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Queens Councilman Busts Traffic Cop

Published June 16, 2010 Photographers' Rights 2 Comments
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Photo: New York Daily News

UPDATE: CBS-TV reports that Officer Chu is a “bona fide legend in certain parts of Queens, and not in a good way” for repeatedly abusing his position. See video of the encounter here.

A Queens Councilman decided to practice a little vigilantism and got a $150 parking ticket for his efforts. As the Daily News reports, Dan Halloran (R-Queens) was alarmed when he saw traffic cop Daniel Chu driving through stop signs — with lights on — while talking on his cell phone. So Halloran followed the car as it ran more stop signs and eventually illegally parked in front of a Dunkin’ Donuts.

Like a good citizen journalist, Halloran snapped photos of the officer’s car, and that’s when Chu returned from DD and was none too happy. Even Halloran identifying himself as a city councilman did nothing to tame Chu’s hubris.

“He said, ‘Oh yeah? You want to take pictures of me? I’m going to give you a ticket,'” Halloran recalled.

Chu then wrote Halloran a $165 ticket for blocking the crosswalk. Halloran is contesting the ticket and asking the NYPD to look into all of Officer Chu’s previously written tickets.

Jimmy Justice would be proud.

Article from New York Daily News (TOTH to Gar Travis)

Seattle Cop Punches Jaywalker

Published June 15, 2010 Assault 14 Comments
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UPDATE: The president of the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild has reviewed the footage and determined the officer’s actions were justified considering the situation.

Seattle PD will do what it takes to bring jaywalkers to justice — even if it means punching one out and instigating an assault investigation.

Ah, the joys of cell phone cameras.

NC Rep Gets Into It With Videographers

Published June 14, 2010 Assault , Photographers' Rights 3 Comments
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Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-NC) doesn’t have time for these pesky student videographers who approach him on a DC street and ask if he supports Obama’s agenda. And so he does the only natural thing — he smacks them around.

Etheridge has apologized for his actions, but really, there’s no excuse.

Seattle Weekly Harassed at FBI Building

Published June 11, 2010 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment , Security Guard Harassment 1 Comment
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Seattle Weekly photographer Steven Miller was just trying to take a photo of attorney Larry Hildes for a cover story on government spying when he got into a little trouble with the FBI. Despite being on a public sidewalk, Seattle’s FBI Building was serving as the backdrop, and that is really discouraged.

At first, security came out and told them not to shoot the building. Miller described their conversation:

He asked if we knew who was in the building. I answered, ‘The FBI and Washington Fusion Center.’ He asked what I had against the Washington Fusion Center. I declined to answer. He asked my name. I declined to answer that as well.”

Then an FBI agent appeared to get to the bottom of the situation. Miller said:

He asked for my ID repeatedly. I declined and we kept on shooting. He asked for my ID again. I said he didn’t have a right to it. He insisted he had a right to ask for my ID. I noted that I had a right to refuse. He said it again, and I told him I had a right to tell him to go jump in Elliott Bay, and pointed out the location for him.

Then there were three more FBI agents on the scene. I mean, of course. This was a four-agent incident. Miller says it got so stressful that he and Hildes left voluntarily.

When asked for comment, an FBI spokesperson said:

“We request people not take pictures. It’s a voluntary thing. People have the right to do so, but we do like to ask why as part of our security concerns.” As for the ID check. “I guess they wanted to know who they were.”

The thing that really bothers me about incidents like this is the self-important hysteria that goes along with it. It always make me wonder if law enforcement really don’t have anything better to do, or are they really dumb enough not to be able to distinguish between terrorists casing the place and a legitimate, or harmless, photographer?

And I’m not calling FBI agents dumb because I don’t think that can be the case, but I am honestly confused. Because government officials going after citizens doing legal activities does more toward eroding the fundamental tenets of American democracy than these outside forces we’re repeatedly told are trying to destroy our way of life are.

Article from Seattle Weekly

Reuters Accused of Anti-Israel Propaganda

Published June 9, 2010 Photojournalism 2 Comments
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Photos by Reuters

Is Reuters showing its anti-Israel bias? Or is the mini furor over some cropped photos the result of over-reaction and paranoia? As you can see above, the photo on the left shows an Israeli soldier surrounded by Turkish pro-Palestinian activists aboard a Gaza-bound ship. In the image on the right you can see the knife in the activist’s hand — a much more ominous scene. The photographer was later identified as Turkish journalist Adem Ozkose.

The blog Little Green Footballs exposed the omitted knife, and Reuters quickly addressed the issue, saying the image was cropped at the edges, as is the usual practice, and the knife was “inadvertently” removed. LGF says it’s not the first time “Reuters has been caught altering photos for propaganda purposes,” citing a 2006 photo of doctored smoke in a photo from Beirut. Meanwhile, Yahoo published the photo unaltered.

It’s no wonder there will never be peace in the Middle East.

Article from Little Green Footballs

Obama Misses Mark on Spill Story

Published June 8, 2010 Photojournalism Leave a Comment
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A bottom-dwelling eel found dead on the surface of the BP oil slick. Eels are normally never found on the surface unless pulled up from the bottom by shrimping trawlers. Photo by NWFblogs

Sometimes presidents just don’t get it, do they? When President Obama visited the beleaguered Gulf Coast last week, he made the requisite speech about hearing the constituents’ concerns. “The cameras at some point may leave; the media may get tired of the story; but we will not,” he said.

But as The New York Times Media Decoder blog pointed out, this was a puzzling assessment but also typical administration boilerplate. In fact, the media has been there for six weeks now. They’ve actually even been prevented from covering the biggest environmental disaster in US history by BP and government officials who have seemingly been working against them.

And it really resonates when someone as prominent as NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams speaks out about it, too. As he told the NYT: 

“I think the phrase about the cameras leaving is just something that presidential speech writers keep on an F8 key, the kind of stuff they just say, but in this case, it was really off the mark,” he said. “We have all been all over this story and I haven’t seen any sign that we will packing up the cameras any time soon.”

The piece says the story is over-covered if anything. And the public’s interest isn’t waning, according to a Pew Research poll that found 55% of Americans are following the spill “very closely.”

Article from New York  Times

Nice Day for a Bath

Published June 8, 2010 Photographers' Rights Leave a Comment
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Photo by BP America © BP p.l.c.

More Sad Spill Images

Published June 4, 2010 Photojournalism Leave a Comment
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If BP et al. wondered if there was any way the gargantuan oil spill could get worse, the latest crop of photos of beleaguered birds covered in oil and fighting for their lives prove it can.

AP photographer Charles Reidel took some truly disturbing photos of dead and dying pelicans around Grand Terre Isle, LA., which you can see on Newsweek.com. Oil has been gushing for 46 days now and there isn’t really an end in sight. BP CEO Tony Hayward said he just wants his life back, but we think these birds would like theirs too.

Pittsburgh’s PNC Tower’s Bogus Claims

Published June 4, 2010 Photographers' Rights , Security Guard Harassment 3 Comments
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Photo by J. Lawrence

In April we posted on the strict (some might call asinine) photography policy at PPG Plaza in downtown Pittsburgh. This past weekend, photographer J. Lawrence was in the area and had this confrontation with some less-than-knowledgeable security personnel at Two PNC Plaza.

Memorial Day I was walking down Liberty Avenue shooting pictures.  Because of the impending storms, there were some really cool reflections of Midtown Towers and EQT on the surface of Two PNC.

I’m on the sidewalk, and this security guard comes running out of Two PNC.  “You’re not allowed to take pictures of the building.”  “I’m not?”  “No.”  “Why not?”  “Because of 9/11.”  “This is still America.”  “Just leave.  And no more pictures of the building.”  So she goes back into the building.  I lift my camera and take a pic of her.

The old woman’s eyes flare.  She comes running back towards me, screaming behind her “Call 9-1-1!”  I stand there.  “I told you not to take any pictures. Now I’m calling the police.”  “Fine.”  She whips out her cell phone and points the lens at my face.  I smile.  She takes two pictures.  “What’s your name?”  I defiantly tell her.  “Your address.”  Gave my address.  Because that’s how I get when I’m angry.  “You wait here for the police.”

I sat, and waited.  Some kid came out in a security guard uniform (I’m becoming an ornery old man at 42).  “You’re not allowed to take pictures of financial institutions. You have to get permission first.”  “I’m on the public right-of-way.”  He had NO clue what I was talking about.  Idiot.  “You’re not allowed to take pictures of financial institutions.”  I explain that I am.  It’s like talking to a very disinterested wall.  “Don’t take any more pictures.”  “Pray tell, who do I need permission from?”  “The PR Department.”

That about says it all.  If I didn’t have an appointment I was late for in Highland Park, I might have just been a little more defiant and kept on snapping.  Unfortunately my picture of the old witch didn’t come out.  Now I need to find out what security firm they work for so I can inform them that they need to provide their workers with some training.

It sounds like PNC may need to retrain its security staff. Private property restrictions are valid; it is not, however, illegal to take photos of a financial institution. And it is not illegal to take photos of anything on a public sidewalk.

Dennis Hopper, Photographer

Published June 3, 2010 Photographers' Rights 2 Comments
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Photo by Dennis Hopper/Taschen

In the various tributes to actor Dennis Hopper, who died May 29 of prostate cancer, many celebrated his sideline as an artist and long-held interest in photography. First picking up a camera the 1960s, Hopper’s work chronicled many of the era’s art house scenesters, as well movie stars like Paul Newman on set and even Martin Luther King during the civil rights movement.

Hopper’s photos were published in the Taschen book Dennis Hopper: Photographs 1961-1967 in 2009 (you can view a mini film here and  flip through it here), and LA’s MOCA will hold an exhibit of Hopper’s work from July 11-September 26.

Article from NPR.org and Culture Monster

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