Archive Page 88

Police Quash Fan Photos of Royals

Published December 28, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 1 Comment
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We posted earlier in the month on how England’s Royal Family is trying to prohibit photographs taken of them on their estates. The problem in recent months has been that the Royals felt their privacy was being invaded as they were caught on a few occasions doing some less-than-flattering things, and they maintain they’ve always offered up staged photo opportunities (that, really, are the least they could do for their “subjects”). So it’s all the more suprising that fans’ cameras were seized by police as the Queen Elizabeth and other family members made their way to church on Sunday.

Norfolk police have admitted they acted on their own and that it was a mistake. But still, it’s a scary precedent to set, and all the more so since it’s regarding something as harmless as fans taking photos of a public event – of the most public and revered family in the country no less! As Matthew Sinclair from the watchdog group TaxPayers’ Alliance says in the Daily Mail, “There needs to be a sense of proportion and this seems to have been completely lost in this case.”

Article from The Daily Mail

Interns = Free Labor?

Published December 23, 2009 Photographers' Rights Leave a Comment
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Big-deal photographer James Nachtwey wants a topflight intern but doesn’t want to pay for him/her. Outrage or industry standard?

Read the debate on Gawker.

NYC Cop Harasses Photog, Claims “Frozen Zone”

Published December 18, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 3 Comments
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Apparently the sidewalks around the UN headquarters in New York are a “frozen zone.” This is yet another fine example of police officers overreaching to justify trying to prohibit a legal activity. And their tool of choice? The “Patriot Act” of course. Hey, didn’t that became irrelevant along with its enabler anyway?

Perhaps this cop should go back to the academy to brush up on some laws. Federally owned sidewalk? Credentials? Signs? No asking questions? Yikes.

A Case for Photographers Rights in 11 Points

Published December 17, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment , Los Angeles County Sheriffs , Richard Gylfie #2955 14 Comments
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For an 11-point analysis of Shawn’s incident with LA Sheriffs in the Hollywood and Western Metro station back in November, check out the Magic Flute Fine Art Nudes blog. (Yes, of all places.)

Thanks to photographer/blogger Stephen Haynes for providing such a thorough and thoughtful look at the situation – where the gist is basically photography is legal and this deputy was out of line. (Warning: Photos on the site are NSFW.)

Chicago Police & Accountability

Published December 16, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment Leave a Comment
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In his weekly crime column for Reason magazine, reporter Radley Balko writes about the notoriously corrupt Chicago Police Department’s efforts to block people from using the only methods available to them to hold police accountable – namely, recording encounters and filing lawsuits for misconduct. Running down all the scary cases of bad CPD behavior, Balko argues there should be a clear policy that prohibits police from interfering with audio or video recordings, which is a great idea that we wholeheartedly agree with but seems like a pipe dream at this point.

Hey, Where Is Everyone?

Published December 16, 2009 Photographers' Rights Leave a Comment
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In photographer Matt Logue‘s book, Empty L.A., he captures the country’s second biggest city totally and utterly desserted. The book got an honorable mention in the Photography.Book.Now competition.

To see more from the book, go to the Lenscratch blog.

Photography *Is* Suspicious

Published December 14, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 1 Comment
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Photo by Andrew Cichowski

When will photographers learn to take their stinking artsy photography someplace other than public?!

In San Jose this past weekend, photographer Andrew Cichowski writes on his blog  how he was stopped for taking photos of a fence around a train station. The police wanted to know why he was “suspiciously photographing industrial stuff for.” Despite admitting that nothing about what Cichowski was doing was illegal, the two police officers ran his ID, got his social security number and took photos of him. Eventually – and after two more squad cars arrived -they determined Cichowski was not a terrorist threat, but they still copied his CF card and two flash drives onto a laptop.

Cichowski calls this a waste of time and taxpayer dollars, but we call it a scary infringement on his rights. Those cops were way out of line, and they broke so many laws with that detainment it’s mind-boggling. But, hey, always gotta be vigilant about terrorists shooting in daylight.

Also this weekend  in California, blogger Mojoey writes about being told to stop taking photos of an Arco gas station in La Mirada. Which is just puzzling because what’s the reasoning behind prohibiting photos of a dumpy little gas station in So Cal? Are they trying to claim terrorism or trademark infringement or private property, or what? For good measure, Mojeoey included the Google Maps photo with his post. Yep, the photos are already out there, folks. Protesting is futile.

Articles from Redesign the World (via Photography Is Not a Crime) and Deep Thoughts

Still No Photog Rights in London

Published December 12, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 4 Comments
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The Gherkin Photo by FromTheNorth

It seems the photographers’ rights situation in London (or lack thereof) has reached a boiling point. After years of egregious harassment and the ensuing complaints, the Metropolitan Police finally released guidelines in early December that said in effect their officers should lay off photographers shooting in public. The next week, renowned architectural photographer Grant Smith was stopped and searched for taking photos of Sir Christopher Wren’s Christ Church in City of London, the financial district.

So, Guardian reporter Paul Lewis decided to do some investigating of his own. Armed with a hidden camera, he went to photograph the Gherkin, a skyscraper and major landmark also in the financial district, and within two minutes, he was approached by a security guard. At one point they actually used the words “hostile reconnaissance.”

Five security guards and police officers later, and two photographers in the vicinity also stopped during the incident (one from the Guardian who was working with Lewis), and nothing was resolved. City of London police defended their actions in a statement that basically said under section 44 of the Terrorism Act they have every right to do this.

Watch the video here.

Article via the Guardian

Man Sues Police for Photo Detainment

Published December 11, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 1 Comment
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West Virgina is a hotbed of photographers rights infringements lately, huh? A man whose photos of a police cruiser using two handicapped spaces resulted in a confrontation with a state trooper is suing over it.

The Charleston Gazette reports that Michael Kidd filed a lawsuit this week against the West Virginia State Police because he “suffered embarrassment, humiliation, annoyance and inconvenience while his constitutional right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure was violated.”

Ahhh, if only we could all sue for suffering annoyance.

In September, Kidd noticed the flagrant cruiser and was taking photos of it when State Trooper Jason Garnes approached. The trooper detained Kidd for 15 minutes, forcing him to stand with his hands against a wall, while he checked his ID and tried to find something on him, the lawsuit says. Trooper Garnes couldn’t find anything to detain him further, but he did warn Kidd, “I’ll be seeing you again sometime.”

As a frequent witness to the LAPD doing the same exact thing in illegal spaces, it’s not surprising. Some police officers like enforcing the law but not following it. But when will they learn an appropriate response to someone discovering their transgressions? Intimidation and harassment just backfires – like this.

Article via The Charleston Gazette

Man Arrested for Mall Santa Shots

Published December 10, 2009 Police Harassment 6 Comments
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Photo by Chris Dorst/Charleston Gazette

It appears the Christmas spirit in Charleston, West Virginia, has been replaced by rabid paranoia. Scott Rensberger, a DC-based videographer, was arrested this week for battery on a police officer and resisting arrest after taking photos of the choir and Santa display at the Charleston Town Center shopping mall.

The Charleston Gazette reports that Rensberger says after he took some photos Tuesday evening, he was followed into a store by two men who told him he had taken photos of one of their children with Santa. Rensberger apologized and erased all of those photos, even showing the men his camera so they could see. The men apparently weren’t satisfied though, because they contacted mall security and the police.

After Charleston police Cpl. R.C. Basford opened with “Why are you taking pictures of kids?” things went downhill.

Rensberger said he reached in his pocket and pulled out his camera and raised it to take a picture of the police officer. Basford grabbed the camera to prevent him from taking a picture, which is when Rensberger said he took his free hand and brought it up to the small camera because he was afraid it was going to drop on the ground. According to Rensberger, Basford said, “Don’t you touch me.” Rensberger said he told the officer he wasn’t touching him.

So, of course, Basford then did the only natural thing – he forced Rensberger to the ground and arrested him. In a shopping mall in front of all holiday shoppers and children and festivities. Right? Because it’s not as if Basford could have reacted within the context of the situation. This was a 47-year-old man who apologized and complied with an earlier request to delete the offending photos. Who, if the officer had taken the time to investigate further, he would have found out is an award winning-photographer who takes photos of buildings for the IRS  and was clearly a hobbyist. Is this type of person really a threat? Whatever Rensberger’s actions were regarding the camera “scuffle,” is arrest the necessary and only outcome? Was the officer’s safety really threatened, or was he more angry that someone didn’t treat him with the proper deference?

Another weird thing about this story is that Cpl. Bansford was off-duty, moonlighting  for the mall’s security staff, yet he was wearing his Charleston police department uniform. So, if he’s not officially a city police officer, how can he charge Rensberger for battery on a police officer? It just doesn’t add up.

There seems to be this school of thought out there that, whenever someone is doing something perfectly legal and is approached aggressively by the police that they need to just shut up and accept it, be polite and endure it because police officers have hard jobs. I don’t agree. I don’t think you should be harassed and suspected for doing simple, legal activities.

The Charleston police department is looking into the matter and Rensberger is considering a lawsuit. Read the whole story here. It will make you mad.

And if you think this type of thing is ridiculous and has to stop, contact the Charleston Town Center:   info@charlestontowncenter.com and Charleston Police Chief Brent Webster:  brent.webster@charlestonwvpolice.org.

Article via The Charleston Gazette

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