Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/08/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I'm straddling the same fence myself with a son and relative in enforcement. It's important for photographers to realize that officers may become very stressed when someone brings something up to eye level and aims at them, especially when it may not be apparent what that something is until later. On Mon, Aug 6, 2012 at 11:54 PM, Phil Forrest <photo.forrest at earthlink.net>wrote: > >From the law enforcement point of view I can say that during my time in > the Navy working as a weather guesser and a photographer I had stints > where I worked as military police and there are specific incidents > during which I actively curtailed the "free speech" of both civilians > and press due to the situation on the ground. While I worked in the > 'bees as an independent duty photographer I was employed as a public > affairs representative of the DOD and was responsible for keeping the > embedded civilian press in line for security reasons and for the safety > of the media personnel. > > Then and now I know that there are reasons for preventing a person from > being too close to a scene and can appreciate the stress that law > enforcement is under with every single stop they make. Every one is > unique and dynamic so the officer has to take all variables into > account and make the scene as safe for themselves as well as the > civilians around them. > > I'm not saying that I agree with the beating of people recording police > activity but there IS another side of the story and we must appreciate > that these people are doing a dangerous job in a capacity to protect > people in their charge and therefore should be given some obedience. > Not complete subservience but respect for the work they are doing. > > All too often these discussions are far too black and white, yes or no, > when there is no such situation in real life. > > Phil Forrest > > > > On Mon, 6 Aug 2012 22:12:00 -0500 > Greg Rubenstein <gcr910 at gmail.com> wrote: > > > I'll add my three cents as a former media guy. > > > > Phil raised valid points as a photographer and former LEO. > > > > The article is The Times' side of the saga. > > > > I was moved away by LEOs in my day and generally shifted to a longer > > lens from a less obtrusive or less dangerous place. Officers knew > > what I was doing and I knew what they were doing. > > > > Now, the tricky part: Do riots cause photographers or do > > photographers cause riots? [Let's stipulate that in this context > > "photographers" is a synonym for media.] > > > > PDN several years ago ran a widely used photo of masked Palestinians > > hurling Molotov cocktails. Who and what they were thrown at varied by > > caption writer. > > > > What PDN also ran opposite that photo that other media did not was a > > second photo of the same scene from a different angle. It showed a > > phalanx of photographers photographing people hurling the Molotov > > cocktails into an empty lot backed by a brick wall. A much different > > story than what was shown in the mainstream media. > > > > Do riots cause photographers or do photographers cause riots? > > > > We don't have all the facts from the various sides of the New York > > incident, but we do know what happens when cameras of any sort appear > > at a flashpoint situation; they can spark the explosion or deliver a > > useful record. We also know all sides can turn and use the media to > > promote their agendas. > > > > Let's get all the facts. Let's also try to look at it objectively; > > there's far more we don't know about the totality of the incident > > that drew media attention than we do know. The photographer is a > > sideshow, possibly The NYT's reminder not to argue with the guy who > > owns the printing presses and the ink. > > > > Any of y'all know for sure what happened there other than The NYT guy > > was arrested? > > > > Greg Rubenstein > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Leica Users Group. > > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > > -- > http://philipforrestphoto.wordpress.com/ > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/philforrest > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > -- -Lew Schwartz