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taking pictures in public -- Texas news story


j_sevigny

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"he's left no trace of his photographic

exploits on google."

 

Hmm - you won't likely find much of my work on google - of all the thousands of photogrpahs I've taken, they generally don't get credited... I was with IFOR in Bosnia first as an investigator/SOCO doing photography and later for the ICTY and in more recent years as a Coroner.

 

Since I retired, apart from consulting, most of my photography is purely personal, except for the odd job for a couple of artist/glassworker friends or old colleagues at the BBC (doing books from home makeover shows of all things). Funny thing was, it was meeting Don McCullin back in the 70's that started me on doing serious photography and for the first few years I did documentary/reportage work, but then changed direction

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Surely, anyone in Texas who likes to take "street" photos is in trouble here: a good proportion of street photography is gotten without consent, and just about any photo with a person in it could be sexually gratifying to somebody. Hence, followoing the letter of the law, any street photographer in Texas could be sent to gaol and it would be in breach of no law (I'd call it a miscarriage of justice though...). And I thought you Americans referred to the U.S. as the Land of the Free?
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<I>Surely, anyone in Texas who likes to take "street" photos is in trouble here:</I><P>

 

Yes. it's shocking! Hundreds of photographers in every Texas county are being rounded

up, prosecuted, and sent to prison. Daily.<BR><P>

 

<I>And I thought you Americans referred to the U.S. as the Land of the Free?</I><P>

 

For sure - it's a regular gulag here. Best not to even visit - odds are extremely high you'll

be detained at the airport and sent to GITMO pronto. That's what I've heard...

www.citysnaps.net
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Er, Brad ... wouldn't the sarcasm better be saved for the LF :-)

<p>

Actually, I agree that the potential hazard to photographers inferred from

this and similar incidents tends to get ridiculously exaggerated, much as

were stories of permit hassles five years ago. At that time, you probably

could count the number of annual incidents on one hand, yet from talking

with many photographers, you might get the impression that threats of

arrest for lack of a permit were a daily occurrence.

<p>

As several of us have suggested, the Texas law is disturbing in that it

seems to be at odds with acceptable public conduct almost everywhere else,

and its wording invites capricious enforcement. However, as Brad and I

mentioned in previous posts, we simply don't know what happened in this

situation. We have no real information on Mr. Vogel's conduct and we

haven't seen his pictures. We haven't exactly seen daily arrests since the

law was passed, either.

<p>

I don't mean to either minimize or exaggerate the implications of Mr.

Vogel's arrest. My tolerance for petty police harassment probably is as

low as anyone's, but we need to get the facts (if ever we can ...) before

jumping to sweeping conclusions.

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<i>Er, Brad ... wouldn't the sarcasm better be saved for the LF :-)</I><P>

 

Sarcasm??? What sarcasm?<P>

 

On my pickup truck I have a bumper sticker that says: <BR><P>

 

<BLOCKQUOTE> <I>Come to the US, go to GITMO. It's the Law.</I></BLOCKQUOTE>

www.citysnaps.net
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  • 2 weeks later...

It looks like Lt. Douglas got it wrong after all.

<p>

I'd be more inclined to agree with prosecutor Stallings that "the system

ultimately worked because Vogel was never formally charged" if the police

were charged with unlawful restraint and kidnapping, and Mr. Vogel were

awarded a half million dollars for false arrest and intentional infliction

of emotional distress. I'm not holding my breath ...

<p>

The real problem still is as several of us have described--the "improper

photography" law is so poorly written that it invites arbitrary enforcement

by the police. The decision not to charge in this case may discourage

capricious arrests for a while, but the prospect of petty police harassment

will remain until the law is held void for vagueness. It doesn't look as

if that will result from this incident.

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