Port Authority vs Fat Man Walking photos
Last March Steve Vaught started walking from Oceanside, CA to New York, NY in order to lose weight and show it’s possible for anyone to gain control of their lives. He lost 150lb along the way. It’s an inspirational journey that’s going to come to an end today as he crosses the George Washington Bridge into New York City.
There were plans to have a press event as he crossed the bridge but the Port Authority stepped in to claim that photography on the bridge is not allowed for “security purposes”, thereby scuttling the event.
This is yet another in a long line of incidents where authorities claim that photography isn’t allowed for “security purposes”. This is, of course, pure rubish as there are no constitutional laws prohibiting photography of public spaces. Every one of the press photographers that would have been there knows this.
Of course, if you would like photos of the GW Bridge you can get them from here, here, here, and even a live webcam feed. If you’d like photos of bridge construction details they’re available courtesy of the Port Authority itself.
The issue of photography of infrastructure has come into play in cases of plane spotters, as well as railroad enthusiasts, and architectural photographers. In most cases the problem is overzealous security personnel that try to intimidate the photographer with bogus claims.
It stands to reason that all these photographers and enthusiasts taking photos of our “critical infrastructure” would improve security as they’re another set of eyes watching things. Public photography is frequently used to expose police abuse, such as the famous Rodney King video. In the case of plane spotters they were able to help expose some of our government’s secret rendition efforts by noting the tail numbers of planes that were appearing at various airports.
In every case it’s been shown that the photographer has every right to be there and take as many photos as they’d like. Sometimes the photographer has to submit to harrasment, arrest, or confiscation of their film.
In most cases the photographer backs down, usually because they don’t know they have these rights, they’re intimidated by security personnel, or just want to avoid conflict. In the case of the Fat Man Walking they conceded to the Port Authority’s demand willingly. It’s unfortunate that more photographers and organizations don’t stand up for their rights in this matter as it just gives fuel to the authorities to exercise power they don’t really have.
A good thing for all street photographers to carry with them is the Photographer’s Right, a compact flyer written by an attorney that details your rights to take pictures in public.
Update:
It looks like Steve did get his photo taken after all. At least one photographer was there to take pictures of Steve crossing the GW Bridge.
Way to go Steve!
