Subway Photography
You know, it does get annoying. I was at my local subway station doing my usual thing - photographing people who would one day do something interesting - when I was approached by a sunglass wearing cop. He told me that it was illegal to photograph in the subway and that I should delete whatever I had photographed.
I replied that as far as I knew, it was not illegal. That they had tried to make it illegal but weren’t able to.
Let me see what you shot, he said. I noticed that he had some white stubble on his chin and was wearing body armor.
I showed him a couple of shots of people near the turnstile.
You need to delete them.
I hesitated.
It’s either that, or I’ll have to take your camera.
Please - don’t do that, I said. I scanned for a bad shot, and deleted it.
I’m a fine art photographer, I said. Still in begging mode. Would you like to see some ID?
That he liked. I showed him a check that was made out to Dave Beckerman Photography that had my address on it that I hadn’t had a chance to cash yet.
So what do you do, he asked.
I walk around just shooting things that might be interesting.
He was softening a bit. He repeated, fine art photographer, to himself, then said - Where do you live?
I told him.
He was pretty close to me, but he took one step closer and whispered: listen, just turn off the camera, and make believe you deleted the rest of the pictures. But don’t do anymore shooting in the subway.
I nodded, and turned off the camera. As soon as I got onto the crowded train, I turned it on again - and went about my business. I got some excellent shots on the train at the Times Square shuttle platform. Really. I walked back saying - well that was definitely worth it. I wonder why the high security. I think I heard that the pope was on his way.
Now I suppose the idea is that the presence of police will make the terrorists think twice before leaving a bomb at that particular station. So they go to another station. You can’t protect them all. In fact, I found it telling that the bomber who left his calling card at the recruiting station in Times Square was able to go about undetected because he was wearing a ten dollar hoody. That area is, after all, the most heavily photographed spot in the city and they still couldn’t get a clear shot.
And really - if they think that the terrorists are walking around with 40D cameras posing as photographers and shooting in the middle of four or five cops decked out in sunglasses with wires coming out of their ears.
Uh, I don’t think so. Oh, and on the train, there were a bunch of tourists with point and shoots firing away with flash and everything in the conductors’ car. At least I think they were tourists.
So you want to know - what would I do if I were king? I know some of you won’t like this, but I’d put in place a real ID card that would be way difficult to forge. And I’d have people carry them around. You want to take a picture in the subway - okay - just let me scan the barcode on that card; or the retina scan; or whatever. Then go about your business.
But Dave - that’s giving up civil liberties. I don’t mind giving up my identity. They can always get it if they want it anyway. This just makes it a little bit harder to forge; and let’s me go do my thing without being hassled.
Press passes are hard to get. If you want to offer press passes for independent street photographers - do that then.
Comments
Comment from dave
Time: March 29, 2008, 1:36 pm
Craig - I don’t feel like turning over my camera which is what would have happened. It may not be legal, but I don’t know how long it would take to get it back; whether they might not just drop it while they have it; etc. And yes - the truth is that an arrest would be needed; and I don’t really have the time to get arrested right now. I have a lot to do.
Stop off at the 86th street station on the weekend; take some pictures; and I’m sure you’ll be able to take this to a trial. The problem is that the trial is inconvenient. It’s going to take some time; possible legal expenses; and you’ll be without use of the camera for a while. In other words, the only way I’m going to do that is if I get pissed off enough.
Comment from Craig M. Nisnewitz
Time: March 29, 2008, 1:48 pm
The problem with this scenario is that if the policeman just feel like making an arrest the reason will not be taking photos in an unauthorized area, which is not a crime but it will be resisting arest, assault, breaking the peace or whatever other reason can be used to justify the arrest.
Comment from dave
Time: March 29, 2008, 2:02 pm
Yep. That’s the problem alright. You may win the case; but you won’t be establishing new law since it’s already legal to take pictures. What’s that expression: resistance is futile?
Comment from Stationstops.com
Time: March 29, 2008, 4:05 pm
WOW That guy was way out of line - cops making up laws that dont exist and telling people they do exist really needs to be illegal itself - cops cannot manufacture laws. I would have gotten his badge number for sure, although I wouldnt have given him a hard time.
I have some good resources on the bottom of similar story of mine for you to keep in your camera bag, but you seem pretty well informed already:
Comment from Lester
Time: March 29, 2008, 4:53 pm
Reading a wonderful new novel by Nathan Englander, “The Ministry of Special Cases”, about a Jewish couple in Buenos Aries whose son becomes disappeared during the military junta in the 1970s. We are not yet a fascist nation, but when those in power ignore the law and then the citizens silently comply, that is the beginning of the end of democracy.
Comment from Greg L’E
Time: March 29, 2008, 5:42 pm
In the future if this happens to you I would just go along with the cop by pleading ignorance (”Oh, sorry I didn’t know that officer”), and then pretend to delete your files. Otherwise you’re asking for it if you put up a fuss and/or contradict him/her. The best approach is one of feigned compliance as you DON’T want to waste your precious time and energy argueing with these people and possibly have to run the gauntlet of the legal system trying to prove your point which may well be true but won’t ultimately affect the outcome of your case or give you back your lost time to create and instead mire you down and distract you from your true intentions.
Comment from dave
Time: March 29, 2008, 7:39 pm
Greg - yep. That’s sort of what I did. I only actually deleted one shot (I picked a garbage one) - and scrolled around pressing buttons. But what happened, the reason that I even talked back at all - was that I wasn’t prepared with a strategy. Frankly - I haven’t had much trouble with the police recently. I think something is up in New York - i.e. someone is coming to town; or they’ve got some threat alert. I don’t know. I noticed the presence of sunglass police hanging around starting about a week ago.
But In the future - feigned ignorance - and sorry I didn’t know officer is best - unless I’m prepared to a) lose the camera and images and b) spend the time and money to do the good fight. It’s tricky - because in a case like this what you really want is some sort of movement, i.e. more than one person to share the effort.
Comment from Churchwell
Time: March 29, 2008, 10:18 pm
How about making up a phony press card saying you work for some guy named “Bin Laudin.” Hehe, That will get you arrested.
Yes it’s true that Police will annoy people until you prove you know what your doing. I get it all the time. I also used to street perform in Times Square during Dinkins and Rudy’s terms and street performing was legal, but the guys on the horses would come over to you when you were performing and push you with his horse to get you to move telling you that you were breaking the law. A couple of times they would throw me in the back of the wagon and drop me off 20 blocks away. So I bought some animal balloons and the next time they put me in the back of their police wagon I filled it up with Animal balloons. The cop was really mad and when I got out he asked me if I made those balloons and I said, “No, must have been some clown you arrested.” Hehe
Comment from Miguel Marcos
Time: March 30, 2008, 4:54 am
Why not carry around a copy of Bert Krage’s PDF on photographer’s rights?
http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm
Comment from Bob
Time: March 30, 2008, 2:40 pm
And of course, it would be pointless to point out, to these ’security’ deranged cops, that the sole reason the London bombing was solved so quickly was the presence of cameras in the subways.
Terrorists don’t need to photograph anything to create their mahem; but only photographic records can identify them if they do.
But somehow, nobody thinks these steps through.
I was stopped once by one of the ‘if you see something, say something’ commuters. Being cool and displaying what you’ve shot is indeed the great diffuser, but man, it’s getting hard in NYC to shoot buildings and subway stuff (that I love too).
Bob
Comment from Stephen Bray
Time: March 30, 2008, 3:32 pm
If a cop in body armor asked me to stop photographing I am sure that I would do so. You did well to win him over. I think all this paranoia about security is going in completely the wrong direction. For example suppose an incident did occur on a subway. You may well have serendipitously captured the event on film or SD Card.
It’s like being unable to eat with a metal knife and for on an aeroplane. Surely any terrorist can be little match for a plane-load of red-necks, and Laura Crofts armed to the teeth with fine Imperial Airways Electro-Plated Sheffield Steel, which I gather is what was used in the 1930s.
Strangely, when going through airport security I have no problems carrying a digital camera but my old Leica IIIa never fails to cause me to have to unpack my hand luggage. I guess the metal is so thick that the X-Rays don’t penetrate it.
Stephen
Comment from Churchwell
Time: March 30, 2008, 7:58 pm
OK, I will model for ya and here what we will do. We will go to Abracadabra’s and rent some cop uniforms. I will bring some friends and we set up a green screen and place my friends in the cops uniforms standing looking to the right.
I will also bring my 69 year old mother and her purse and we will model for you of me pulling on her purse trying to snatch it and we will do this to the left of the photos behind the fake cops.
Now we photoshop these together with a subway background and we put it in your camera and put it under protect so that the next time a cop ask you to show him your photos you will show a crime being committed while the cops are looking the other way. Maybe you’ll get a hero’s award!!
what do you think? Hehe 
Comment from Churchwell
Time: March 30, 2008, 8:00 pm
OK, one last idea and I will leave you alone. How about a cop taking a wizz at the end of the subway platform? If they want to see your photos give them something to look at!
Comment from dave
Time: March 30, 2008, 8:15 pm
Churchwell - you did give me one idea. I wonder whether you can auto-protect digital images so that they cannot be deleted without a password and without explicitly setting each one to protect mode.
Comment from Bryan Willman
Time: March 30, 2008, 10:47 pm
Not about foolish police behavoir, but the futility of the “real ID like” idea. Even if you had some Uber-Id, it wouldn’t help. It wouldn’t help because (a) Id’s don’t actually declare intent so are of quite limited use in halting attacks, at least the first attack by anybody and (b) hassling people is a natural part of security behavoir. It would however allow oppressive hooligans to easily keep track of the all the times they hassled you for photographing on the subway…
Comment from Churchwell
Time: March 31, 2008, 5:52 am
How about pretending not to speak english?
Comment from oliver
Time: March 31, 2008, 4:36 pm
Is there any no-photography rule that makes sense (except maybe for exhibitions and shows)?
Last weekend I photographed a building in the financial district and was observed by a security guard and probably a bunch of surveillance cameras.
The guard didn’t say anything until I started to setup a tripod. “No professional photography!” he shout at me and by that way pointed out that my picture has already been taken and sent to some homeland security department.
I started to wonder. How does the use of a tripod make photography professional? And since when is professional photography threatening homeland security and amateur photography is not?
Comment from JeffK
Time: March 31, 2008, 5:58 pm
Google is slowly implementing “Street View” into their mapping software. In San Francisco, for example, when I look up an address, there is a photo of the building at that address. One can actually look up and down the street from that address virtually! It’s pretty amazing and makes it easy to find a place.
Somebody needs to get the message to authorities in US cities that photography ain’t a crime.
Comment from JAC
Time: April 1, 2008, 11:52 am
I hope the police didn’t miss any real terrorists while stopping to harrass you.
Comment from RaFiKi
Time: April 2, 2008, 8:14 pm
Alright,
Do this go to Section 1050.9 PART C on mta.info/nyct/rules/rules.htm
and print it out. Next time respectfully take it out and show it, That’s it.
Remmember that Police officers are just doing what they
are told, if you show them that it’s wrong they will have no choice.
Peace,
RaFiKi
Comment from Craig M. Nisnewitz
Time: March 29, 2008, 1:29 pm
The police have no right to tell you to stop taking photos, nor can they demand to see the photos, not take your camera if you refuse to show them the photos. The next time it happens I suggest that you take down the badge number and file a complaint with his/hers commanding officer and Civilian Complaint Review Board. As long as you remain calm and cool they can’t do anything, its when you loose your temper that they will claim that you prevoked them. The sad thing is that someone is going to have to get arrested and than bring a court action to stop this.
Its one thing if you are in a high security area, but the subway, comeon.