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Apr. 18th, 2008 09:21 pmSince reading a post by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kellicjtiger about some problems photographers in the UK have had with police telling them not to photograph in public spaces, I've been curious about the state of things in this country. I knew that things have been problematic since 9/11, but I didn't realize how pervasive the problem was. I used some spare time today and yesterday to poke around online; what I've seen seems pretty bad. I never thought I'd have much in common in people lobbying for gun rights, but I'm beginning to get the feeling that, almost like you need a license to carry a handgun, before too long the government is going to require a license to carry a camera.
here are a couple of great websites that track and report on instances of photographer harassment and violations of first amendment rights.
http://www.photopermit.org/
http://www.nycphotorights.com/
What I have read there is really disturbing. From stories of people being forced (not just asked) by police to delete pictures that they've taken of public infrastructure like the Brooklyn Bridge,to the town in Alabama that requires a $500 permit for any commercial photography anywhere in the city (a violation of first amendment rights), to the man who was told he was facing 7 years in prison for using his own home security system to videotape police who had come into his house, we are sounding less like the home of the free and more like some third world dictatorship. Just as much as the craziness we're involved in in Iraq does, this makes me want to get actively involved in raising public awareness of erosion of civil liberties. If there was a local protest in my area akin to one staged in good and New York City by a group of photographers ho converted on the transit system in mass, cameras in hand, to protest draconian restrictions recently put in place on that system (that have since been repealed), I'd be there in a heartbeat.
(And forgive any weird seeming-typos please; I'm dictating most of this using a speech-to text program to save my wrist and it's not always perfect.)
kellicjtiger about some problems photographers in the UK have had with police telling them not to photograph in public spaces, I've been curious about the state of things in this country. I knew that things have been problematic since 9/11, but I didn't realize how pervasive the problem was. I used some spare time today and yesterday to poke around online; what I've seen seems pretty bad. I never thought I'd have much in common in people lobbying for gun rights, but I'm beginning to get the feeling that, almost like you need a license to carry a handgun, before too long the government is going to require a license to carry a camera.here are a couple of great websites that track and report on instances of photographer harassment and violations of first amendment rights.
http://www.photopermit.org/
http://www.nycphotorights.com/
What I have read there is really disturbing. From stories of people being forced (not just asked) by police to delete pictures that they've taken of public infrastructure like the Brooklyn Bridge,to the town in Alabama that requires a $500 permit for any commercial photography anywhere in the city (a violation of first amendment rights), to the man who was told he was facing 7 years in prison for using his own home security system to videotape police who had come into his house, we are sounding less like the home of the free and more like some third world dictatorship. Just as much as the craziness we're involved in in Iraq does, this makes me want to get actively involved in raising public awareness of erosion of civil liberties. If there was a local protest in my area akin to one staged in good and New York City by a group of photographers ho converted on the transit system in mass, cameras in hand, to protest draconian restrictions recently put in place on that system (that have since been repealed), I'd be there in a heartbeat.
(And forgive any weird seeming-typos please; I'm dictating most of this using a speech-to text program to save my wrist and it's not always perfect.)
