgrading to remain competitive can be prohibitive, if not downright impossible, when you consider the Canon IDMK4 costs about $5,000. Most newsrooms certainly don’t have this money, and if it falls to the individual, then it seems photojournalism will increasingly be about economics.

Article via PoynterOnline

The Dirty Truth About Street Cleaning in LA

Published November 2, 2009 Photographers' Rights 3 Comments
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In a piece reminiscent of classic “60 Minutes,” USC journalism student Matt Schrader exposes the dirty side of parking enforcement and street cleaning in downtown Los Angeles. Schrader found that while parking enforcement is out in droves ticketing cars, and mostly on street cleaning days (making the city $15,000 an hour!), the streets they’re patrolling aren’t even being cleaned. The best line of the piece is from a guy who got ticketed on one of those streets: “They have the manpower to ticket you, but they don’t have the manpower to actually do the job.”

This is an issue near and dear to our heart, and Schrader told us he was inspired in part by our earlier video where we caught our local parking enforcement agent parking in the loading zone while getting lunch. While LA slides further into bankruptcy and mismanagement, somehow, some way, parking enforcement manages to probably be the city’s most efficient department.  

And though LA’s government is indeed so broken that nothing will likely ever be done, it’s nice to know someone is at least trying to keep them accountable. Long live journalism.

Happy Halloween

Published October 30, 2009 Photographers' Rights Leave a Comment
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Photo by Richard Thompson

Joel Meyerowitz Talks Twitter

Published October 29, 2009 Photographers' Rights 2 Comments
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Photo by Joel Meyerowitz, 1967

In the modern age who has time for real conversation? No one – so fittingly Aperture is hosting a live interview with big-time photographer Joel Meyerowitz on Wednesday, November 4 at 4pm via their Twitter feed. You tweet your questions to @aperturefnd and Joel will supposedly respond in 140 words or less. It’s billed as Joel answering questions about his latest project, “Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City,” but I’d imagine there’ll be other topics covered too.

Jet Ski Photos Provoke Police Visit

Published October 28, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 3 Comments
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Photo by Garry Chinchen

Garry Chinchen, a photographer in England, was approached by police this week for taking photos of jet skiers in South Wales. He was told if he continued he would be arrested for “breach of peace.” All told, the officers checked his images, phoned his employer and ran his name through a database – to which I have only one response, huh?!! Where is the outrage in England? They aren’t just trampling on photographers’ rights; there are apparently no rights to begin with. Apparently the whole incident was touched off by the fact that children were changing into wet suits on the lake’s shore, but Chinchen’s photos are clearly of the jet skis in the water – and not even very close up at that.

The police spokesperson’s statement said in part, “‘The officer carried out all the necessary checks on this person and no offences were disclosed. The photographer was appropriately advised regarding his conduct.” Luckily that was sorted out.

Article via Amateur Photographer

SF Guards Offer Black Eye to Photog

Published October 24, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Security Guard Harassment 3 Comments
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Photo by Troy Holden

This week Troy Holden of the Caliber photography blog had a little confrontation with security staff at 555 California in downtown San Francisco. Now, San Francisco is known to be a very progressive city, but these guards seem like they’re straight out of an episode of “The Sopranos” on the other coast.

When Holden and a friend starting shooting the building, they were told no photos. Then, he writes:

I decided to challenge this statement and the older of the bunch (left) asked me if I wanted to be punched in the face. No, I replied, I have to go back to work and a black eye would make things awkward for me. He then asked me how I would feel if he broke my camera. I told him I would be bummed, but that I needed an upgrade and if he touched me or my camera I would seek monetary legal action to the extent of a brand new Canon 5D Mark II.

Holden contacted the building’s security department and got a response that indicated they are taking the incident seriously.

But in the meantime, Troy – get a Vievue.

Article from Caliber via Thomas Hawk

Train Operators Sue to Block Surveillance

Published October 24, 2009 Photographers' Rights 1 Comment
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Photo by rjmcconnell

For your daily dose of outrage consider that the LA Times reports that the Metrolink engineers’ union has filed a federal lawsuit to remove surveillance cameras in commuter trains because it’s a violation of their privacy. The cameras were installed in direct response to the Metrolink crash in Chatsworth, CA, last year that left 25 people dead and 135 people injured. The driver of that crash was reportedly texting on the job.

Maybe these train operators aren’t living in the 21st century because a great majority of companies have surveillance cameras and film their employees’ every move – not  to mention all the cameras blanketing stores, streets and parking lots. But it seems they’re thinking that when you drive public transit and have thousands of peoples’ lives in your hands you are owed some special sort of privacy?

It’s beyond frustrating that people who don’t have a  valid case, or in some cases are blatantly in the wrong (as in YouTube complainers), get to use the old privacy violation when it suits them. If there’s any justice, this lawsuit won’t get far. 

Article via LA Times

“American Power” and Harassment

Published October 15, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Security Guard Harassment Leave a Comment
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Raymond City, West Virginia  Photo by Mitch Epstein

The New York Times recently profiled photographer Mitch Epstein, who, as part of a six-year-long project documenting American power plants, was continually harassed by law enforcement and government officials. An FBI agent actually told him, “If you were Muslim, you’d be cuffed and taken in for questioning.” He says it got to the point where he’d almost have a panic attack before taking photos.

It’s really a shame this is the culture now, but it’s also not surprising in the least, as anyone who follows the photographers’ rights issue knows.

A well-respected photographer, Epstein’s work is in the Getty and the Met. But no matter; people saw a man with equipment and that was enough to assume terrorism – someone reported him to police for having a rocket launcher when he was carrying his tripod.

Epstein says he tried to capture the “beauty and terror of early 21st century America.” Which is a nice way to put it. His pictures are quite amazing and the article is worth a read. The book, American Power, will come out this month.

Article via New York Times

H.O.B. Security Guards Attack Hanson Fans

Published October 13, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Security Guard Harassment 1 Comment
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You know things have gotten out of hand when two young women are assaulted for taking photos outside a Hanson concert. 

After a fan at the House of Blues in Chicago took a photo on the sidewalk that apparently included Darrell G. Gibson II, a House of Blues a security guard, he unlawfully seized her camera and an altercation ensued when she fought back. The women are being loud, sure, but where is the motivation for this incident – what is so wrong about taking photos on a sidewalk? And the guard is probably three times their size; you can see how his shove sent one of them flying to the ground.

And then the video goes black as someone – a guard most likely – starts harassing the person filming. You can hear the guy actually say, “What right do you have to record this?” Uh…on a public sidewalk, out in the open? Every right in the world.

Isaac, Taylor and Zac would be outraged!

If you think this is wrong, let the House of Blues know:

Jim Jablonski
General Manager, House of Blues Chicago
Phone: (312) 923-2005

UPDATE: YouTube removed the video due to a – surprise, surprise! – terms of service violation, i.e., complaint from someone who didn’t like seeing himself on the video. YouTube is absolutely spineless. There are unconfirmed reports that the security guard has been arrested and local news in Chicago has picked up the story, which means, really, it’s disaster time for the security guards involved as well as the House of Blues. Thank god for personal recording devices. You can still see the video here.

UPDATE #2: Gibson, the guard seen in the above video, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery. Read the story here.

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