Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/07/10
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Ah the joys of adolescent angst! It's sad that he didn't seem to even THINK about the times in which he's living. In the United States since 9/11 we're on a war footing as far as security is concerned. For most students this isn't obvious, but to police and those required to protect vital infrastructure, it's very real and takes a LOT of resources. If this student had (1) been thoughtful and (2) not waited to the last minute he would have realized that he was photographing in what is the equivalent of a WW II mentality with regard to sabotage. So what's the right thing to do? Well telling people what you want to do, introducing yourself to law enforcement, and actually asking for permission for your project. Case in point: I want to sit at the end of the runway at Sacramento International Airport and take photographs down the runway (from outside the fence of course) of the aircraft as they rotate and lift off. You don't even have to be SMART to realize that this will attract the attention of security personnel. A long lens looks awfully like a weapon and I'd expect someone to be interested in what I'm doing. Critical infrastructure is being guarded. That's real. It's a fact. Needlessly putting yourself in a position where you are in conflict with the local authorities can create these situations. Now I don't know the precise location of the locks in question. BUT...if they were connected to a passage route for nuclear material from say the shipyard at Bremerton to Hanford or were involved in the route for the shipment of other sensitive materials, then I'd assume that local law enforcement would be edgy, especially around the time of transport. There are not many photographers on this list who were practicing during WW II. I wonder what responses the taking of photos with a tripod would have elicited from them? Probably not too friendly. The same photographer would have had just as nasty a reception if he had been taking photos inside a rock concert venue. Try it and see. I am not saying that law enforcement is not over-reacting. I believe they are. But they are being told by the Dept of Homeland Security (a title that belongs more to Nazi Germany than anything American, in my opinion) that we're in a state of war and they have to protect our infrastructure from terrorists. That's why a little thoughtfulness, and a little less concern about issues of control, would do a lot. Adam Bridge On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 14:11:34 -0500 (GMT-05:00), Frank Farmer <frankandaubrey@mindspring.com> wrote: > See Ian Spiers' account of his interation with several local and federal > law enforcement > agents while trying to complete his 'motion' assignment for his > photography class. Scary > disgusting. > > http://www.brownequalsterrorist.com/artiststatement/ >