Monday, February 09, 2009
Public photography
Ann Althouse: "What makes people — even cops — think photography is a crime?" She recounts various stories of the police questioning ordinary people who are taking photographs of other people in entirely public situations. One of her readers says that the cops paid him a visit after he took a photograph of the car in front of him because he thought the bumper sticker was amusing. Well, regular readers know that I do that all the time; my theory is that if you want to publicize your opinions, foolish and salutory, on the back of your car, there is nothing wrong with me amplifying that publicity for better or worse. Dude, you enter the hurly-burly, live by the hurly-burly's rules.
But the question still stands: Where did this idea come from?
CWCID: Glenn Reynolds.
5 Comments:
By 
JPMcT, at
Mon Feb 09, 07:30:00 AM:
I see no difference between an image burned onto the surface of my retina and an image burned into ISO400 film or a digital photo cell.
If one is arrested for looking at a woman's butt...by definition the butt must have been either an attractive nuisance or pornography...either way, the butt owner should have been as legally culpable as the butt viewer.
Bbut then again. I'm not a lawyer...
By Dawnfire82, at
Mon Feb 09, 07:36:00 AM:
It is right and proper for the good police forces of this country to intimidate, harass, and otherwise prevent us from recording one another in public. After all, it's just a form of warrant-less surveillance that became popular only during the BusHitler nightmare, and those people need to be put in their place.
My theory, anyway.
By 
, at
Mon Feb 09, 10:16:00 AM:
My thinking is that the public has preconceived notions of what should be photographed. Taking pictures of family or tourist attractions is normal. Taking pictures of strangers or everyday objects that most people see no point in taking is considered odd behavior. Odd behavior arouses suspicion, and that leads to the thinking that the activity must be illegal.
By Mr.Hengist, at
Mon Feb 09, 03:36:00 PM:
I think this overreach started out in places like NYC after 9/11. Some time in 2002 IIRC the NYPD banned photography in subways, etc. We have learned since that Islamic Jihadists have videotaped potential targets in the U.S., so there seems to be a connection. Combine that with the exceedingly vague public campaign to report suspicious behavior ("If you see something, say something" is a ubiquitous ad that can be seen on the sides of many a NYC bus), and, well, any unusual behavior can be regarded as suspicious, rightly or wrongly. I'm not sure I see the problem with cops asking questions...
By , at
Tue Feb 10, 04:59:00 PM:
I believe the notion is born from the intrusiveness of photographers in the private lives of public people like moovee stars.
