[pure-silver] Excellent editorial from the UK on harassment of photographers as potential terrorists
- From: "Bob Younger" <ryounger@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 05:39:01 -0700
The link below is to an article in the Guardian regarding the
origin and prevalence of the suspicion regarding the use of
photography by terrorists and the subsequent harassment of
photographers.
He also provides some links at the end where you can download
guides regarding the actual laws governing photography in public
places.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jun/05/news.terrorism
The amazing thing is that 8x10 view cameras are apparently the
biggest threat. I could take a thousand pictures with my Nikon
12MP camera with a 400mm telephoto, but the moment I get out an
antiquated 8x10 (or even my 6x8 to take JUST ONE OR TWO, I'm
harassed and told to put the camera away. And it's pointless, or
at least has been so far, to argue. When you point out that there
are no laws or even local rules (like I did at Hoover Dam)
restricting photography (and you're SURROUNDED by tourists with
cameras) they resort to the argument that their job is to prevent
terrorism and they have considerable leeway in using their
personal judgment to determine what might be dangerous behavior.
I was physically prevented recently from photographing the front
of a small, inner city church near San Diego by an overzealous
parishioner, who amazingly enough said that he was worried I was
making the photographs in order to conduct a terrorist attack on
the church. At some point it just ceases to be worth the hassle.
But maybe, as this writer points out, even if I (we) lose the
battles we should keep up the war. So, I'll renew my
documentation on the laws, tuck it in the camera case once again,
and soldier on.......
Bob Younger
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