jgbarber65
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2006
- Messages
- 16
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I am a photo-artist. I enjoy taking digital photos of ordinary objects and editing them in Photoshop and creating art. I am finding it increasingly difficult to do this since 9/11 and wanted to know if anyone else experienced this and how they handle it. At a previous job, I had a co-worker that also shared my passion. We would use our lunch hour to walk around the city, get exercise and take photos. While walking up the sidewalk, we were approached by a local businessman who said he saw us taking photos and demanded we hand over our cameras. Of course we declined, but he out and out accused us of being terrorists.
While waiting on the curbside for the nurses to wheel my wife out from surgery, I had my camera around my neck. When I left her room to pull the car around, my 5-year-old daughter was going to ride on my wife's lap while they wheeled her out in a wheel chair. I thought this would make a good photo for the album. I looked up and noticed 3 beaming spotlights shining on the American flag in front of the Hospital. I zoomed in and took a shot of the flag and someone grabbed my arm. It was Hospital security. I was quickly escorted to their office and interrogated. I showed the image to them on my camera and explained myself and still got the stare of disbelief.
My wife and I were in a park near our home and I was getting photos of my daughter on swings, slides, etc. A lady nearby with a little girl said, "Are you taking pictures of my daughter?" I of course said "No. I'm taking them of my daughter." I showed her the digital images and the fact that her daughter was not in any shots. She still said, "Well I don't want my daughter in any of those shots." I respect her rights, but since my intent was to get photos of my daughter, now I had to be extra cautious of not only this woman's daughter being in the shot, but of any of the other kids playing in the area. We ended up leaving.
I drive with my camera at my side and have missed many shots because I am now "gun-shy". One thing I enjoy doing is taking pictures of the older houses in my town and turning them into "haunted houses" with Photoshop. I am terrified now of getting out of my car and taking a photo of a house. I have an idea for a great Halloween photo, but it involves me getting a shot of cemetery. Not a close enough shot for names to be legible though. The problems today are:
1) In a post 9/11 world, everyone with a camera is viewed as "suspicious".
2) In the days of spam, junk mail, telemarketers, etc. If I ask permission to take photo of someone's old house, right away they are going to think, "what is the catch? What is he selling?"
3) In the politically correct society we live in, if I get out and set up my tri-pod to take a photo of a cemetery, I am just asking for someone to approach me with suspicion or their oppinion of why they think I'm worng.
Maybe I just need thicker skin. But am I the only one feeling this way?
I used to be able to get away with just acting confident and people would think I was supposed to be there taking photos. They would think, maybe he's a photojournalist, making a brochure, realtor, surveyor, etc.
In this day in age, they jump to conclusions first.
I wanted to hear other stories like mine and/or how other photographers have adapted to handling this. It would be great if someone had a sample of a letter they use to send out to get permission to shoot a photo. I tried to write some, but they all sound like a sales pitch.
Thanks,
Joe Barber
While waiting on the curbside for the nurses to wheel my wife out from surgery, I had my camera around my neck. When I left her room to pull the car around, my 5-year-old daughter was going to ride on my wife's lap while they wheeled her out in a wheel chair. I thought this would make a good photo for the album. I looked up and noticed 3 beaming spotlights shining on the American flag in front of the Hospital. I zoomed in and took a shot of the flag and someone grabbed my arm. It was Hospital security. I was quickly escorted to their office and interrogated. I showed the image to them on my camera and explained myself and still got the stare of disbelief.
My wife and I were in a park near our home and I was getting photos of my daughter on swings, slides, etc. A lady nearby with a little girl said, "Are you taking pictures of my daughter?" I of course said "No. I'm taking them of my daughter." I showed her the digital images and the fact that her daughter was not in any shots. She still said, "Well I don't want my daughter in any of those shots." I respect her rights, but since my intent was to get photos of my daughter, now I had to be extra cautious of not only this woman's daughter being in the shot, but of any of the other kids playing in the area. We ended up leaving.
I drive with my camera at my side and have missed many shots because I am now "gun-shy". One thing I enjoy doing is taking pictures of the older houses in my town and turning them into "haunted houses" with Photoshop. I am terrified now of getting out of my car and taking a photo of a house. I have an idea for a great Halloween photo, but it involves me getting a shot of cemetery. Not a close enough shot for names to be legible though. The problems today are:
1) In a post 9/11 world, everyone with a camera is viewed as "suspicious".
2) In the days of spam, junk mail, telemarketers, etc. If I ask permission to take photo of someone's old house, right away they are going to think, "what is the catch? What is he selling?"
3) In the politically correct society we live in, if I get out and set up my tri-pod to take a photo of a cemetery, I am just asking for someone to approach me with suspicion or their oppinion of why they think I'm worng.
Maybe I just need thicker skin. But am I the only one feeling this way?
I used to be able to get away with just acting confident and people would think I was supposed to be there taking photos. They would think, maybe he's a photojournalist, making a brochure, realtor, surveyor, etc.
In this day in age, they jump to conclusions first.
I wanted to hear other stories like mine and/or how other photographers have adapted to handling this. It would be great if someone had a sample of a letter they use to send out to get permission to shoot a photo. I tried to write some, but they all sound like a sales pitch.
Thanks,
Joe Barber