Archive Page 105

Photos Travel Far Thanks to Reddit, Digg

Published November 17, 2008 Photographers' Rights Leave a Comment
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Photo by Roger_80

This is an interesting article from the Los Angeles Times’ Technology blog on the surprising speed (and stealth) with which photos can now make the rounds on the internet thanks to social networking sites like Reddit.com.

The story specifically mentions the case of flickr user Roger Eickholt, whose photo of four mountain goats in the side of a cliff got over 200,000 views after a fan apparently submitted it to Reddit.

It turns out some of the most popular content on these sites is photos. The writer notes that, “On Digg, the social media créme de la créme, about 16% of all front-page items in the last 30 days were images. That’s nearly a photo every hour.”

Seems like a cool way to get some exposure, but as Eickholt, who freely admits his mountain goat photo isn’t exactly technically awesome, says, “It just seems so random. You never know what’s going to take off like that.”

Article from Los Angeles Times

Photographing Children – Rights vs. Restrictions

Published November 15, 2008 Photographers' Rights , Street photography 2 Comments
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nicole and jordan

Photo by discarted

The Australia Council (the arts arm of the Australian government) is considering new rules that would require photographers to get the permission of parents when shooting any children under the age of 15. The World Today reports that, while new rules would help protect children in predatory or inappropriate situations, it would ultimately stifle street and documentary photographers.

Sandy Edwards, a photographer in Sydney, says:

Think of photographers such Max Dupain who has been photographing in the public domain. … It is just unreasonable to expect that once the photographer gets back to the dark room, processes the work or gets back to the computer, that that image can actually be OK’d by somebody who is a stranger in the photograph.

And Ken Duncan of the Australian Institute of Professional Photographers talked about too much regulation in general:

At three levels – you’ve got federal restrictions, you’ve got state restrictions and you’ve got local restrictions. I mean if you actually pull out a camera and try to put it on a tripod to take photographs of Sydney Harbour for example or the Sydney Opera House, they come along and confiscate your gear or say that you need to have a permit that you pay $550 or something a day. You know, it is just stupidity.

To hear the full report, go here.

Oakland Schools Police Chief – This Guy Works Around Kids?

Published November 14, 2008 Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 8 Comments
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We’ve seen some bad videos on this site, but this one is a doozy. On the footage, Oakland School District Police Chief Art Michel berates and curses out Oakland Tribune photojournalist Jane Tyska at a protest against immigration raids on October 31. He accuses of her of hitting his patrol car with her elbow and trying to incite a riot.

Here are some of the highlights:

“You hit my car, you’re going to jail!”

“You stick to that story, so help me god, I’ll take all your equipment and take you right to jail!”

“Get in the car or I’m going to stuff you in there!”

“You’re a lying son of a bitch, you hit my car!”

This man is downright frightening, even more so since his job is as a SCHOOL police chief and he works with children. Wouldn’t you hope someone in his position would model calm, reason and maturity during a  confrontation?

And invariably, in all of these stories, there is always the commenter who says something to the effect of “Right on police!” And to that I say, really? Really? Because clearly this video shows an extreme overreaction and a scary abuse of power, regardless of whether or not a female journalist – who is obviously cooperating and repentant – hit his car with her elbow.

The Oakland Tribune published an editorial today demanding the chief’s firing. If you agree, send Interim Superintendent Roberta Mayor a note.

See the full video here.

File This In Hollyweird…

Published November 6, 2008 Photographers' Rights Leave a Comment
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From a craigslist posting, it looks like a “celebrity agent and a socialite” in West Hollywood is looking for a paparazzi photographer to follow him around and “snap pictures of him in every possible oppurtunity.” While the ad is directed at “student/photographers/unemployed people,” it doesn’t sound like the criteria is too exacting because “all you need is a camera and the will to follow someone around for long periods of time.”

Phew, That’s Over

Published November 5, 2008 Photographers' Rights Leave a Comment
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obamaberlin

Photo by matt4077

Now that Sarah Palin is set for the Dan Quayle-style annals of obscurity, President-Elect Obama is charged with the gargantuan task of fixing this busted country. Thanks for the memories, Bush & Co.!

Record Numbers

Published November 5, 2008 Photographers' Rights Leave a Comment
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3004284932_fed827de3dPhoto by discarted

There were no problems at our polling place today, which incidentally was held in the cafeteria at a Catholic school – and lunch was in session as we cast our votes! Interesting dynamic, to be sure. And officials didn’t care in the least that we were taking photos.

Los Angeles County shattered records with an estimated voter turnout of 82 percent (and that number is even likely to go up). In all, 3.5 million people cast their votes, making Los Angeles County the largest voting district in the nation. More votes were cast in LA County than in huge states like Montana, Wyoming and Montana, which all have populations under a million.

As the newscaster on the local NBC affiliate just said, “Whatever happened to voter apathy?”

Giving Props – Hundreds Turn Out For/Against 8

Published November 4, 2008 Photographers' Rights , Street photography Leave a Comment
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vote yes on height
Photo by discarted
 
Here in California we have a hotly contested measure on the ballot, Prop 8, which seeks to eliminate gay couples’ right to marry. On Sunday hundreds turned out in front of LA’s City Hall to voice their support for the measure – in other words, for banning gay marriage. Predictably the crowd seemed to have been organized by hundreds of Southern California church groups.

Across the street a “No on Prop 8” group assembled, swelling in size as the demonstration went on (they had a few other rallies that day). It was all fairly civil and peaceful (the “Homosexuals are the Anti-Species” banner notwithstanding), and the cops didn’t have to get Rodney King on anyone.

And then there was Sacha Baron Cohen, who crashed the event in character as Bruno, apparently filming scenes for his upcoming movie. Bruno of course is a flamboyant gay man, so he was up to his usual tricks with the very earnest, straight-laced “Yes on 8” supporters. Baron Cohen’s crew, however, was pretty handsy, manhandling anyone trying to photograph/film them, which we’ll post on shortly.

As for Prop 8, it doesn’t affect me either way, but I am loath to support any measure that is about intolerance and discrimination.

Making a Statement

Published October 31, 2008 Street photography 1 Comment
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Photo by embellezca

In this age of blogging, Twitter, texting, Robo-Calls, YouTube, Facebook and the myriad of other communication opportunities, it’s nice to know they’ll always be the people who do it the old fashioned way – throwing up posters and stickers, defacing walls, or just writing on whatever space is available.

Here, a selection of political statements from around Los Angeles.

Continue reading ‘Making a Statement’

Newark Officer: “I can do whatever I want!”

Published October 28, 2008 Assault , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 1 Comment
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Images from WCBS-TV

A Newark police officer has been suspended after a nasty altercation with a WCBS-TV photographer on Sunday which resulted in the photographer’s arrest. Cameraman Jim Quodomine was filming a peaceful demonstration from a public sidewalk when Special Officer Brian Sharif approached Quodomine, ordered him to stop filming, then lunged at him and grabbed his camera. Sharif then put Quodomine in a choke hold and lead him to a squad car. It’s unclear why Officer Sharif felt filming the march was a problem.

On the footage, a woman’s voice can be heard saying “You can’t arrest him!” To which Officer Sharif responds, “I can do whatever I want!” That is a perfect example of the sort of unchecked egoism of certain police officers that leads to incidents like this.

Understandably, there was public outcry, with Newark Mayor Cory Booker saying he was “very dismayed about what happened.” (Mayor Booker is well known for trying to clean up the corruption and reputation of the troubled city.)

Wait, but here’s the kicker:

The officer, Brian Sharif, has been the source of controversy in the past. Last year, he made news after giving a 75-year-old woman four tickets — including one for careless driving — after she pulled out of a funeral home and accidentally went down a one-way street.

This guy not only needs anger management classes, he needs to not be on the police force.

Article via Newark Star-Ledger

Record Your Vote

Published October 28, 2008 Photographers' Rights Leave a Comment
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Photo by airencracken

If you haven’t heard, the most important presidential election in our lifetime – or at least the most important one since the last one – is one week from today. In the spirit of citizen journalism, both the New York Times and YouTube/PBS have developed interactive features that we all can contribute to: “Polling Place Photo Project” and “Video the Vote” respectively. They want you to document what it’s like to vote in your town or city – the lines, the ballots, the protesters, the banana bread sold by the local PTA – and upload it to their site. 

Just keep in mind that the laws regarding photography at polling places are strict so as to prevent voter intimidation, and you don’t want to mess around with election officials who can throw you in jail. Here in California, you can’t photograph or film within 100 feet of a polling place. And that means 100 feet of the rooms where ballots are cast.

To see what the rules are in your state, go here.

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