Permit Required to Take This Picture
So I was walking around the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle on a warm summer Wednesday night. My girlfriend and I were walking down towards the canal when, across from the PCC (grocery store), we spotted a funny sign. So I pulled out my camera and took a quick shot of it.
Out from behind a planter (seemingly), a diminutive SecurityGuard(tm) rushed towards me, and sternly demanded to know who I was and what I thought I was doing. He made quick work out of my personal space bubble, with eyes locked on my camera, and a hand outstretched. As if by nothing more than the implied authority of his embroidered badge, I must now hand him my camera. I stuck it in my pocket.
He again asked what I thought I was doing, and if I had a permit to take pictures of "the building". I told him no, sorry, I didn't check with anyone. He nodded with widening eyes and a quiet "aha", as if he had just "broken" me into a confession.
My girlfriend thought we were being "punkd" or in the next "Borat" movie. He's just some crazy guy in a Harry Potter outfit pretending to be SecurityGuard, she said. Sadly, after reading of many similar encounters by Flickr photographers, I knew this was not an actual joke. She challenged SecurityGuard and told him we were on a public street, we could take a picture of anything we wanted. He rebutted that we were in fact, on the sidewalk, not the public street.
So I stepped down onto the street, about a meter back. And then I took his picture.
Pounding through the strong vein on his forehead, I think I heard his pulse. SecurityGuard, through gritted teeth, asked if he. had. not. just. finished. telling. me. that. I. could. not. take. pictures. of. the. building. I told him I was doing no such thing. I was in fact, taking a picture of him, who happened to be standing in front of the building. Then I asked him, out of curiosity, where I would go to obtain such a permit. Was it posted in public view, this mysterious permit requirement? (however in hindsight, I realized that any plaque or sign that said something like "permit required to take pictures" would likely be quite heavily photographed.)
SecurityGuard said "Come over here!" in as commanding a tone as he could muster. He pointed his finger at the ground in front of him. I just looked at him, really regarded him for the first time. I towered over him, even from almost two meters away. He was like a human version of a chihuahua; belligerent yet totally unaware of his comparative stature.
That's about when I started to laugh in his face. He asked if I refused to tell him who I was and what I was doing there. I very clearly said yes, I absolutely refused. I tried to explain to him, admittedly loudly, how he had failed to demonstrate any authority or proof of wrong on my part. His aggressive bullying just wasn't effective on anyone who had even a basic understanding of their rights as a citizen in a public space. Nor on anyone taller than 5'4". I had no reason to comply, and suggested that he call a police officer and we could discuss it with him.
Silence. Except for the pounding from his head-vein. Against his demands that we stay, we walked away.
Oh yes. One last thing. The building SecurityGuard was defending against the evils of public photography so staunchly? Even though it had some small street level shops, the primary tenant?
Getty Images.
Permit Required to Take This Picture
So I was walking around the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle on a warm summer Wednesday night. My girlfriend and I were walking down towards the canal when, across from the PCC (grocery store), we spotted a funny sign. So I pulled out my camera and took a quick shot of it.
Out from behind a planter (seemingly), a diminutive SecurityGuard(tm) rushed towards me, and sternly demanded to know who I was and what I thought I was doing. He made quick work out of my personal space bubble, with eyes locked on my camera, and a hand outstretched. As if by nothing more than the implied authority of his embroidered badge, I must now hand him my camera. I stuck it in my pocket.
He again asked what I thought I was doing, and if I had a permit to take pictures of "the building". I told him no, sorry, I didn't check with anyone. He nodded with widening eyes and a quiet "aha", as if he had just "broken" me into a confession.
My girlfriend thought we were being "punkd" or in the next "Borat" movie. He's just some crazy guy in a Harry Potter outfit pretending to be SecurityGuard, she said. Sadly, after reading of many similar encounters by Flickr photographers, I knew this was not an actual joke. She challenged SecurityGuard and told him we were on a public street, we could take a picture of anything we wanted. He rebutted that we were in fact, on the sidewalk, not the public street.
So I stepped down onto the street, about a meter back. And then I took his picture.
Pounding through the strong vein on his forehead, I think I heard his pulse. SecurityGuard, through gritted teeth, asked if he. had. not. just. finished. telling. me. that. I. could. not. take. pictures. of. the. building. I told him I was doing no such thing. I was in fact, taking a picture of him, who happened to be standing in front of the building. Then I asked him, out of curiosity, where I would go to obtain such a permit. Was it posted in public view, this mysterious permit requirement? (however in hindsight, I realized that any plaque or sign that said something like "permit required to take pictures" would likely be quite heavily photographed.)
SecurityGuard said "Come over here!" in as commanding a tone as he could muster. He pointed his finger at the ground in front of him. I just looked at him, really regarded him for the first time. I towered over him, even from almost two meters away. He was like a human version of a chihuahua; belligerent yet totally unaware of his comparative stature.
That's about when I started to laugh in his face. He asked if I refused to tell him who I was and what I was doing there. I very clearly said yes, I absolutely refused. I tried to explain to him, admittedly loudly, how he had failed to demonstrate any authority or proof of wrong on my part. His aggressive bullying just wasn't effective on anyone who had even a basic understanding of their rights as a citizen in a public space. Nor on anyone taller than 5'4". I had no reason to comply, and suggested that he call a police officer and we could discuss it with him.
Silence. Except for the pounding from his head-vein. Against his demands that we stay, we walked away.
Oh yes. One last thing. The building SecurityGuard was defending against the evils of public photography so staunchly? Even though it had some small street level shops, the primary tenant?
Getty Images.