It started before the 9/11 tragedy, but has really bloomed in it’s aftermath.  I’m talking about the harassment of photographers pursuing their craft, or hobby.  All over the nation photographers are being bullied, told they may not take pictures, and it has gone so far that people are calling the police if they see someone out taking pictures.  Photographers are being physically accosted.  Photographers are being arrested without cause.

  Photographers have also decided that they have had quite enough of this kind of treatment and are fighting back by providing information, and pursuing lawsuits, to protect their rights.

Let’s take a look at photography in America.  What is it?  Where is it allowed?  What are my rights as a photographer?

What is Photography?

Photography is a constitutionally protected expression of free speech.  Interfere with a photographer at your own risk.

As a photographer I do not need permission to take a photograph.  If someone were to demand what right I have to take a picture, I ask by what law don’t I have the right?

What does this mean?

First, it means that anybody make take photographs from a public place, or where they have permission to be.

If you can see something from where you are you may photograph it.  Period.

A private property owner may deny you the right to be on their property, but this is no way means you cannot photograph the property from another location.

The only exception to this rule is if photography is forbidden by force of law.  Such as at military installations, and designated nuclear facilities, to ensure homeland security.

Otherwise, you may photograph celebrities, children, accidents, fires, bridges and other infrastructure, commercial and residential buildings, public utilities, transportation facilities, airports, Superfund sites, criminal activities, law enforcement officers, and politicians, to name a few.

Photographing Places

Aside from the above listed military and nuclear sites, if you can see it from public property, you can photograph it.

You may also photograph anywhere on private property, that the general public is allowed access and right of way.  This includes private sidewalks, malls, etc.  What this means is that if the public at large is allowed free access, you have free access to take pictures there.

For example, you are at the mall taking pictures.  A security guard comes up to you and demands that you stop.  It is perfectly legal to continue to take pictures.  He then demands that you delete the pictures or give him the film.  You are under no legal obligation to do so, these pictures are perfectly legal.  You take a picture of him.  This is perfectly legal.  He then demands that you leave the premises.  If you do not leave, you may be found guilty of trespassing, but the pictures you have taken are perfectly legal.

• No one is allowed to detain you against your will or confiscate your film, memory cards, or equipment, simply for taking pictures.  They are violating your rights and may be subject to both criminal and civil law if they do so, such as false imprisonment, kidnapping, coercion, and theft.
• Law enforcement officers are not allowed demand that you delete your pictures, or confiscate any equipment, without a court order; unless they are arresting you.
• Private citizens who harass photographers for taking pictures which are their right to take can be charged with harassment. Private citizens and security guards who touch a photographer or their equipment may be charged with assault.
  

Police departments across the country are paying out millions of dollars each year for having violated the rights of photographers.

• Threatening a photographer with “…calling the police,” in the attempt to get them to either stop photographing or to leave is called coercion.  Coercion is a crime.  Don’t do it.

No Photography Allowed

Suppose you see a private non-government sign stating “No Photography Allowed”?  Again, a privately placed sign does not interfere with your constitutionally protected rights.  You might be asked to leave, but you are not breaking any laws by taking pictures.

Photographing People

The law when it comes to photographing people is almost the same as photographing places.  If anyone can see them, it is your right to photograph them.  Period.  There is no expectation of privacy in public.

Can I photograph anyone?  If they are in public, and can be seen from a public place, you may photograph them.

What about children?   If they are in public, and can be seen from a public place, you may photograph them.

Wait a minute, you mean to tell me that some creep has the right to come to the park where I play with my children and take pictures and I can’t stop him?  That is exactly right.  Just because someone is taking pictures in a public place does not make them a creep.  Get a grip, other people have rights too, not just you.

Remember – Private citizens who harass photographers for taking pictures which are their right to take can be charged with harassment. Private citizens and security guards who touch a photographer or their equipment may be charged with assault.

Is there anyone I can’t photograph in public?  You cannot invade someones privacy.  For example you cannot use a telephoto lens to photograph what is written on the letter someone is reading while in line at the grocery.  You cannot photograph up women’s skirts.  Using a telephoto lens to take a picture of someone on their deck on the tenth floor of an apartment building.

Technically, even these are legal photographs.  What is illegal is invading someones privacy.  Just remember though that for the most part, there is no assumption of privacy in a public space.

Photographing Law Enforcement Individuals

It is perfectly legal to photograph law enforcement individuals, as long as you are in a public space, and not interfering in any way with what they are doing.

• Photographing a police officer is not a crime.  Regardless of how annoyed he may be with you for doing it.
• Photographing a police officer is not disorderly conduct.
• A police officer who arrests you for not deleting an image is violating your rights.  Police departments across the country are paying out millions of dollars each year from lawsuits where they violated photographers constitutional rights.

Resource

Know your rights.  Know others rights.  If you’re a photographer a good resource is something called The Photographer’s Right written by Bert Krages attorney at law.  It is recommended you download it and carry it with you whenever you go out shooting.

I hope you have enjoyed this brief rundown on the rights of photographers.  Just remember I have mentioned nothing about the legality of selling or publishing any of these pictures you’ve taken.  That will be covered in another article.

As American citizens we must actively use and protect our rights, or we will lose them.  Photographers are not terrorists.  Don’t treat them like terrorists, or criminals.  Photography has a long and honored history in our nation.  They remember for us.  They watch for us.

How about a wave and a smile instead of calling the police next time?