Comments on: Photographing Architecture is Not a Crime, Thomas Hawk vs. Building Security Episode 118

By: Do not photograph 3701 N. Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA — KWM

Do not photograph 3701 N. Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA — KWM — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:10:44 +0000

[...] of us. And to the extent that we are able, we need to take a stand. We need to know our rights, document the fact that we’ve been wronged, and work for change. And if we fail to enact change, the [...]

By: Jim McCarty

Jim McCarty — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:59:58 +0000

My brother was in Rome last fall and when he tried to take a tourist picture of the American Embassy from across the street, a guard came over and told him not to…

The place is on Google and Live Maps and who knows where else? This is symptomatic of our paranoia.

Think of the hundreds of times you have heard or read the phrase ‘for security purposes’…it means nothing without defining the purpose. It’s mindless secure-speak. We give up like babies when someone cites that ‘reason’and we simply back off…

By: Will Dwinnell

Will Dwinnell — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:28:00 +0000

Good for you! Don’t give in to people who think they can make up and enforce laws on the spot.

By: Kostik

Kostik — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:00:29 +0000

Well, never happend to me. Not that i take good pictures, but i attempt .
Any case here in NYC guess everyone is used to a guy with a camera.
I do get the looks when I take the pictures for my investigative work outside of NYC, but never a confrontation.

By: Governments and Rent-A-Cops Harass Photographers | angiEmedia

Governments and Rent-A-Cops Harass Photographers | angiEmedia — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:31:00 +0000

[...] PHOTOGRAPHING ARCHITECTURE IS NOT A CRIME, THOMAS HAWK VS. BUILDING SECURITY EPISODE 118 [...]

By: Binky

Binky — Sat, 09 May 2009 02:18:22 +0000

I was at a friends 30th birthday party, enjoying the great weather and shooting the bull on the deck while we waited for a couple more friends to show up.

While we were waiting, the guest of honor’s (who also owned the house) neighbor showed up. GOH’s neighbor happened to be a cop. In full uniform. So they were chatting, and the officer was eating a brat and drinking a pepsi. No big deal.

I got a text message from another friend who asked if there was gonna be food there or if he should grab something to eat on the way. I looked over and saw that GOH had the grill opened and was flipping the burgers. Officer Friendly immediately piped up, “You don’t have permission to take my picture!”

“Really? I wasn’t aware I needed ‘permission’, first of all; and second of all, I was only taking a picture of the food on the grill.”

“Yeah, you need permission. The Minnesota Peace Officers Bill of Rights says that you can’t take a picture of a police officer without their permission.”

Now, as an invited guest in someone elses house, I wasn’t gonna pick a fight with another invited guest, but:

The officer was wrong and I knew it. The “Peace Officers Bill of Rights” is actually referred to as the “Peace Officers Disciplinary Procedures Act”. This act doesn’t prohibit the photographing of police officers by an average joe on the street; it does prohibit a department or government agency to release or publish photos or other information as a result of misconduct or a dispute.

Furthermore, several Courts have ruled that an officer, as an officer and a public servant, in performance of his duty has no expectation of privacy up to and including that they can be subject to video recording against their wishes.

Whatever the case, I took the non-confrontational route.

By: Photography, a crime? » The Windy Pixel

Photography, a crime? » The Windy Pixel — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 11:33:04 +0000

[...] out and instruct you to stop shooting. While I don’t have any really crazy stories (though Thomas Hawk does), we did get scolded for taking this photo. We didn’t put up much of an argument because [...]

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 16:02:34 +0000

I had this happen to me in Prague. It was the most beautiful building. It was also a bank! Who knew,I had a KBG’ish person come out of no where and rip the film from the camera.I’m a petite girl who was just a tad scared. It was clearly a bit “1984″ in feeling. Hate to see it happen here but the camera’s are everywhere. Not yours or mine,it’s THEM!

By: Thatmanrobert

Thatmanrobert — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 06:33:00 +0000

By the way loved the color balance of the photo

By: moldor.the.flatulent

moldor.the.flatulent — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:37:00 +0000

Thomas, by doing this you are only exercising your democratic rights in a public place.

We have a stink here in Australia over Gogle StreetView - people are demanding that their properties are blanked out. Sorry, public street, you have no expectation of privacy.

By building "owners", security guards and the Department of Homeland Absurdity getting all shitty about this, then the terrorists have won. We are expending more time and energy "defending" from these hypothetical attacks that we are probably giving Osama and his pals a good laugh.

What are we leaving unguarded while we run around like headless chooks ?