Last week, Bryan Villarin was harassed while shooting photos of a building in downtown Los Angeles by the misinformed building securitytheatre guards. Rather than just slink away when threatened by the overgrown schoolyard bullies, he stood up for his right to shoot, and with the help of Discarted — another Los Angeles area photographer — set up a photographers rights demonstration in front of the building.
The photographers were well organized, shot photos and video, and presented the results of the excursion. Taking video was a nice touch, since it lets people see how ridiculous and unreasonable these securitytheatre guards really are.
This post is beginning to get some attention, which is a good thing. It has appeared on the LA Weekly Blog, and you can Digg it here.
Photography is not a crime. If you are in a public area, you have the right to take photographs of whatever you can see. Kudos to the photographers in Los Angeles who took the time to stand up for their — and all of our — rights as photographers.
Andy Carvin has a post on his blog detailing how he was almost arrested for taking photos at Union Station in Washington, DC.
Apparently, three security guards told him three different reasons why photography is not allowed in Union Station. He finally got to speak to a supervisor whose business card identified him as Robert H. Mangiante, Assistant Director, IPC International Corporation. They were told “Pack up and leave, or you will be arrested”. Mr. Carvin handled the situation perfectly, as far as I am concerned.
First of all, in a private space, of course management has the right to determine what can and cannot be done in the space. However, to me, Union Station is something in between a public and a private space. It may be owned by a private company, but it is open to anybody, and sees many, many people come through it every day. Their web site even promotes it as a tourist destination, and guess what? Tourists == photography! The only mention of photography on their web site states “If you are interested in utilizing Union Station as a production site, please fill out this application and return it to our office for prior authorization.” And judging by the comments on the blog post, they generally allow photography and have established a precedent of allowing non-commercial photography. There are no signs posted. There is no clear policy forbidding non-commercial photography on their web site.
Now I am not saying that they are wrong to have rules and enforce their rules. But they really do need to be clearer about what is and is not acceptable. Their own employees don’t understand the policy — how can the public be expected to understand what is expected of them? Rather than arbitrarily threaten random photographers, why not refer them to a PR person, or assist them to get whatever permission is required? It seems that would be a much better move for a place that considers itself the most popular tourist destination in the nations capitol.
This guy was on the corner of Stockton and Columbus in San Francisco yelling at a homeless man. Anger, conflict, drama — sounds like a great shot to me. I crossed the street but was unable to get anything interesting, since I only had my 50mm lens on the camera and I was just too far away.
However, Mr. Angry Overreaction Man decided that he now had a problem with me. He confronted me, demanding my camera. Of course, I refused. He got in my face and started threatening me, telling me that I cannot take his photo without his permission. I told him that yes, in fact, I can. He then walked up and bumped into me, trying to act tough. I told him that one more touch and I would call the police.
Of course, he didn’t like that very much, and at that point told me that if I put his picture on the internet, he would call his laywer. I assured him that his photo would be on the internet, and he then walked up and grabbed my camera lens. Well, that’s just not something that I will put up with, so I pulled the camera away from him and reached for my phone and started dialing. Once he saw that he turned away, still yelling threats, and continued on his way.
I felt bad for his daughter, who was with him, because she was obviously embarrassed by his antics and kept pleading with him to stop. I have a great shot showing her looking up as if saying “Oh boy, here he goes again”. But I’m not going to post that one, as she was not acting like an idiot and I don’t want to embarrass her. Mr. Angry Overreaction Man seems to do enough of that.
So, Mr. Angry Overreaction Man, your photo is now on the internet. Call your lawyer. Tell him somebody on a public sidewalk took your photo while you were on a public sidewalk. Then tell him you physically assaulted the photographer. See what he says.