Why You Should Not Take Photos Of The 7 Ugliest Buildings In D.C.

[Karmadillo]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/bennyjohnson/why-you-should-not-take-photos-of-the-7-ugliest-buildings-in

On July 16 and 17, I visited seven different government bureaucracies throughout Washington, D.C., so I could photograph how ugly their architecture was.



I stood on the public sidewalks in front of the buildings, along with all the other tourists and pedestrians, took pictures, and then hopped on my bike and went to the next building.
I did not cross any police barriers, nor did I ever take any photos inside the buildings.



That’s why I found it so odd that I was confronted by federal police, and often told to leave, at six of the seven stops.

more...

[Brickbat]

1. Remember when you'd hear stories of people traveling to the Soviet Union, and how people there

weren't allowed to take pictures of bridges and airports and that kind of thing, and how creepy and bizarre that seemed?

[lpbk2713]

3. Your comment reminded me instantly of Pogo.

[Fred Sanders]

2. Pretty freaky, but America traded freedom for security, maybe there should be second thoughts.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

7. A quote from Benjamin Franklin comes to mind

"Those who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security".

[bluesbassman]

4. This makes me sad and angry.

Sad that we live in a time when such a thing is even remotely possible, and angry that a US citizen, and a credentialed journalist to boot, was treated in this manner.

Banksters loot the treasury with impunity, corporations are given rights that should only belong to living, breathing people yet are not bound by the same consequences their human conterparts face, police brutalize many of our neighbors, politicians promote and inact policies and laws that favor the priveleged few while the quality of life for the vast majority slides further into the abyss.

Where are we headed as a Nation? It surely can't be something desirable if we continue on the current path.

[Louisiana1976]

8. It's creeping fascism.

[WillyT]

5. HUGE K & R !!!

[surrealAmerican]

6. ... ever more battlefields in the war on photography ...

Will it ever end?

[Hissyspit]

9. NYT: "You Can Photograph That Federal Building"

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/18/you-can-photograph-that-federal-building/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1

October 18, 2010 6:00 pmOctober 18, 2010 6:50 pm

You Can Photograph That Federal Building
By DAVID W. DUNLAP

The right of photographers to stand in a public place and take pictures of federal buildings has been upheld by a legal settlement reached in New York.

- snip -

Under the settlement, announced Monday by the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Federal Protective Service said that it would inform its officers and employees in writing of the “public’s general right to photograph the exterior of federal courthouses from publicly accessible spaces” and remind them that “there are currently no general security regulations prohibiting exterior photography by individuals from publicly accessible spaces, absent a written local rule, regulation or order.”

The settlement, filed on Friday, ended a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security by Antonio Musumeci, 29, of Edgewater, N.J. He was arrested Nov. 9, 2009, as he videotaped a demonstrator in front of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse at 500 Pearl Street. His principal camera was confiscated but he recorded the encounter on a second camera. On two later occasions, he was also threatened with arrest.

- snip -

“This settlement secures the public’s First Amendment right to use cameras in public spaces without being harassed,” said a statement issued by Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which represented Mr. Musumeci in Federal District Court.

- snip -

At issue in the case was a federal regulation that was cited in the arrest of Mr. Musumeci but that seems — on the face of it — not to have prohibited what he was doing. It says, in part, that “persons entering in or on federal property may take photographs” of “building entrances, lobbies, foyers, corridors or auditoriums for news purposes.” Mr. Musumeci told the arresting officers that he worked for the radio talk program Free Talk Live. He was given a ticket and released on the spot. His account appeared on his Blog of Bile.

MORE

[n2doc]

10. Just keeping things safe in the Fatherland, er Homeland!

Papers Please!