I was on assignment yesterday, working on an article about green buildings in the area. I needed to grab a photograph of the federal building downtown because it’s one of the biggest and greenest buildings in Knoxville. The fed building even offers tours through the facility to show off all of it’s green components, such as occupancy sensors, waterless urinals, and more. Because I work downtown, I just thought I’d walk to the building with my camera and snap a few photos of the exterior to accompany the article. What I thought would be a quick and easy task turned out to be one of the most frustrating moments I’ve experienced as a creative.

When I got to to the building, I stood across the street with my wide angle (to fit the huge structure in the frame) and put the camera to my face. And after a few clicks of the shutter, I hear this man yelling at me, “Ma’am! Ma’am! You can’t photos here!!!” It was the security guard, and he was running down the stairs towards me. I immediately put my camera down by my side and ran across the street to the guard. I asked him what the problem was, and he suddenly went into a tirade about post 9/11 laws prohibiting the photography and videography of any federal properties. He went off about terrorism and national security and then threatened me with two years in the penitentiary for possessing images of federal property. I had to delete my photographs or else I would get two years in jail.

I was in disbelief. I apologized and told him I wasn’t aware of any such law. But instead of just letting me go on without my pictures back to work, the guard must have wanted to intimidate me some more. He threatened me again with jail time and then made some remarks about how he went to college, had a master’s degree, and worked for U.S. Immigration. Now, what in the heck did that have to do with anything? I didn’t think about what he said until later, after I walked away, but c’mon. Was that spout about immigration supposed to be some sort of threat of deportation? Geez. I dare him to deport me…back to Knoxville. I’m a U.S. citizen. And yes, I have a REAL master’s degree.

I got back to my office and of course shared the story of the confrontation with coworkers. I called Brandon to let him know what had happened. I was angry. Frustrated. Not so much about how awful I was treated by this person, but I was more upset about my rights. Or lack thereof. What’s this world coming to? Now I can’t even take a photograph in a public place? What’s this law he kept screaming about? Two years in jail for an image of some federal property? Back at work, we were all mad, and we all went on an online hunt for this “law.” And lo and behold, we couldn’t find such a thing. (Of course we knew we wouldn’t find such a law in the books.)

I’ve been researching photographers’ rights for many hours now. And I’m not finding any written law from the government prohibiting the photography of federal property. It simply doesn’t exist. Even knoxstarbuck (a Twitter contact) sent me a link to The Photographer’s Bill of Rights, which plainly states that people may photograph in public places. Even the NPPA (National Press Photographers Association) state the following in their “Memo on Photographers’ Rights to Take Pictures in Public Places”:

“The National Press Photographers Association has been called upon time and time again to speak out on behalf of photojournalists’ rights and to fight efforts to limit or prohibit photography in public places and of public facilities,” NPPA president Alicia Wagner Calzada said today as she opened the Women In Photojournalism Conference at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort in Phoenix, AZ. “Last year there was an attempted ban on all photography in the New York City subways and on the Metropolitan Transit Authority busses, and a successful fight to defeat the proposal was led by the NPPA and other media groups.”

“Photojournalists clearly have a Constitutional right guaranteed by the First Amendment to make photographs in public places. But often law enforcement officials and security agencies believe – wrongly so – that in the name of homeland defense there are new federal laws that somehow give them additional rights to restrict photography. This is just not the case.”

To clarify the issue, NPPA asked attorneys Kurt Wimmer and John Blevins of the Washington office of the Covington & Burling law firm to produce a memorandum outlining the rights of photojournalists to make pictures in public places. The memorandum, released by NPPA and Calzada today at the Women In Photojournalism Conference, concludes: “No specific post-September 11 federal law grants the government any additional rights to restrict visual newsgathering, photojournalism, or photography in general.”

Also, when you download the pdf, it goes on to state that sidewalks and streets are considered “public forums” and photography on public property is permissible. There are several good points explaining the photojournalists’ rights in this document. More good sites to review for information on photographers rights include (click on links below to read more):

• “The War on Photographers”
• “When ‘Photography Forbidden’ Really Isn’t”
• Photo Attorney
• Photo.net Forum
• The Law for Photographers: Do I Need Permission?
• NPR: Photographers Becoming Security Concerns – LISTEN to this one from NPR (this is the best one and references Bill Krages‘ Photographer’s Bill of Rights)

If there really is a law stating that all photography/videography of federal property is prohibited, I’d like to see it in writing. I want to read it and understand it. If you’re out there, show yourself. BUT until that law exists, I’m going to continue being a good citizen and continue exercising my rights as a citizen. And that includes photographing the world around me and all the pieces of federal property (visible from public places) in between.