Photographic Profiling Continues
Last week we reported that Zoomr CEO Thomas Hawk was thrown out of a San Francisco art museum because a guard thought his expensive camera could be used to spy on female employees (www.imaginginfo.com/web/online/News/Photographers-Face-Ejection-Over-Lenses-/3$4097).
Really.
For the record, Hawk is an extremely talented PROFESSIONAL photographer and the top dog at a company that many say is better that its counterpoint-Flickr.
Well, thousands of you read the story. A surprisingly large amount for such a short blog story. And those who commented about their own similar experiences were from Puerto Rico, California, Denver, New York City and Tennessee.
In the past I have written about how UK photographers risk getting their public rights jeopardized as well as a case in NYC that has officials trying to get pros to fill out permits before shooting there. I have resisted getting on the bandwagon as of late, but I am steamed. Pros shooters and even amateurs are really facing a crossroads here, where these types of stories are becoming the norm. As one commenter put it: “now we have camera profiling.”
Four recent issues reported just this summer include:
China Olympics Bans Professional Cameras
D.C. Rep Slams Union Station for Barring Photography
Photographers Face Ejection Over Lenses
Photography Guidelines in UK Set to Include Amateurs, Tourists
Not sure if security guards are just overzealous in a post-9/11 era or photographers are being thrown the rulebook. For the record, I’d be curious to know just how vast this problem is. I invite you to please list your experience in the comment area below if you have been a target of photographic profiling. Thanks! -A
August 26th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
I really enjoy architectural photography and have had a number of run in’s with Security folk who argue you can’t take a photo of their building even when you are on public property!! However, this episode really bothered me when I recently made a trip to Chicago. I wandered around and there was an event in a plaza in front of this building with acrobats. I did a bit of shooting of them & then noticed that the building behind them was very interesting and walked inside to a huge atrium and took some images. Another guy walked in with his point & shoot and took some images as well. So I walk outside and take some more shoots of some great columns across the street and this Illinois police officer comes up and asks me what I’m doing. I explain that I love architecture and had traveled to Chicago to capture some of the fantastic buildings. He says I can’t shoot the building because it’s City Hall. I ask him how in the world would I know that. He points to a tiny sign! It also turns out that the building I was in & shooting the interior of was a State building. I show him my images and he still asks for my ID and calls it in. Meanwhile lots of people are shooting with their point & shoots without a hassle. Since when did being a photographer become such a crime?
August 27th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
wow. that’s terrible. what did the sign actually say? why could the others continue shooting?
September 10th, 2008 at 5:13 am
I was photographing the exterior of a hospital and stopped by hospital security and told that I could not do that. I was standing on a public road and did not see the problem since I was not on their property. After explaining that I had been paid by one of their contractors to document his work, I was released. I had never been referred to as a suspect until then.