Photographer's Rights Overview

While photographers have always dealt with random harassment by overzealous officials, since the attack on the World Trade Center this harassment has reached epic proportions. In general, people with small point and shoot cameras are being left alone while those with "professional looking" cameras are being singled out. This is the same mentality that results 20,000 flashes popping during a circus performance where "no cameras allowed" is the policy.

Private security guards, public police officers, and corporate security groups are using 9/11 as an excuse to no only tell photographers to "go away", but to demand they turn over their film/memory cards. In some instances, photographers are being detained for hours at a time without legal cause. A few have even reported having their cameras snatched from them.

While security officers can certainly approach you and ask questions, they should not arbitrarily detain you. A wonderful resource is Bert Krages' "The Photographers' Right" flyer. Print it out and keep it with you at all times.

The bottom line is that people/places who don't like being photographed are jumping on a bandwagon that makes most people nervous about challenging them. No one wants to challenge someone shouting "national security" because they don't know what their rights really are.