Pentax K-30: a pretty package of a camera
Can you fix the focus on a blurry photo after the fact?
The birth of Mirrorless Cameras
The Joy Of Winning A Photo Contest
Choosing your first dSLR camera
New York City can be beautiful!
Choosing the Right Light Stand
Photojojo iPhone Telephoto Lens review — AudioCast
How To Buy Digital Photo Frames For An Exhibit - Part 2
Hey MAC users! A great source and an April Fool that is no joke
My week with Q
How To Become A Successful Photographer
"When the Wind Stopped" — poem with 4 photos
Creating The New Family Portrait
Tips for Textures 
Cast aways - saving those photographic memories
One Man Show: My 25 Years With Digital Photography
Studio, Flash, & Available Light — Three Books Reviewed
Portrait styling: dangerous pairings
Adobe Photoshop CS6 Product Managers Interview Audiocast
A gift of flowers: unfold your senses
On Set of "Love & Robots" the Film
No-Brainer Setup For A Digital Photo Frame Exhibit - Part 3
Exhibiting With Digital Photo Frames (DPF) Part 1
Planning “National Geographic” style photo travel
Find Inner Peace and Beauty at San Jose, California, Airport
Wilderness Travel 1 Rainforests – Essential Gear
Backlighting Basics
What Moves You?
FIGURES IN MOTION: Decades of Evolving Personal Imagery in Photography, Part 7
Lomography Store, Austin, Texas — GALLERY
GALLERY — Up to $1,000 Reward for Cattle Rustlers
25% off on photography eBooks
eyePhone: The eBook for iPhone Photographers
Interview with Harold Davis — Closeup Maestro of Flowers & Water Drops
Interview with Steve Caplin — Photoshop Digital Artist, Commercial Illustrator, & Author
A Brief History Of Light & Photography: Part 3 of 3
A Brief History Of Light & Photography: Part 2 Of 3
Easy technique to select, edit and sequence keywords for web
How much should you charge for a photograph?Fort Lauderdale Photo Protest Proves Photography Is Not A Crime
Photography is no longer a crime in Fort Lauderdale.
Not that it ever was.
But it took more than two dozen photographers to defiantly protest a fake ordinance Friday that was banning photography from outside the Rock of Ages film set near the city’s downtown.
The cops knew we were coming, so they removed the signs that had stated photography was illegal under ordinance 16.1, which really has nothing to do with photography or trespassing for that matter.
And for the first time since Rock of Ages began filming, photographers were not threatened with arrest.
So the lesson here, as we learned during last year’s Miami-Dade Metrorail photo protest, is that it takes large groups of photographers to remind cops and security guards that photography is not a crime.
About 30 photographers attended last week’s protest, which is not bad considering it was 1 p.m. Friday when most people were still working.
The media also covered it, including the South Florida Sun Sentinel and WSVN TV news.
Police ended up drawing a line in the sand and telling us we couldn’t cross it.
But because they had removed the signs banning photography, which also warned against trespassing, the perimeter they set up was not established and kept getting expanded on the whim of the officer.
Cops said that the filmmakers rented out an entire block, which gave them the right to treat it as a private road.
But that imaginary line kept growing to include railroad tracks that are not part of the area they rented.
The Sun Sentinel had a misleading headline, stating: “First Amendment supporters protest new movie.”
We were not protesting the new movie. We were protesting the false laws they had created against photographers.
And WSVN erroneously stated that we were protesting against an existing city ordinance when there is no such ordinance in place.
But I’m happy they covered it.
The best recaps of the protest can be found on Christopher L. Jahn’s blog, Man, or Maniac, and Michael Koretzky’s blog, Journoterrorist.
Koretzky is the president of the South Florida Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, so he was the main organizer of this protest and did an excellent job by bringing together myself, attorney Norm Kent, who filed the lawsuit, and students from the Student Law Press Center.
The Society of Professional Journalists posted its recap here.
Jahn also wrote a follow-up to his original article where he took issue with WSVN for not getting their facts straight.
Even Random Pixels (who did not attend) wrote about it by taking his usual swipe at me.
UPDATE:
SPJ South Florida Chapter President Michael Koretzky attended yesterday's court hearing on the issue.
And here's a more in-depth piece from the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
UPDATE II:
Here is the court order that states photography is allowed near the Rock of Ages film set.
Here is an account from the National Press Photographers Association.
Comments
So ... you were forced to submit to arbitrary prohibitions from the uniformed goons. You were pushed back more and more with each encounter.
Not to criticize you for not being more bold, but it doesn't sound like this protest proved anything, other than that the government thugs are more determined than ever to throw their weight around.
The signs with a spelling error was removed. The breech of trust and misuse of city resources was shown on live coverage and in print media, hard copy and digital.
The lawsuit didn't go away. This was just a lunch-in. The response was great and I'm sure new contacts and information was shared regarding public rights.
The point was to prove that photography was not a crime.
We proved that.
The argument about whether or not we can access a street that a film company obtained a permit to film on can be dealt with some other day.
Still seems that since they didn't have any barricades the street was open and the closing was enforced at the whim of the officer as you pointed out. I'm sure that whim depended on if you had a camera or not.
We can all direct in hindsight. But I think the take away from this for next time is to show up without a camera first. See if you can access the area. Then get a camera and see if you can access the area.
The news camera can set up in the distance so the officers don't know what they are taping.
The only people that were allowed to access the area were citizens who were trying to get work as extras.
Interesting.
Not sure how that would figure in exactly.
I still think what they were doing smells. I also think that what was done an hour before you were there and an hour after you left were not that same as what they did while you were there.
Wish I was local so that I could try it again today.
Does anyone know if the "no photography" sign is back up today or if the cops are trying to enforce the no photography rule now that the news cameras have packed up and left?
Here's an update from SPJ:
"Update: June 20, 1:41 pm
Attorney Norm Kent has secured an emergency hearing before Judge Towbin-Singer today at 3:30 pm, where he’ll ask for an injunction against the City of Fort Lauderdale’s photo ban downtown. Room 1020A in the North Tower (security will direct you at check-in)."
http://www.spjsofla.net/2011/06/fort-lauderdale-lunch-in-was-only-a-part...
The question is simple. Did they prevent all people from entering the area, those carrying cameras and those who were normal pedestrians, or did they simply stop the photographers from entering?
If they singled out the photographers (or anyone with a camera), then they were still guilty of suppressing the constitutional rights of photographers. If they were enforcing any encroachment as trespass on rented public land (which is fine), then they are likely fine.
This is the key. I do not know the answer. If they only enforced the entry into this zone on photographers, proving "photography is not a crime" did not happen.
Mike S
This. If the only distinction drawn by police between people they allow in/allow to pass unhindered and the people they stop is a Constitutionally-protected action, then the orders to leave/not enter/disperse are not lawful orders, and any attempt to issue such an order or enforce it then falls under 18USC241 and 18USC242.
Last I checked, felons weren't allowed to be cops. Seems like such a small thing to throw one's career and possibly one's life away over, isn't it?
Carlos and company,
Great work on the protest, I wish I could have been there to help. Perhaps when my life settles down a bit, I will make the next big encounter. Meanwhile, keep up the good work, and know that there are many, many of us supporting you behind the scenes.
I just updated this piece with a couple of new links.
that "bulldog" guy is hot!
I just updated post with a link to the court order that states photography is allowed near the Rock of Ages film set.
As one reader put it: "Astonishing that you have to go to a circuit court judge to get a simple statement of common sense & the First Amendment."
I appreciate the efforts of anyone who stands up for their rights, especially in this age of complacency. Great job everyone. I would like to invite everyone out to the Poorhouse this Friday night from 10pm-2am with their cameras. My band 'Brain Chips' along with Jolly Badfellow and The Everymen, will be entertaining the crowd right at the front gates of the great Hollywood (CA) spectacle. We played there about 3 weeks ago, and I was reprimanded (a screaming match) by a rent-a-cop for pulling up in front of the poorhouse to load up my gear after the show. There is no cover charge and there is seating outside the Poorhouse for anyone who would like to take photos of the bands and those big-time Hollywood types. Hope to see you down there. Max 'Finkenbeans' Fink, Bassist with Brain Chips.
Post new comment