terrorism

Photographer Joey L.’s Photos of Kurdish PKK Fighters Deleted by Instagram

Back in June, we shared a series of photos by Joey L., who made a dangerous trip to Kurdistan to point his camera at the Kurdish guerrilla groups fighting in the Syrian civil war.

It turns out that many of the photos violate Instagram's policies, not because they show violence or graphic scenes, but because they show members of PKK, a group that's listed on "terrorist" lists. Joey L. isn't pleased with the policy.

Interview with ‘Radical Camp’ photographer Tina Schula

Born in Vienna and trained as a filmmaker in England, Tina Schula's photography combines cinematic techniques, portraiture, family stories and political history to create staged narratives of complex human drama. In 2009, she received her MFA in Photography from The School of Visual Arts in New York.

She was a finalist at Critical Mass 2013, Photoville 2012, The Print Center 86th International Photography Contest 2011, The Sixth Annual BamArt Silent Auction, Scope Basel 2010 and a winner of the  CCNY Darkroom Residency in 2010.

Animated Documentary Explains The UK Terrorism Act and How it Affects Photogs

In response to September 11th and London Bombings, the UK drafted a series of Terrorism Acts, giving their officers certain rights they thought would help fight terrorism. This included a section (58a) added in 2008 that made it illegal to photograph or film a police officer if the footage was likely to be useful to a terrorist. The police's interpretation of that section has since changed, but not before that "if" caused some newsworthy controversy.

This short animated documentary covers that controversy from the point of view of one of the act's victims, Gemma Atkinson, who was assaulted by police in 2009 because she was filming them searching her boyfriend. It tells the story of the subsequent legal battle she went through trying to get the act changed and hold the police officers who were unnecessarily rough with her accountable.

National Counterterrorism Center: Urban Exploration Photos Pose Security Risk

Urban exploration photography has gotten quite a bit of publicity in recent years, with more and more photographers taking their cameras to off-limits and/or abandoned parts of their city in order to see and capture what most people never get a chance to. While it may be a fun pastime of practitioners and one that leads to beautiful images, not everyone is a fan.

The National Counterterrorism Center (NCC) warns that photographs shot by urban explorers could pose a national security risk by aiding terrorists in their surveillance and planning.

FBI Shows Up on Man’s Doorstep After He Shoots Photo of Clouds

The next time you're photographing clouds, make sure those clouds aren't hovering over a location that's considered "sensitive". National Weather Service volunteer Michael Galindo learned this lesson last month after pulling over to the side of the road near Houston to snap a photo of storm clouds brewing in the distance (shown above). Problem was, between Galindo and the clouds sat the Lyondell Refinery.

“The War on Terrorism Has Somehow Morphed into an Assault on Photography”

The New York Times has published a great interview with Michael H. Osterreicher, the general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association and the editor of the organization's advocacy blog. In it, NYT Lens Blog co-editor James Estrin asks Osterreicher about photographers' rights and the trend of people being stopped while shooting public locations.

Terrorism Prevention Video Asks Public to Report Photographers to Police

One of the common reasons given for being wary of photographers is that terrorists commonly use cameras as part of their information gathering tactics prior to devastating attacks.

The disconcerting video above is a terrorist prevention video that was funded by the Department of Homeland security and uploaded to Houston's city website back in January 2011. Starting at 1:42, it attempts to convince people that photographers may be potential terrorists, and that the police should be called if one appears to "hang around for no apparent reason."