How to Get Kicked Out of Everywhere by Jordan Matter
Minsung Kim in Bryant Park (©Jordan Matter)
Continuing our theme of street and news photographers getting hassled by authorities for taking pictures of people in public, we thought we’d share a new blog post by photographer Jordan Matter.
Jordan, who’s a friend of ours and occasionally helps test gear for PDN, is working on a series of images entitled Dancers Among Us where he shoots professional dancers in high-profile public locations.
In the post, entitled “Will Jordan Matter please come to security immediately?, he talks about some of the run-ins he’s had with NYC police and security guards while shooting (without permits) at Yankee Stadium, the New York Public Library, the Museum of Natural History, and Apple’s flaghship store on Fifth Avenue.
Interestingly, he even got questioned by a security guard for shooting a dancer doing a backflip in New York City’s Bryant Park. He writes:
Really? You can’t do a backflip in the park? Who knew. I hadn’t gotten the shot, so I challenged the guard a little bit, which meant he had to call his superior, which meant we got three more shots! This was one of them.
Read the full post here.
December 13th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Sheesh! Doesn’t anyone understand the First Amendment anymore? Well, your average security guard probably went no further than high school. Issuing them a sidearm often gives an added arrogance, thinking that they have more authority than they actually do.
I also blogged my own experience with a security guard at: http://goo.gl/xZYpo
December 14th, 2010 at 11:57 am
…just try to use a tripod anywhere is D.C.
December 14th, 2010 at 11:58 am
…or “in” D.C. …
December 17th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
I do have to agree that it’s getting a little overblown and it’s not just guards but cops and park rangers too. I’ve been strong armed more than once for having a too big camera or using a tripod which implies professional to the jackboots.
However, there are also people who give photographers a bad name, by deliberately irritating the powers that be, going out of their way to be annoying and obnoxious, rude to other visitors and park users and who seem to think having a camera means they get to interrupt everyone else, butt into private events and conversations, or try to take over and block causeways. These photographers make it hard for everyone else who want to peaceably us open spaces and mind our own business while doing it.
Jordan Matter is one of these photographers. Replacing obvious shock value for talent and doing things inappropriate for public spaces and going out of his way to annoy the authorities and mocking them. Celebrating brats and bullies, calling them an artist for really just being an attention whore and having no qualms with bothering other people, invading their space, or interrupting and sometimes violating accepted standards of behavior leave everyone to come afterwards to be suspect by guards and police alike and making all the harder for us to practice our craft, work or just make images for the pleasure of it.