A 16-year-old aspiring journalist named Jakub Markiewicz was arrested last month at the shopping mall Metropolis at Metrotown, the 2nd largest mall in Canada. After photographing security guards arresting a man, he was unable to comply with multiple demands to delete the photographs he had taken... from a film camera.
The National Press Photographers Association announced this week that it will be joining a major lawsuit filed against NYC and the NYPD for civil rights violations during the Occupy Wall Street protests.
Bad news for photographers in Southern California: the Los Angeles Police Department issued a notice regarding its official terrorism handling policy earlier this week, and the document still identifies photographers as potential terrorists.
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.
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."
It's like "déjà vu all over again": New York Times freelance photographer Robert Stolarik was arrested this past Saturday while on assignment in the Bronx. As he was taking photographs of a developing street fight, Stolarik was confronted by officers, ordered to stop, and then allegedly assaulted.
One of the reasons photographers raise a fuss when their rights are infringed upon is to create awareness in …
The University of California has agreed to dish out a $162,500 settlement to David Morse, a 43-year-old photographer who …
Earlier today Amateur Photographer reported that the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) in Glasgow, Scotland is set to impose a series of bylaws for the cities transport, including a ban in section 12.1 which would prohibit riders from "take[ing] photographs, or make[ing] video, audio or visual recordings on any part of the subway." In fact, the only way around the ban would be to get express written permission from the SPT and show it to any officer that may request to see it.
Amateur Photographer sparked an outcry among photographers this past Tuesday after it pointed …
Photographers have already lodged complaints against the security firm that tried to prevent them from taking photos of the Olympic sites from public land, but it seems that even stricter rules will be imposed on ticket holders once the games begin. According to a freelance photographer named Peter Ruck, the Olympic organizing committee Locog intends to prevent attendees from uploading images and videos captured at the games to social networks.
In the past year -- and especially with the growth of the "occupy" movement -- police interfering with photographers or pedestrians trying to snap a photo of them has been in the news quite a lot. Just yesterday we reported on the Olympics' security guards who landed in hot water after harassing photogs shooting from public land. In the past, this was no problem, as police officers had little to fear in way of personal liability when they interfered; however, a new Connecticut bill -- the first of its kind -- may soon change that.
French photographers organization Union des Photographes Professionnels (UPP) launched a controversial new advertising …
After being arrested on October 1, 2007 for using his cell phone to film officers making an arrest, Boston …
David Hobby has written up a great post over at Strobist on how …
Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania-based photographer Jason Macchioni was recently shooting a time-lapse project from an …
Want to inform someone of their right to take pictures in the US? Just share this short cartoon created …
Here’s a disturbing video called “If You See Something, Film Something” that shows why it’s important that citizens have …
Early in 2011, there was a brouhaha after newspaper photographer Jay Westcott …
A UK photographer who goes by the moniker Hamstify was documenting his town …
16-year-old photographer Jules Mattsson has won a settlement from the London Metropolitan Police after being stopped and …
The New York Times has sent an angry letter to the New York Police Department after video emerged showing photojournalist Robert Stolarik being pushed around and then blocked while trying to photograph officers arresting Occupy Wall Street protestors. The memo itself hasn't be published, but NYT VP and assistant general counsel George Freeman is quoted as saying,
It seemed pretty clear from the video that the Times freelance photographer was being intentionally blocked by the police officer who was kind of bobbing and weaving to keep him from taking photographs
The department has acknowledged receiving the note from the NYT, but has not issued a formal response yet. This incident comes just weeks after Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly ordered officers to avoid unreasonably interfering with media access during news coverage.
Three years ago, an Illinois man named Michael Allison was arrested for videotaping …
Last week we wrote about an obscure law in Washington DC that can land a person in …
The ACLU of Southern California has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and several of …
Update: Apparently this isn’t something ordinary photographers need to worry about. See below. The Washington Post …
Having this image on your camera might get you out of a situation where someone illegally demands that you …
Last Friday, 45-year-old Chris White was at the Braehead shopping center near Glasgow, when he took a snapshot of his daughter Hazel eating some ice cream. He was then confronted by security guards -- and later the police -- who cited the Prevention of Terrorism Act to explain that it was in their rights to confiscate his phone. While they did allow him to keep the photos, they demanded his personal details. Afterward, White created a Facebook page titled "Boycott Braehead" in an effort to draw attention to the incident.
Regardless of how bad photographers’ rights seem to be in your country, here’s a story that will definitely make …
It looks like all the negative news stories about photographers’ rights in the UK is finally causing …